iPhone 3G S: Were you able to upgrade?

The iPhone 3G S launch is well under way, and AT&T made a big deal this week with a capitulation to iPhone customers under contract (click the link for the CNET story). It promised that some 3G customers who would normally be upgrade-eligible later this summer (June, July, August) will finally be able to get their 3G S now for the new-contract prices of $99, $199, and $299.

It was a nice promise, but were you able to take advantage of it? I ask because I bought my 3G last August 31, and I pay more than $99 a month on my bill--a prerequisite according to AT&T's news update. However, after half an hour spent on the phone with customer service managers, I discovered that what I had been told on AT&T's Web site and via text message was still true: I don't qualify until 1/31/10, which is more than halfway toward the release of the next iPhone after this one.

Moreover, AT&T wouldn't specify what, exactly, determines whether a customer gets a 12-month or 18-month upgrade window. Even their official message remains gray on the matter. To make matters even more inexplicable, the manager said it was "Apple's decision," and that I needed to spend more than $99 a month just on my voice plan, not including data (required with every iPhone contract) and texting. On the other hand, our editor in chief, Scott Ard, told me he was successful, and that he was a 3G owner who had been eligible late July. What was the magic powder that sealed the deal? He's been with AT&T longer than I have, which may have helped.

Sound off: did you get an upgrade? Were you denied? Was it a pain to do, or remarkably easy? Let us know. At the least, I can feel sympathy in numbers (and wonder why I'm so excited about spending so much for a faster chip, a video camera, and a compass). For more on my AT&T rant, check out this week's Digital City podcast when it goes live.

[genmgr]

I pre-ordered at the $499 price, then got an email that said I'd only be charged $299. I do spend over $99 just on voice, and have never had a late payment. I bought my 3G on release day, so that made my upgrade date something like July 29th before the announcement of the price break.

[carguy622]

I pre-ordered at $299 for 32GB. My contract had expired months ago. Never had an iPhone before. The process was very easy to do using AT&T's website. Their shipping information leaves much to be desired though.

[vnbaybeh]

I agree. I'm still waiting for my phone to be delivered.
Its been maybe a week & they still haven't shipped yet.

[chris-craft]

We have a 4000 minute family plan with two 3G's on it bought last year on launch day (July 17?). My wifes phone is listed first and my phone is the add on. The voice part of the plan is $180/month. Her phone was eligible on July 10th and mine in March 2010. So we both understood that I was not waiting till March and forked over $499 to pre-order. She was going to wait the three weeks to save the $200 upgrade cost. I went in today at 7am to my ATT store and picked up my pre-order by 7:15. Since there was no one lese waiting for new phones, they allowed me to buy hers and we got the $299 lower price as expected.

[jlt0x]

Cool. But sounds like you got lucky on basic customer service --- why not offer the discounted price if it's even offered --- Technically, you didn't qualify for the discounted price, but it was nice that your local stored extended the savings to you.

[41DMBfan]

I was eligible to upgrade 2 lines with the iPhone 3G S. My wife and I share a family plan, with an unlimited family text messaging plan. I am an existing iPhone 3G owner, she is not. Her line was out of contract, which made her eligible. I purchased my iPhone 3G on September 26th, 2008, and was eligible for an upgrade to the 3G S with new contract pricing. We also have a wireless broadband card on our account, plus my sister-in-law's iPhone 3G account, bringing our monthly total to around $270 per month.

[kingoftheapes]

It didn't change my march update day.

[delthibodeaux]

Scott, I also bought 2 iPhones for me and my wife in August 2008. I was on the phone with Apple and AT&T for about an hour trying to let them know how unfair this practice is. They went on about how much AT&T has to pay to subsidize each iPhone. I wonder how true this really is. What actually would be the wholesale value of an iPhone? The FCC really needs to step in on this because the consumer is getting the raw end of this deal!\\

Exclusivity (iPhone only serviced by AT&T) is not consumer friendly! It helps to drive up prices. Plus the service is not as good as it should be. European companies are supporting all of the features of the new iPhone 3GS, but not AT&T. (Tethering)

[jlt0x]

Actually, the discounted upgrade eligibility is noted on the contract you signed when you got your current iPhone. AT&T has every right to refuse to sell you the new phone at the discounted price....you agreed to it. When AT&T and it's affiliate stores make exceptions and sell the new iPhone to customers that don't really quality, they lose money. Maybe not much, but it's a lose.

