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iPhone 7 | OT | Pre-order Sept 9, Available Sept 16

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
Anyone got any recommendations for super thin clear cases? I like having something for back scratch protection and a slight bit of drop protection but no bulk.
 

diablos991

Can’t stump the diablos
So when I go to select a device on the website for T-Mobile it says the only way to pay is all up front. There isn't the option for the upgrade program like others carriers.

Does this mean k cannot preorder through Apple for an upgrade program device on T-mobile?
 

SOLDIER

Member
I haven't upgraded my phone in quite a while (still rocking an iPhone 5, not even 5S), but I'm interested in the iPhone 7 Plus. I wanted to ask what you believe the best deal is for the 7. I know Apple has some upgrade plan, but am I better off just selling my current phone on eBay?

My carrier is also AT&T. If I recall, I have to sign up for an additional 2 years in order to get the phone at the actual price. What about the monthly install plan? Is there a particular store where I would be better off signing up for that (Best Buy, Apple, AT&T)?

Lastly, I'm a state employee, and I was wondering which store would give me a government discount?
 

KevinG

Member
HELLO EVERYBODY AND WELCOME TO THE IPHONE UPGRADE PROGRAM POWER HOUR

I'm your host Zeyphersan. You may know me from every fucking Apple thread on this godforsaken site because I really have nothing better to do with my time. There have been a lot (and I mean a lot of questions these past few days surrounding Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program. Which is understandable since it's a great alternative to the carrier's options. But this also means that there's a lot of room for things to be cleared up. Not for good, since I know that never works, but maybe this can help a few people. And maybe, just maybe, you can refer people in the future to this post. It will be updated as things change, of course, as they do. Apple likes to change things, sometimes just a few millimeters at a time. There's also an actually, truly helpful website that Apple just updated with all the new details you can check out, it might save you some time: http://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program

Who am I? Well I'm someone who's on the program itself so I know what the process looks like from the outside. But I also work at those glorious Apple Stores (or I think it's just Apple now, silly me) so I know what goes on inside as well. At least at the retail side which is where this is most important. I'm not going to post anything to "prove" it since I like my job too much, so either believe me or don't. But once again I sort of live in these Apple threads.

Let's get started!*

*All information henceforth will be about the iPhone Upgrade Program, hereby known as iUP, in the United States of America as that is where I work. I don't know how the other countries work and cannot help you there. Also this information is current as to my knowledge both this year and last year, but some things may legitimately change for this launch vs the 6s. I'll provide updated information as soon as I get it, if something I say is incorrect it is not meant to be intentionally misleading. Sorry!

PART ONE: WHAT US THE IPHONE UPGRADE PROGRAM?

Great question! iUP is a program provided by Apple as an alternative to both upgrading through your carrier on their subsidized or device payment plans or paying full price for your shiny new phone. Traditionally, even at the Apple Store, people upgrade their phones by starting a contract with their carrier, either through a two year contract or by starting a payment plan for their device, to be paid off in a set amount of time. With some exceptions both of these options come out to be about the same price give or take, unless you're one of those people still on the AT&T unlimited plans, because AT&T truly, truly hates you.

So what's the difference? With iUP you're making monthly payments to Apple for your device instead of having something else added to your carrier bill. There are some advantages (and potentially disadvantages) to this method, which we'll discuss further. But as a brief overview:

iUP is a program that allows you to upgrade to a new iPhone every single year. It's sort of Apple's admission that yes, every single year at the time time they come out with a new phone so they might as well make it easy to stay on the latest and greatest. You make monthly payments on your phone, and after 12 payments you're free to trade that phone in to Apple and hop onto a new one. It's honestly pretty easy. The mechanics behind the program are as follows:

