Since yesterday’s announcement of AT&T’s “generous” upgrade deal on the iPhone 4, many U.S.-based iLounge readers have expressed confusion over whether or not they would be eligible for the base $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB pricing. So we’ve put together this handy guide that will take you through the process of finding out your upgrade eligibility, and how to translate the response into real world iPhone 4 prices.
Step 1: If you’re an AT&T customer, use the AT&T calling code to get a free text message on eligibility.
While it is possible to go to AT&T’s wireless website, log in, and click on a particular link in order to learn your upgrade status, it’s way easier to simply dial *639# from your AT&T phone. Placing this call lets the company know that you’d like to know your upgrade eligibility status, which it returns in a text message.
Step 1a: For non-AT&T customers:
You’ll be eligible for the $199/$299 pricing. You can skip Step 2.
Step 2: Wait for the text message from AT&T.
If you followed Step 1, you should soon be receiving a text from AT&T which will tell you your upgrade eligibility status. If your message looks like this:
Then you’ll be able to purchase the iPhone 4 at the $199/$299 price points with a new two-year agreement. This means that your contract will be restarted on the day of iPhone 4 activation with a new two-year commitment, and AT&T’s new, higher early termination fee of $325.
If your message looks like this:
Then you won’t be eligible for the $199/$299 pricing, but can take advantage of the “early upgrade” pricing of $399 for the 16GB model and $499 for 32GB model, although you’ll still have to sign another two-year agreement, with the ETF.
Step 3 (Optional): Buy off-contract. No matter what your upgrade eligibility status may be, if you’d like to buy an iPhone 4 from AT&T but don’t want to sign a contract at all, you can pay what’s known as “no commitment” pricing, which is $599 for the 16GB model and $699 for the 32GB model. Keep in mind that even with the no commitment option, your unit will still be carrier-locked to AT&T.
Note: Pricing for the iPhone 4 in France, Germany, the U.K., and Japan has yet to be announced.