I feel your pain though, I was in the same situation with VerizonWireless. I could upgrade at anytime, if I paid retail prices, but I had to wait over a year and a half before I would qualify for the discounted pricing. This craziness happened when my wife wanted to get a new phone before she qualified for discounted pricing. The store rep let us use my eligibility to purchase her new phone, which in turn, reset my eligibility clock. Though I like my phone, I've had it for way too long.

[ScottSchrantz]

I am eligible for upgrade in July, which should mean I could get the upgrade pricing today due to the recent change in the policy. But they wouldn't let me upgrade - they said the computers wouldn't let them give me the $199 price, and neither the associate in the store nor the customer service rep on the phone had even heard of the new policy. I had to show them the CNET article!! Then they said they would have to get "approval" from a regional manager, and I could expect to wait up to 72 hours for that. So I still have no phone.

Is there anyone who was not eligible until July or August that successfully got the "early upgrade" pricing? Even when AT&T tries to do the right thing they still manage to screw it up.

[swimpunk]

I got my palm pre for 199$ out the door. Not to mention, after using Sprint's cheapest pre plan (450 mins/unlimited data) for 3 months, i become a premier member, and am eligible for a phone upgrade in 12 months instead of 22. So If palm follows apple's lead on the release cycle, I can get the next iteration for the full discount price. Just saying is all....

[davem56]

I purchased the original iPhone in November 2007, and the white 16GB 3G in July 2008 within 1 week of its release. I don't get the option to commit to a 2-year contract and I have to pay a ridiculous $699 to get the 32GB 3GS! I called AT&T twice asking why, pointed them to their own iPhone FAQ which states I should be able to commit to a 2-year contract and get the 32GB for $499. They said nope, I had to have my phone for 1 year. I pointed out that then nobody with a 3G would qualify because the 3G came out less than a year ago in July 2008. Then they referred to magical formulas about who qualifies and who doesn't and just told me too bad. I'm willing to pay $399 or $499 for the new 3GS, but not $599 and $699! I went to the store with iPhone FAQ printed-out in hand, posed the same questions, and asked them to show me where it states I can't get the $499 price or what is special about my account that disqualifies me from the $499 price and they again gave me the same answer, brushing me off and referred to magical formulas.

After walking out of AT&T I immediately went to the store next-door to transfer my number back to T-Mobile, who always had good customer service and fewer dropped calls. Unfortunately it wasn't an official T-Mobile store and couldn't do number ports so I couldn't cancel AT&T on the spot. This poor customer service and lack of answers from AT&T makes me mad, and not only am I going to quit AT&T and go back to T-Mobile, but I'm now considering not buying any more Apple stuff. Currently I'm on a white Intel MacBook (which I only bought because I was interested in checking out the iPhone SDK) and was looking to get an nVidia Mac Mini or MacBook Pro, but now screw that.

AT&T wants me to wait until December, at which point I will be able to get the iPhone 3GS for $400 less than what they're asking me now, but it will have be halfway into its life-cycle, then they'll just screw me again in 6 months when the 4th gen iPhone comes out 6 months later.

Note that I'm not ******** about not being able to get the $199 and $299 price points, but not being able to get the $399 and $499 price-points that their FAQ says everyone should be able to get with a 2-year commitment, and they have no explanation as to why I can't.

[jmcintire]

Why not just wait until next year and get the 4th-gen model for the inevitable $199 price point? If you install the 3.0 OS, there aren't that many compelling reasons to upgrade, anyway. Speed? The 4th-gen model will probably be even faster. Some people upgrade Windows only on every 2 versions (i.e. NT 4.0 to XP to Windows 7), and it may just be more practical to upgrade the iPhone once every 2 generations.