1) You're paying for the full retail price of the phone plus AppleCare+ over a period of 24 months. After 12 you can upgrade, after 24 you own the phone and don't have to trade it in. Legally speaking it is not a lease since there is no purchase option at the end, you just own it.
2) Because it includes AppleCare, you have the extended warranty should you decide to keep your phone for the full 24 months, and you have two incidents of accidental damage at the Genius Bar
3) The phone is unlocked and can be used with any carrier (there is a caveat to this)
4) You are technically starting a loan with a bank Apple contracts with, CitizensOne. It's a 24 month, interest-free loan, but it is still a loan nonetheless. That means there is an application involved
5) The minimum length of time to be in this commitment is 6 months. After that time you can pay yo to 12 months and get into a new phone, or pay up to 24 months and own the phone. There is nothing that can be done prior to that 6 month mark
6) Yes you can sign up for iUP if you are still on a contract but you are STILL ON THAT CONTRACT. You are obligated to pay it off or wait it out, nothing Apple can do to get you out of that. If you're already on a device payment plan with your carrier and choose to sign up it's possible, but know that you're now on the hook for both payments

Dont worry, we still have yet to get into the REAL nitty-gritty.

PART TWO: FIRST TIMERS

So you're interested in the program, but what does this whole thing look like? Well it all has to take place at a physical Apple Store with an actual human being getting you through this process. To be honest I'm not actually positive the mechanisms behind preorders this year, but if they are like last year:

On the website pick the model you want, and select iPhone Upgrade Program as your desired way to purchase. It should list out local Apple Stores and reservation times for you to pop in and get this thing done. I don't know what it's going to look like as preorders start getting back-ordered. I assume mass chaos. This part is very likely it be updated. But the moral of the story is: preorder online at 12AM Pacific Time this Friday (that's Thursday night for people who think like I do) and try your best to get the phone you want.

!!!SUPER ACTUALLY VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!!

The first time around you could only upgrade at an actual physical store, but this time around it looks like they're letting you apply online. I have, legitimately, no idea what this process looks like. It could be that they let you do the whole thing online, it could be that they're just letting you pick times online to go pick it up in store. This is all new to me, so we'll have to find out what it looks like in a couple days together. The rest of my information will be based on the IN-STORE experience since that is the known variable as of right now. As far as I can tell all upgrades from previous years have to be done in the store anyway

THINGS YOU WILL NEED TO APPLY:

1) An existing post-paid wireless account with one of the four carriers that Apple officially supports: AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon. Nothing else works. Nothing! No MVNOs, no prepaid accounts, nothing. "But Zeyphersan," I hear you saying, "I thought you said the phone was unlocked!" Well it is.... but it still has to be activated on one of those carriers. I guess after the preorders have settled down you can walk in and make a new account with one of them and then start iUP on that new plan but it's a hassle and takes a long time. Know your account information beforehand. It also has to be a personal account, not business or coorporate account. And yes because it's an activation there might be an acitivation fee from your carrier. Nothing can be done about this. But after it's activated it's an unlocked phone I promise!
2) A personal credit (NOT DEBIT) card and your social security number. Business credit card also doesn't work, it has to be personal with enough free credit on there for three months of payments. Why is this required? We'll remember how I said before that this whole thing is technically, legally a loan you're applying for? Yep, credit check. A hard inquiry that will show up on your report. It's a pretty basic check and doesn't really have a lot of requirements, but it's there. Last year there were so many checks getting run at once that CitizensOne got overloaded and people were great credit were being denied. If that happens again.... sorry. Not really much the person helping you can do about it, don't yell at them.
3) Your ID. Please please please don't forget your ID. Apple has an official list of what counts, you have no excuse: http://www.apple.com/retail/iphone/forms-of-id.html
4) Your winning smile. Attaboy.

When you're picking up your phone and you've gone through the process you will be charged the tax on the full retail price of the phone plus the first month's payment. Both of those are easy to figure out, as tax is obviously determined wherever you live and the monthly payment is (RRP+$129)/24 months. If you're choosing to recycle your phone through Apple, which you can totally do, the value of that phone will be added back as a credit on the card that you used to sign up with. Your monthly payments do not decrease. Once you're all signed up you will be mailed a loan letter giving you the ability to access your loan online and check your balance and change the payment method to another credit card or a checking account. And just like that you're done! See you in 12 months!

