Upgrading to the iPhone 4S

06.10.2011
It happens every time Apple produces a new iPhone: Current iPhone users and owners of other smartphones start making plans to ditch their old devices and upgrade to the new model. Unlike with moving from one version of MacBook Air to the next, though, there are complications to upgrading your iPhone--and they come in the form of multi-year commitments to wireless carriers.

The iPhone 4S adds a new wrinkle to the mix. There are now wireless partners offering the phone-- joins previous iPhone 4 carriers and to provide service for the 4S model.

The iPhone 4S becomes available on October 14, with preorders beginning Friday. A 16GB iPhone 4S costs $199, while the 32GB model sells for $299 and a 64GB phone will set you back $399. Those prices assume you'll sign a two-year contract with one of the three carriers mentioned above, however--and that you're eligible to get a phone at that subsidized price.

Generally speaking, once you sign your two-year contract for phone service with a carrier, you're locked into that piece of hardware for the duration. You can check your eligibility with your carrier--more on that in a moment--but Apple offers an easier way. , type in a few details about your account, and you'll quickly see when you are eligible for an upgrade, along with what price you'd pay if you choose to upgrade early instead.

At AT&T, you can be eligible for an "early upgrade" as little as a year into your last contract if . There are four ways to check your eligibility: You can dial *639# into your iPhone; you can go to and enter your account information; you can call the company's customer service line at 1-800-331-0500; or you can in your area. AT&T told that it expected to release a new AT&T Upgrader App this week that would let users check their eligibility and pre-order the new phone starting Friday; as this article was published, the Upgrader app had not been added to the App Store, however.