The iPhone 6S is finally here.
But it's price -- $650 --is something most of us can't afford.
And Verizon, Sprint ,T-Mobile, no longer offer new iPhones for $199 with 2-year contract, which means you either have to pay full fare or get it on an installment plant.
However, if you are willing to buy an older phone, or switch carriers, you can now get some incredible deals.
New Installment Plans
The new 6S will cost you $27 to $30 a month at most carriers, on installment. It might not sound like a lot, but that's $650 over 2 years.
And that's on top of your monthly voice and data fees.
But smaller carriers, desperate to lure in new carriers, are offering some of the best deals.
Sprint has just rolled out a $1 a month installment plan for the new 6S, as part of its "iPhone Forever" package.
That tops T-Mobile's "Jump on Demand" deal, announced just a day earlier for $5 a month.
But the catch: Both require you to trade in last years iPhone 6. So you need to have a 6 to get the 6S at such a low price.
If you are trading in a 5 or 5S, Sprint and T-Mobile are still offering lower prices than AT&T or Verizon, around $10 a month for a new phone, depending on your trade.
So those are the lowest prices of major carriers for a 6S.
No Good Trade-In?
Let's say you (like me) are running an ancient iPhone 4S that no one wants, or an old Android phone.
This is still a great time to upgrade to an iPhone, any iPhone.
The best deal with no trade-in is to buy an older iPhone 5S, which is $10 a month at most carriers.
A 5S is FREE with 2-year contact at AT&T, one of the last carriers to still offer contracts.
If you just want a bigger phone, face it: The new 6S doesn't look any different from the 6.
But the 6 is now at half price, $99 with contract at AT&T, with similar markdowns on installment plans.
The Bottom Line
So if you upgrade an older iPhone 4S, 5, or 5S to last year's 6, you'll have a bigger iPhone--for much less than the shiny new 6S-- and you don't waste your money.