PART THREE: THE RETURNING VETERANS

Welcome back you old bastards. So you realized that your 6s Plus that was all shiny and new a year ago isn't so shiny and new anymore. Now there's a new phone you want it. Holy shit do you want it. Well luckily you're on the right plan. You did all that baby stuff before last year, welcome to middle school. I'm just going to jump right into it

NOTE: THIS IS THE SECTION THAT IS MOST LIKELY TO BE UPDATED LATER ONCE I GET NEW INFORMATION ON HOW UPGRADES WILL WORK. WHAT I HAVE NOW IS HOW THE UPGRADE PROCESS WENT IF YOU "BOUGHT UP" TO A YEAR SOMETIME IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS

1) Preorder like you were planning to anyway. It doesn't looks like upgrades can be done online at all like new enrollments. Bring your phone and ID and account information and credit card and all that, just like before. It does still have to be activated on the big 4 carriers, there will be another activation fee. Also make an iOS backup before arriving at the store, don't be that guy
2) Your phone will be examined for damage, including, and this is super important, the Liquid Contact Indicator (LCI) located in the SIM tray of your phone. If there is any damage, and if that sensor is tripped at all, you're gonna have to pay the applicable indecent fee (either $29 or $99 depending on the damage) to finish the upgrade. It doesn't matter if the phone is working fine, if that LCI is red be prepared to pay $99 to rectify it. If you check before and notice a red LCI and try to remove it before coming in thinking you're clever you're not, you're just not leaving with a new phone. Once again, don't be that guy. The phones come with AppleCare to make this part easy
3) Trading in your old phone closes out the remaining balance on your loan, and hopping onto a new phone means opening a new loan. YES, THIS MEANS ANOTHER APPLICATION AND ANOTHER HARD INQUIRY ON YOUR CREDIT. The credit card and social security number are super important to have this time around for this reason. Once again don't yell at the poor retail person about this, they don't make the rules.

It should honestly be a simple and straightforward process that totally mirrors the first time, just with you giving up your old phone. And you get to leave with a new phone. Lucky you!

PART FOUR: WHAT IF I WANT LOWER PAYMENTS/NO APPLECARE/A DATE WITH ANNA KENDRICK?

Yes, there is a sister to the iUP program: iPhone Installment Program. It's mostly boring: 24 months, no early upgrade, no AppleCare as part of the cost, and any phone you trade in towards it lowers the monthly payments instead of being put back as credit on your card. Still has the same application process. It's safe and boring but it's there if you want it

I'll be around if you have any questions, and honestly the retail people know their stuff. And if they don't, someone in that building does. If you have more questions I'll be around as well, and there's also the official page like I linked before, all fresh and updated: http://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program

Any comparisons to carrier plans I won't be able to do since there's so, so many different options out there. You'll have to do a little bit of your own research. I'm not here to sell you on iUP like it's the best program ever with no downsides, because it's not true. Sometimes carriers offer great options. I'm just giving you information. Good luck and happy preordering

Sent from my iPad Pro

iUP newbie here:

I thought you could trade in your old phone as credit toward the new one and lower payments? Wife and I were kind of depending on that scenario.
 

TrutaS

Member
iUP newbie here:

I thought you could trade in your old phone as credit toward the new one and lower payments? Wife and I were kind of depending on that scenario.

From what I was told today on the Apple Store, the installments are fixed, but you can trade-in your phone for in-store credit, if you want any accessories for example.
 
Lastly, I'm a state employee, and I was wondering which store would give me a government discount?

Can't answer the others but both Verizon and AT&T have given my dad discounts for being a state employee. I believe you have to sign up through Verizon/AT&T to get the discount.
 

