Are StraightTalk users eligible to participate in the iPhone Upgrade Plan? The network carriers are the same, AT&T/Verizon/Spring, etc., but the service is prepaid – no contract and no upgrade benefits.
The phones will certainly work for StraightTalk users, but any word on whether or not Apple will allow StraightTalk users to sign up for the program?
iPhone 5s, iOS 8.4.1
Just out of curiosity, which specific Verizon plan did you initially activate the new iPhone on? Also, when you cancelled the Verizon plan afterwards, did you have to pay any kind of fee or penalty from them? I'm trying to do the same thing, get a iPhone through the upgrade program, and use it with Straight Talk.
savannahlarkins wrote:
So you were able to use the Apple Upgrade Program in store without activating it on one of the 4 major carriers?
You should be able to get it without activation on a specific carrier, since the program is not carrier specific. The selection of a carrier is to ensure you get the correct device to start with, and for those users that still have contracts with specific carriers. This link from Apple will help explain the program. http://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program
Thank you for the response, Ralph Landry1.
I was able to successfully sign up for the iPhone Upgrade Program, but it took a little maneuvering. Apple requires that the devices be activated on one of the major carriers initially, so I signed up for a cheap monthly Verizon service plan without transferring my number.
After I left the store, I popped my StraightTalk sim in and everything was working fine. I called Verizon from the new phone to cancel my other plan with no issues.
At this point (since the question was asked) the iphone 7 has now been released. If I remember right, when checking the iphone upgrade program prior to the release of 7, you could obtain the 6S actually just unlocked if you went to an apple store. It seems like that option is gone now that the 7 has been released.
Also, it looks like if you sign up for AT&T or T-mobile, the phone does not have CDMA enabled, but GSM is enabled if you get the phone for Verizon or Sprint.
Over the years, I've had no end of problems with phones that were "unlocked" but associated with a particular company when purchased variably when traveling to Europe, Asia, and South America. There does not seem to be any way to predict what will happen when you put a foreign SIM card in your device if it has been associated with an american company at some point, even if it is "unlocked".
Call me crazy, but I just want an actually unlocked, association-free phone through the upgrade program and be able to throw in a straighttalk sim, and then throw in a sim from whatever country I'm in later, i.e. how it's supposed to work. Considering that the upgrade program is a financed version of paying in full, is this possible in some way? (dropping verizon is fine... but then will it be locked in some obscure way when I am in Korea or something)? Not one person that I have ever spoken with at at&t, apple, straighttalk, verizon, etc over the years seems to fully understand the repurcussions of any level of locking once you leave this country...
Thanks
The phones purchased through the iPhone upgrade program are unlocked devices, that can be used on any carrier. I believe the selection in the beginning of a carrier is to determine which one of the models you get. These are the only ways to get unlocked devices at the beginning of releases, since Apple does not sell an unlocked device in the US to start with. I'm not sure about other countries, since many have rules about locked versus unlocked devices.
I got my iPhone 6s last year with the iPhone Upgrade program, and reported AT&T as my carrier, because I use them. I did not have a contract with them at the time. I had to restore the phone once after I got it for some other issue, and got the Congratulations message as you would with a regular unlocked phone. That is one of the selling points for the program. I'm not exactly sure how you do it, but I believe it is just looking for information about a current phone number. It isn't really associated with the carrier, except for the model number.
It says in the fine print at the bottom..
Available to qualified customers with a credit check and eligible U.S. credit card. Requires a 24-month installment loan with a 0% APR from Citizens Bank, N.A. (subject to any interest, fees, or other costs payable to the issuer of the credit card), purchase of AppleCare+, and iPhone activation with one of these national carriers: AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon.
Last year, when I went into the store to join the Upgrade Program I had to activate it with AT&T which wasn't a problem at the time. Now I have Straight Talk and I'm trying to make sure I don't make a trip for nothing if they require it to be activated on one of those carriers. The nearest store is 2 hours from me.
The Apple iPhone upgrade program is independent of carrier, see the excellent user tip Phil has prepared:
So you were able to use the Apple Upgrade Program in store without activating it on one of the 4 major carriers?
You may need to contact Apple direct. If you are in the program, you have Apple Care Plus, which means you have telephone support. You can give them a call, or call the store direct.
StraightTalk users eligible for the iPhone Upgrade Plan?
