WASHINGTON 鈥� Apple recently unveiled a new leasing option for its phones that could boil down to a better deal for consumers.
The iPhone Upgrade Program would give customers the chance to pay for unlocked iPhones in installments, with the option of turning in that phone for a new phone after a year. Customers under this plan would have to pay for Apple care plus handset insurance extended warranty program. The phones would remain unlocked, regardless of a person鈥檚 service provider.
Apple鈥檚 move follows a trend among carriers moving away from standard two-year contract. And it鈥檚 a move that puts Apple in a pretty good position, Rob Pegoraro 鈥� tech columnist for USA TODAY and Yahoo! News 鈥� tells 海角精品黑料.
For starters, those seeking the deal would have to go to their nearest Apple store.
鈥淪o, you’re in this room full of other shiny Apple gadgets, you might find yourself buying one along the way,鈥� Pegoraro says.
Also, it pushes cellphone carriers into the background, Pegoraro says.
鈥淭he carriers are just this company you pay for connectivity and bandwidth. That’s it,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ot the place where you buy our phone. You don’t really deal with them all that much.鈥�
鈥淚 can’t imagine the carriers like this plan so much,鈥� Pegoraro adds.
Pegoraro says that depending on your service provider, Apple鈥檚 plan could work out to a better deal.
According to several published reports, Apple’s deal would allow customers to pay between $32.41 and $44.91 a month. Customers would trade in their old devices when new phones come out.
According to Pegoraro, to get a new iPhone each year from AT&T would come out to the same price as Apple, but you wouldn鈥檛 get handset insurance with the AT&T deal. Sprint and T-Mobile have lease options that cut costs compared to what Apple charges.
鈥淚n some cases by considerable amount, if you鈥檙e bringing a phone for trade-in, for instance,鈥� Pegoraro says.
Verizon doesn鈥檛 offer an upgrade program, Pegoraro says.