Mr Swine

Banned
The second camera in 7 plus, is it already using zoom when you switch cameras or does it activate only when you go 2x zoom?
 

kaskade

Member
iUP newbie here:

I thought you could trade in your old phone as credit toward the new one and lower payments? Wife and I were kind of depending on that scenario.

I believe when you trade it in at the 12 month mark you pretty much get the rest of the payments wiped then you start fresh. I could be wrong though.

Well, tonight is the annual stay up until 3 am to reserve a phone night. Hopefully it's smooth and I get one reserved in store so I have some piece of mind.
 

LordOfChaos

Member
They cited the removed space as important for the new taptic engine and other stuff. I'm curious if the left side speaker cutouts are actually another speaker, as they seem to still refer to the bottom as one speaker. If it's a faked design I'm let down. The earphone being a speaker is cool, but I'm still going to cover the bottom one 10000% of the time.
 

Danchi

Member
Camera, Photos, Health, Messages, Phone, FaceTime, Stocks, Voice Memos, Podcasts, Mail, Music, Wallet, Safari, Maps, Siri, Tips, Find My iPhone, Settings, Calendar, iTunes Store, App Store, Notes, News, Contacts, Calculator, Compass, Watch, iBooks, Home, Weather, Reminders, Clock, Videos, iCloud Drive, and Find My Friends.

The Settings app is bloatware.

I mean, I can kinda understand calling Camera or Music bloatware (even if I disagree) because there are at least third-party alternatives, but the Settings app?
 

Red

Member
They cited the removed space as important for the new taptic engine and other stuff. I'm curious if the left side speaker cutouts are actually another speaker, as they seem to still refer to the bottom as one speaker. If it's a faked design I'm let down. The earphone being a speaker is cool, but I'm still going to cover the bottom one 10000% of the time.
They didn't indicate the left row of cutouts to be a speaker. When they demoed stereo audio they only showed sound coming from the top and bottom right when the phone was in portrait.
 

KevinG

Member
From what I was told today on the Apple Store, the installments are fixed, but you can trade-in your phone for in-store credit, if you want any accessories for example.

Can the gift card not be used to make a few months of payments to the installment plan?

I don't want to spend $500 on accessories. An Apple gift card is not as good as cash for me and my wife. She has a 6 (64gb) and I have a 6 Plus (64gb), both upgrading the iPhone 7 equivalent of what we have.

Just receiving an Apple gift card might be a deal breaker for us.
 
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iPhone 6s (yesterday)
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iPhone 7

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iPhone 6S Plus (yesterday)
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iPhone 7 Plus

Oof. If you want an iPhone 7 in the UK, you better be able to touch your toes.



Good to know the trade in does work towards the upgrade program as well.
 
Having got an iPad I was considering moving from Android back to iOS, but the removal of the headphone jack is the main reason I won't be. I own multiple pairs of wired headphones, and I don't see why we should have to use an adapter to use them (and lose charging capability at the same time) - there is no benefit.

I'm not against Apple offering the option to use Lightning headphones, but removing the option for the universal standard is a shameless attempt to make money through sales of Lightning headphones and headsets.


  • "But we can make the phone thinner!" - the phone doesn't need to be thinner. If anything, make it thicker and put a bigger battery in it.
  • "But it's waterproof now!" So's my Z3. Released in 2014. Guess what? It has a headphone jack.
  • "Use wireless headphones" - I already own wired headphones which work perfectly fine with, oh I don't know, 99.9% of other mobile devices that offer audio output - and with better sound quality than wireless could manage.
  • "Use the included Lightning earpods" - Plenty of other headphones offer much better sound quality.
  • "Use the adapter" - a poor solution to a problem which absolutely did not need to exist, and shouldn't exist. Plus it disables charging while listening to music. Something I do a lot. I'm doing just that right now actually.
Deliberately removing options, especially one as widespread as the 3.5mm headphone jack, is in no way in the interest of customers. Push Lightning headphones all you want - don't try to force adoption by going against an established standard for no good reason.

