Upgrading your iPhone just got easier on another carrier

Sprint says it’s shifting entirely to a model where customers lease their phones instead of buying them at a discount.

Sprint’s leasing differs from monthly phone payments on other carriers where you’re actually paying off the value of the device until you own it free and clear (an exception being Tmo’s Jump on-demand). About 51 percent of Sprint’s customers who purchased a new phone last quarter used the leasing option, the article reported.

Sprint has just kicked off a new offer called iPhone Forever, allowing iPhone fans to upgrade anytime if they don’t have the latest model. The same offer stands for existing Sprint customers who are eligible for an upgrade as well. Anytime customers don’t have the latest iPhone, they can bring their iPhone and upgrade on the spot.

Sprint has gone on a price-cutting tear recently, severely undercutting the competition by offering to cut Verizon and AT&T customers’ bills in half if they switch, and offering the cheapest iPhone plan among the biggest four cell phone carriers. And when a new iPhone launches, you can get it. Without any additional cost.

Sprint Corporation, through its auxiliaries, provides various wireless and wireline communications products and services to consumers, businesses, government subscribers, and resellers in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. However, subscribers that upgrade to a new iPhone before December 31 can get a special price of $15 per month.

Additionally, Sprint announced a new plan for iPhone lovers.

The Japanese telco said it bought 22.87 million shares for US$86.91 million, or around 10.86 billion yen (€78 million), increasing its stake by just over half a percentage point to 79.99%.

These new iPhone upgrade plans are gold for Apple. AT&T still offers two-year contracts, but has indicated they will eventually go away, and has directed its third-party retail partners and dealers to sell its phones only through its Next EIP program.

“We are on the verge of a massive Sprint turnaround, and we feel very good about our prospects”, Claure said. According to Sprint, the iPhone Forever plan will apparently work with the available individual unlimited plans and family pack plans as well.