Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

AT&T just made it a lot easier to upgrade your phone

AT&T Storefront with logo.
AT&T

Do you want to upgrade your phone more than once a year? What about three times a year? Are you on AT&T? If you answered yes to those questions, then AT&T’s new “Next Up Anytime” early upgrade program is made for you. With this add-on, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone three times a year for just $10 extra every month. It will be available starting July 16.

Currently, AT&T has its “Next Up” add-on, which has been available for the past several years. This program costs $6 extra per month and lets you upgrade by trading in your existing phone after at least half of it is paid off. But the new Next Up Anytime option gives you some more flexibility.

With the Next Up Anytime program, there are two ways to upgrade your phone up to three times a year, according to AT&T’s blog post:

  1. Once you pay off 33% or more of your phone, you can upgrade to a new device. This also means you can take advantage of AT&T’s trade-in and other upgrade promo offers.
  2. Upgrade anytime after you make one installment payment and the first Next Up Anytime payment.

Again, this program only allows you to upgrade three times per year — anything more than that, you’ll have to figure it out on your own. Now, I’m not sure who actually needs to upgrade their phone that many times every single year. I feel that most people upgrade every couple of years, if not annually. But three times a year? That just seems a little much.

Sure, there are always great Android phones that come out every couple of months, and Apple releases a new iPhone line every year. If you want to stay on top of all of the cutting-edge mobile tech or just want to switch things up often, this could be a good option for you.

Christine Romero-Chan
Christine Romero-Chan has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade. She graduated from California…
iOS 18 release date: here’s when your iPhone will get the update
Someone holding an iPhone 14 with the display turned on.

At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 keynote, the company revealed the next major iteration of iOS 18 for your iPhone. This is one of the biggest updates to the software in years, and it has cool new features like more home screen and control center customizations, RCS support in Messages, scheduled messages, and a slew of features powered by Apple Intelligence.

But are you wondering when you can get iOS 18 to try it out yourself? Here are all the details about when you can get iOS 18 on your compatible iPhone.
iOS 18 developer beta release date

Read more
T-Mobile just got in big trouble
T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert standing in front of a banner that reads Internet Freedom.

T-Mobile just got into some trouble with the National Advertising Program (NAD), a part of the BBB National Programs, an independent non-profit organization, for advertising its supposed “Price Lock” policy for 5G internet service.

Basically, the premise behind the “Price Lock” was a promise not to increase prices for customers who were on the Un-Contract Promise: “Starting January 18, 2024, customers activating or switching to an eligible rate plan get our Price Lock guarantee that only you can change what you pay—and we mean it!”

Read more
5 carriers you should use instead of T-Mobile
The T-Mobile logo on a smartphone.

When it comes to performance, quality, and reliability, T-Mobile is undoubtedly one of the best carriers in the U.S. It offers the fastest speeds and the broadest coverage with reasonably priced plans that include quite a few perks.

However, that may still add up to more than you want to pay; top-notch performance comes with a higher price tag attached. The good news is that T-Mobile is far from the only game in town. In addition to the other two of the big three U.S. carriers -- AT&T and Verizon -- there are dozens of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) that piggyback on the big carrier networks with more affordable plans that offer the same coverage and great performance at a fraction of the price. You’ll get fewer perks, and customer service may not be as responsive, but those may be reasonable tradeoffs for how much you’ll save.

Read more