[denversel]

I cannot speak for other AT&T stores, but you should be able to purchase the 3GS at ANY time for the $499 price with a 2-year contract extension. There are three levels of pricing: the fully-discounted price ($299 when eligible for upgrade and 2-yr contract); early upgrade price ($499 w/ 2-yr contract); and no-commitment price ($699). The information you have been given is incorrect, and for that I apologize. Have you tried checking out the AT&T website or using *NEW# on your phone to check your eligibility? The whole upgrade policy has been a disaster since the beginning and it can get very confusing for all parties. However, it is AT&T's responsibility to ensure that all of their associates are familiar with the changes in policies to ensure that these situations do not occur. But my own experience working with other AT&T employees has been less than satisfactory. Even as an AT&T employee, I too would have to pay the $399/499 for an early upgrade as I have only had my 3G Iphone for a few months. But the policy that is currently in place allows any current Iphone user to upgrade to a 3GS for at least the early upgrade pricing.

[jfpcanny]

Scott - I don't know if Jets fans are eligible for any upgrades. I'm sure you know that AT&T left New York for Texas. I'm no fan of the Texas NFL teams, but I'm OK with the AT&T change on the upgrade policy for moving from the iPhone 3G to the 3G S.

The upgrade price policy change was reflected Thursday afternoon with my on-line account management. Walked in at 5 PM (no pre-order) Friday to the local AT&T Wireless store and was out in 10 minutes with the 3GS working with my number (on new SIM).
Incredibly easy. And much faster the the iTunes' restore from the 3G I bought 30 July '08.
It's another 2 year commitment, but if the battery life on the 3G S is all it's cracked up to be, I'm OK.
(I'm on $99.99 unlimited call plan. Before the upgrade policy price change, my AT&T Wireless on-line account pages indicated that I needed to wait until December for the discounted price.)

[jmcintire]

Even if I could upgrade for cheap now, I would probably wait for the inevitable 2010 refresh, in the hopes that the successor to the 3G S will have an OLED display, support LTE technology, which AT&T should begin to implement next year (or even one that is available to Verizon subscribers), and features a wallpaper-based home screen rather than just a grid of icons.

[davem56]

Primarily I want the better camera with video record since I carry a phone around more than a camera. Also in the AT&T store I found Safari to be so much faster side-by-side with my 3G, and better battery life would be welcome.

Anyway, I've canceled AT&T and will be paying the $120 cancellation fee. I ported my number to T-Mobile on a non-contract plan using the old Motorola RIZR phone I had before the iPhone. I realized how much better the camera in my old Motorola is than the first two iPhones. And it had video record (though lower res). I also didn't care too much for being forced to pay $30 a month for slow 3G data that I hardly ever used because it was so slow, and $15 for 1500 text messages on top of that. Bluetooth call quality with my BMW system is also much better with my Motorola.

If I do decide to go back to AT&T just for the iPhone 3GS, I can port my number back and still save a bunch of money over what they were asking. It's just ridiculous to me that I could show AT&T their own published iPhone FAQ and they could not explain to me why I could not get the 32GB 3GS for $499 w/ a renewed 2 year contract. If they just sold me the 3GS at the prices stated in their FAQ I would still be a customer and they would have made more profit. Now they lost me, but I can go back to them and get the 3GS for less money as a new customer, even taking into account the cancellation fee. Either way, they lost out.

There's a iPhone 3G 3.0 jailbreak and unlock coming out soon so I may just use the 3G on T-Mobile. I can live without AT&T's slow and crippled 3G (why am I paying $30 a month for data when it's always telling me I need to connect to WiFi to do things?) and visual voicemail.

AT&T is junk.

