AT&T Next Up Anytime lets you get three phone upgrades per year, but it’s not cheap
AT&T announced Next Up Anytime, a new early upgrade program for customers on an AT&T installment plan, which will be available starting July 16th. At $10 per month, it’s more expensive than AT&T’s existing $6 per month Next Up add-on but gives subscribers the option of upgrading their smartphone as soon as just one installment payment has been made, up to three times per year.
With AT&T’s older $6 monthly Next Up add-on, customers are eligible to trade in and upgrade their devices as soon as they pay off half of it, either through monthly installment payments or sooner with a lump sum payment.
The new Next Up Anytime add-on now allows customers to trade in and upgrade a device after just 33 percent of it is paid off. For AT&T’s 36-month installment plans, that means customers can upgrade after the first year while still being able to take advantage of discounts through upgrade promotions.
For those who want a new smartphone more frequently than that, Next Up Anytime also allows customers to upgrade “as soon as one installment payment and the first Next Up Anytime payment is made.” However, customers choosing that approach won’t be eligible for upgrade promotions — they’ll be paying the full price for a new device — and are limited to three upgrades per year.
When AT&T launched its Next monthly fees for annual upgrades in 2013, we did the math and figured out that they could become a huge ripoff with their sliding scale of installment fees. This plan’s flat rate makes things easier, but it’s still going to be a pricey way to live for people who want to swap out their on-contract phones regularly.
An AT&T customer unhappy with the lack of a telephoto lens on the Google Pixel 8A they bought in May could upgrade in August to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 that we expect Samsung will announce next month. At that point, they could switch to AT&T’s new Next Up Anytime add-on, which would allow them to upgrade to the Google Pixel 9 (assuming an earlier release date this year), followed by the iPhone 16 in September and then Samsung Galaxy S25 in February — if anyone actually does this, please contact us.