Not to mention they've put all the prices up in the UK.

I'm not one to tell people what should and shouldn't be important in their cell phone purchase, so that's no what this post is about. Just wanted to clear up that even though Apple didn't say so on stage, that the 7 and 7+ both got bigger batteries compared to last years models. Supposedly 14% larger in the 7 and 6% larger in the 7+.
 

Nori Chan

Member
I'm on a family contract with someone on att and I'm probably going to remove them. What's the cheapest I can go bill wise with unlimited text and 2 or 3 gb of data?
 

kaskade

Member
Is this the quickest from announcement to release so far? For the iPhone 6s it was announced the 9th, preorders were the 12th then it came out on the 25th. This was announced yesterday, preorders tonight/tomorrow and in stores next Friday. I like this time frame.

Actually looking it up it seems like the 6 had a similar time frame. I guess the 6s was long for whatever reason.
 

Lexxism

Member
Is this the quickest from announcement to release so far? For the iPhone 6s it was announced the 9th, preorders were the 12th then it came out on the 25th. This was announced yesterday, preorders tonight/tomorrow and in stores next Friday. I like this time frame.

Actually looking it up it seems like the 6 had a similar time frame. I guess the 6s was long for whatever reason.
I remember reading somewhere that it was meant to boost their sales before their fiscal reports?
 

AHA-Lambda

Member
the uk prices so high because of the brexit?

According to BBC yes.

And other products have had price increases whilst they were decreased in the US

The iPhone 7 ranges from £599 to £799, depending on the amount of storage. The iPhone 7 Plus ranges from £719 to £919.
That marks an increase on last year's prices, when the entry-level iPhone 6S was £539 and the iPhone 6S Plus was £619, albeit with less storage. US consumers have not seen such significant increases.
They are available to buy from 16 September.
Apple has also raised the prices of other products in the UK, including its iPads, despite the fact that the tablets have just been given price cuts in the US.
The BBC understands this has been done to reflect the weaker pound.
 

Symphonia

Banned
The Settings app is bloatware.

I mean, I can kinda understand calling Camera or Music bloatware (even if I disagree) because there are at least third-party alternatives, but the Settings app?
We've already been through this. Key apps, such as Camera and Settings, are not bloatware. They are heavily used apps. Others, such as Find My Friend, are not very commonly used, thus they are unnecessarily taking up space. Those apps are bloatware.
 

Smellycat

Member
This whole audio nonsense is a disaster. Why get rid of the port? Makes no sense besides making people buy their crappy headphones. $160 for electric toothbrush heads wtf

get real Apple. I might hold on to my 6S till this backfires on them.
yeah right...
 

Erebus

Member
Sitting and thinking if I should bother upgrading. Kinda want 7+, but my normal 6 still works flawlessly and removal of headphones jack is pretty bothersome. Might wait out another year.
Same here. I'm tempted to upgrade for the camera improvements but then again I'm happy with my 6 and its performance.
 
Same here. I'm tempted to upgrade for the camera improvements but then again I'm happy with my 6 and its performance.

Yeah only reason I'm considering it is because I think the rumors about 8 coming next year were probably just confusion over the features on the 8+ including the dual cameras and piano black finish. That and if I essentially get a free upgrade through T-Mobile minus the $100 deposit for the shiny plus...if you put it in a case there's no cosmetic difference other than the camera.
 
Moving to Japan later this year but I think I'm better off buying a phone in the UK rather than going through Japan's draconian process of getting a phone (if you're a foreigner). Likely going to pick up 128GB Plus on Upgrade Program in the UK.

Anyone know/have experience of taking a UK purchased iPhone to Japan? Also, are the FeliCa updates specifically for Japanese models of the phone, or will all phones include them?

Not sure if anyone has the answer, but worth a shot!

Former Japan resident here, and there's pretty much no difference if you're just buying the unit. I bought my 6S at an Apple Store at Omotesando and was there for 15 minutes tops (including the time spent shopping for accessories and having the phone activated).

