It’s that time of year again when Apple fans wait in lines for hours to be the first to get their hands on the new iPhone. Apple expects record number from release of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
Earlier this month, Apple execs said sales of the new iPhones were “on pace to beat last year’s 10 million unit first-weekend record.” All four major U.S. carriers began selling the new iPhones at 8 a.m. local time Friday morning.
The listed price for the iPhone 6s is $649.99 and $749.99 for the 6s Plus, but with the new installment plan options being offered by all the major carriers, pricing gets a bit complicated.
Sprint is perhaps the most aggressive with its pricing, recently announcing that it will offer the phones for just $1 per month on their installment plan. This is in response to T-Mobile US’ JUMP On Demand plan, which offers a $5 per month plan.
Sprint’s plan allows customers to trade in their iPhone 6 and get the 16 gigabyte iPhone 6s for $1 per month, plus the cost of Sprint service. Sprint is charging $5.77 per month for the 64 GB iPhone 6s and $10.53 for the 128 GB model. The iPhone 6s Plus will be $5 per month. All offers require customers to trade in an iPhone 6, from any carrier, in a Sprint branded retail store.
T-Mobile’s US customers can get a 16 GB iPhone 6s for $5 per month or a 16 GB iPhone 6s Plus for $9 per month with the JUMP On demand program and with a trade-in of an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. The plan allows for three upgrades per year.
AT&T’s Next 12 plan will offer the phone for $32.50 per month and allow an upgrade after your first 12 payments are made.
Verizon Wireless’ plan offers the 16 GB iPhone 6s for $27.08 per month and the 6s Plus for $31.24 per month with an upgrade after one year of Verizon service. The U.S.’ leading carrier is also offering $400 to switch to Verizon Wireless service and upgrade your phone.
If you want to go straight to the source, Apple announced a new installment payment plan for the iPhone (along with the iPhone 6s models, new Apple TV and a bunch of other stuff). Basically, the iPhone Upgrade Plan allows a consumer to pay monthly and get a new iPhone every 12 months. The plan starts at $32.41 for 24 months for an iPhone 6s.
Here are some early reactions Twitter
Instead of waiting in lines, many customers are turing to the preorder option. Analysts say we could see a record for this option due to customers in China now having access to the pre-order option. T-Mobile US’ CEO John Legere says his company’s pre-order numbers are “through the roof.”
In conjunction with the release of the new iPhones, T-Mobile US announced upgrades to its network in major markets throughout the country. The carrier will now offer 700 MHz extended LTE coverage in 170 markets across the country including Los Angeles; Houston; Miami; and Austin, Texas. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus will be the latest of around 30 devices the company offers capable of taking advantage of the new service.
The phones will be available in gold, silver space gray and the new rose gold metallic finish. The new iPhone models boast a new “3D touch” technology, which responds based on how much pressure the user puts on the screen, as well as a more powerful camera.
Telecom analyst Jim Patterson recently took a look at the new iPhone models and zeroed in on support for T-Mobile US’ band 12 of 700 MHz spectrum as “the most important feature change.”
“Having used a Samsung Galaxy 6 Edge over 700 megahertz for the last six months, I am confident that the 6s and 6s Plus are going to have a big effect on T-Mobile US’ network usage (this includes reducing the strain on the 1700 megahertz and 1900 megahertz networks for older devices). In Dallas, my speeds routinely top 50 megabits per second and can exceed 90 Mbps during nonpeak periods (using a Galaxy S6 Edge) compared to Sprint’s eight to 15 Mbps (using an LTE-equipped Galaxy S5).”
Analysts estimate the phones could sell as many as 13 million units in the first weekend.