[sshravan]

I am in the same boat. They won't let me upgrade either. This is not at all fair that anyone who pays more than 99 for voice plan can upgrade. This is total BS. I am waiting for my contract to run out and will get the 4th gen iPhone next year and leave AT&T. Unlock it and use it with TMo.

[Qbnkelt]

I was able to upgrade. I got the 32 gig for $299 plus the Apple Care, came to around $370 or so. The experience at the Pentagon City store was remarkably easy, especially when considering that I arrived at the store at just past five in the afternoon. I counted ten people ahead of me in line. Walked in the store at just past 5:30, the first person took my account info, got the phone, my credit card info, sent me to get it activated and I walked out with the phone plus a carrying case just before six in the afternoon.
Love the phone, love the aps, amazing experience at the store, not one single solitary complaint.
Now...I've got a BB Bold and a 3G S iPhone. Interesting to see which one becomes my go-to phone!!!

[bdubs1975]

I have iphone 3G; my wife has Treo 750. We have a 700minute/month shared plan. Her upgrade date was 7-28-09; mine was 8-3-09. After just reviewing our account and upgrade status, I discovered that I am now able to upgrade the handset (I've been an iphone owner since it was first released), but my wife is not. it says she may qualify for the regular iphone upgrade pricing on 7-28-09. doesn't seem to make any sense to me.

[Edwin-schemer]

Bought the 3G 9/18/08. On-line check showed upgrade eligibility on 6/26/09.
Went to AT&T store yesterday (6/19) and they accepted my pre-order of a 16 GB at 199. However they chard sales tax on the full price (586 or so). I should get the phone on or after 6/26.

[zackjones87]

I was able to purchase the 16 gb 3GS for $199 even though I bought a 3G this past April. Didn't know if it was some kind of mistake and didn't care :-)

[imatoy]

i'm in the same boat. I purchased the 3G in April...2 weeks shy of their "30 day" exchange program.

How were you able to get the new one for $199?? did you do it on the phone or in the store? where do you live?
:)

please let me in on any of your secrets!

[bcknick]

I didn't get the discount upgrade so I just added a line and removed the data plan from my old iphone so i'm just paying an extra $10 a month for an additional line until I can cancel it next year

[hawaiiinsomniac]

I purchased both previous models of the iPhone on launch date.

Because my plan isn't over $100. I have 450 minutes monthly and 1500 SMS, and I barely use 200 minutes, I am not eligible until Dec. 2009. I don't plan to get this model iPhone and I'm pretty peeved about the whole situation.

[mqandil]

We have two family plan in our family and a total for 8 iphones. We purchased the first generation phone on day 1 and upgraded to G3 phone on day 1 again. We have the 4000 min plan but I make lots of international calls so my monthly bill is over $2500 every month. I went to the AT&T store and was told non of my lines are eligible for upgrade. I ended up upgrading and paying full price ($699) for 3 iphones 32 Gigs. Very sad how AT&T treats apple customers. I would never signed up with AT&T if I can have the iphone some where else. Apple needs to dump AT&T and restore the customer service to their own customers. We had enough of AT&T.
The funny thing is I was told the night before introduction that they will open the door to people who never pre-ordered at 9:00 AM on Friday morning and if I wanted one I should try to come early and wait in line because they only have 60 3GS iphones. Well I arrived at 9:00 AM and there was no line. I went directly to the counter and picked up the 3 phones. They told me I can buy more if I want to, because they only sold 3 iphones all morning!! I could not believe it!! But I guess people and in particular Apple customers are not going to pay these inflated prices, and lets wait and see what are the sales of the new phone look like. I have a feeling the first day was a disappointment to both Apple & AT&T... Let me say it again from a hard core apple customers who have bought over $100K in Apple equipment in the past 4 years. Dump AT&T before you start losing your own customers... Mark Qandil

[ezatnova]

@ mqandil: I have a revolutionary sollution for your $2500 per month phone bill woes..... a landline with unlimited long distance. Probly be...I dunno, $200 at MOST.

[TheReverendDC]

WOW! My friends and I want to be a part of your family....PLEASE!