Apple installments bring quicker, cheaper iPhone upgrades

With a new iPhone somewhere on the horizon (as there is every year), Apple has just launched a new payment installments plan that makes it easy to trade in an older iPhone for a newer model. Dubbed "Trade Up With Installments," the new plan allows existing iPhone owners to trade-in their device, and put the price towards the monthly payments of their new iPhone, making them as low as $15/mo and as high as $35/mo.

The trade-in values are pretty straight forward, with Apple even being generous enough to offer $100 for the iPhone 4 and 4S. The iPhone 5, 5S, and 5C will get users $200, the iPhone 6 is $300, and the 6 Plus is $350. The main factors affecting the new monthly payment amount are which iPhone model customers want to upgrade to, and what storage size.

For example, if someone wanted to trade in any version of the iPhone 5 for a 16GB iPhone 6 Plus, their monthly payment would be $18.70, or $22.87 for the 64GB model. An iPhone 6 trade-in for an iPhone 6S would result in monthly payments between $14.54 and $22.87. Even the biggest upgrade/most expensive option is reasonable, with an iPhone 4 trade-in towards a 128GB iPhone 6S Plus costing $35.37 per month.

Also cools is that non-iPhone owners are also eligible for the program, with Apple offering up to $300 for Android devices. A Samsung Galaxy S6, for example, would get $290 towards the purchase of a new iPhone.

The whole exchange can be carried out at any Apple Store. Customers will essentially be signing up for a 24-month interest-free loan with Citizens Bank, which handles the purchase of the new iPhone minus the trade-in.

SOURCE Apple