I can keep my current rate of $115 a month. This includes 10gbss of data, unlimited texts and unlimited phone calls in all 50 states including it territories. This is IF I do the following
I add the iPhone 6 64gbs, then it will only cost me $31.25 extra a month for the next 24 months. That will pay for my phone. So I will not need to come up with $299 and it avoids the $40 activation fee too. At 18 months I can even upgrade to a different phone. If I do not change phones, then after 24 months my rate just goes back to $115 a month.
Again there is no down payment of $299, there is no activation fee of $40.
So all I'm looking at is $31.25(per month extra) x 24 (months) = $750 for the iPhone 6 64 gbs.
Now if you take the other option of paying $299 up front for the iPhone 6 64gbs . You still have to pay the $40 activation fee and your rate will still go up $25 anyway. So you end up paying $299 (iPhone 6) + $40 (activation fee) + 600 ($25 (a month) x 24 (number of months))= $940.
Plan A is $200 cheaper than plan B over 2 years.
Finally, AT&T offered me $200 for my current iPhone 5 32gbs. I think I can get more for it on Craig's List. My iPhone 5 looks and operates like it did on day one. I have zero problems with this phone.
That’s not the cost of the phone. You are being suckered into contract extension by AT&T, and you will pay for it in the long run.
Many of us, myself included, do not use AT&T or other contract carriers—we simply buy unlocked phones and go where we want.
And at the end of those 24 months, do you own the phone? That's what's not clear to me about the AT&T Next plan. I know that if you trade up before the 24 months are up, you trade in the phone, which AT&T will then sell to another customer as a reduced-cost refurb. The resale value of the phone is a variable built into the deal.
When I got the 5s last year, I could have sold my 4s on Craig's list, but it was worth it to me to keep it as an iPod/camera/backup. The 6 is attractive enough that I've been eyeing the Next plan, but will probably keep my 5s until next year, sticking with my habit of upgrading the phone in odd years and the iPad in even years. As long as Apple sticks with their pattern of keeping the same basic design for two years at a time, there's an advantage to the "s" models -- Apple has had time to hash out bugs in the design and the cases are a lot less expensive.
On a more general note, the "here's how I buy my phone, and if you do it another way you're an idiot and don't know what you're really paying" posts are annoying. Yes, I get that there are, broadly speaking, three ways to go: Pay the full freight up front, pay monthly, or pay a down payment and sign a contract. I have looked at all three and chosen the one that makes sense for me. Your mileage may vary.