An iPhone can no longer be purchased by contract with AT&T

Until recently, most carriers in the United States relied on contracts to sell phones. In this way, they tied up customers during the two years that the contract lasted, but the advantage that customers had was that they could buy less economical terminals, something that began to change in the last two years. The start of the change was thanks, in large part, to T-Mobile and now You will no longer be able to purchase an AT&T iPhone by contract at an Apple Store.

Employees of the Apple Store have been informed that the contract option with AT&T, which tied customers during the two years that the contract lasted, will no longer be an option for customers who want to buy an iPhone in a physical store of Manzana. Instead, the only way to acquire an iPhone with that company will be AT&T Next, an installment payment plan from the operator Big Blue.

With Next, AT&T customers will pay monthly installments of the full price of the phone, but will also have the option to renew it sooner than before. There are three options with Next: in terms of 20, 24 or 30 months. Customers can decide to renew to a new phone after 12, 18 or 24 terms. For contracts already made, everything will continue as before (two years of contract).

These changes will also come to Verizon. Apple Stores will no longer allow you to use the "Edge Up" option either. With Edge Up, customers could upgrade before 24 months, being able to purchase a new device after just 18 months. From now on, the Apple Store will only offer the normal option, which means that it can only be renewed (with this option) every two years.

It is unknown if this new system of acquiring an iPhone will leave the United States. In countries like Spain, contracts only served (this is personal opinion) to be able to pay for an expensive terminal if the money was not available at the time of purchasing the phone, so a system of installment payments could benefit users who before they acquired their iPhones by contract. The advantage of the system that will be used in the United States is that installments of the real value of the terminal are paid, not as happened in certain contracts in which we paid much more than the real value of the device.