The process is much longer if you go through a local carrier (Softbank, AU, Docomo...). What takes time is filling up the forms and getting the sim card activated, not getting the actual phone itself. It's worse when you go to a high-traffic store as the wait could stretch hours, so better find a smaller, quieter shop where they can serve you faster.
 
Camera, Photos, Health, Messages, Phone, FaceTime, Stocks, Voice Memos, Podcasts, Mail, Music, Wallet, Safari, Maps, Siri, Tips, Find My iPhone, Settings, Calendar, iTunes Store, App Store, Notes, News, Contacts, Calculator, Compass, Watch, iBooks, Home, Weather, Reminders, Clock, Videos, iCloud Drive, and Find My Friends.


Have you ever used an iPhone from a UK provider? Companies such as O2 put so much of their crap on all phones (including iPhone) and make it a hassle to delete it all.

A lot of those are bloatware, and are hardly used by the majority of iPhone users. Those kind of apps are called bloatware. Either way, that is an insane number of apps to have come pre-installed.

Bullshit. I regularly use all those apps every single day. Not a single one is "bloatware". And you can now hide most. And I love that settings, the appstore, mail, camera, photos, messages, phone, etc are considered "apps" and "bloatware". They contain the basic functionality of your device. As for the other apps, there's nothing approaching the garbage that useless, low quality garbage OEMs put on Android devices.
 

Jeremy

Member
I don't watch many YouTube channels so are there any feature round up/impression vids that are all in one? Hopefully that makes sense.
 

Tobor

Member
Camera, Photos, Health, Messages, Phone, FaceTime, Stocks, Voice Memos, Podcasts, Mail, Music, Wallet, Safari, Maps, Siri, Tips, Find My iPhone, Settings, Calendar, iTunes Store, App Store, Notes, News, Contacts, Calculator, Compass, Watch, iBooks, Home, Weather, Reminders, Clock, Videos, iCloud Drive, and Find My Friends.


Have you ever used an iPhone from a UK provider? Companies such as O2 put so much of their crap on all phones (including iPhone) and make it a hassle to delete it all.

Hahaha. Phone is bloat ware? Messages? Mail? My goodness. I've heard it all now.
 
Not to throw any more confusion out there, but looking in the Apple Store app it says that you can "enroll in the iPhone Upgrade Program online with AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon". "To enroll with "T-Mobile, visit an Apple Store".

So assuming you can actually do the iUP online (which would be pretty awesome, but I could also see it being a disaster), could I do something like this (I understand that no one may know the answer to this for sure). I am currently on AT&T. I want to switch to T-Mobile. My AT&T contract is up on Monday. Could I do the iUP online tonight with AT&T (I know I might have to eat $20 worth of activation by getting an AT&T phone), and then once I receive the iPhone 7+ I want, take it to T-Mobile and use the 7+ to setup a new line of service, port my number, and then close out my AT&T account?
 

Symphonia

Banned
Bullshit. I regularly use all those apps every single day. Not a single one is "bloatware". And you can now hide most. And I love that settings, the appstore, mail, camera, photos, messages, phone, etc are considered "apps" and "bloatware". They contain the basic functionality of your device. As for the other apps, there's nothing approaching the garbage that useless, low quality garbage OEMs put on Android devices.
Are you trying to say that the camera, which Apple call the 'Camera' app, is not an app at all? Mind blown.

Hahaha.Phone is bloat ware? Messages? Mail? My goodness. I've heard it all now.
Seriously?
 

Assault

Member
Hey UK GAF,

How difficult are these new iPhones gonna be to snag on or around the launch period? I only got my 6S in like February but that Jet Black looks too good. I've never bought an iPhone anywhere near the launch periods so any info is appreciated, cheers.
 

icespide

Banned
someone defending samsung bloat ware and trying to say shit like phone, camera and settings are bloatware. now i've seen everything
 
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