iPhone 5 must be en route, AT&T just raised early upgrade fees

We don’t know when Apple’s planning on releasing the iPhone 5 just yet, but some quick moves from AT&T today might hint that it’s on the way. AT&T has begun making some curious tweaks to their upgrade plans, raising their early upgrade fees by $50.00.

Beginning this week it will cost you $299 for the iPhone 3GS, $449 for the 16GB iPhone 4, and $549 for the 32GB iPhone 4 if you’re upgrading early.  It kind of makes you wonder what it’s going to cost for the iPhone 5 when it’s released.

Here’s the money quote:

“As mobile devices become more sophisticated, their cost goes up. This change reflects the increased costs, while still allowing us to offer customers the latest device before they qualify.”

While there’s obviously no mention of an iPhone 5, these types of price changes usually occur before a big announcement. Back in 2010 AT&T increased their early termination fees for contracts to $325.00 just before the iPhone 4 was announced.

We’re not saying that the iPhone 5 will be announced any time soon, but we’re certainly saying that it sounds like AT&T is trying to get their ducks in a row before it’s released. We wouldn’t be surprised if more changes were rolled out to capitalize on iPhone 5 demand. That’s just how AT&T rolls.

Article Via Apple Insider
Photo Credit: Gizmodo

Joshua is the Content Marketing Manager at BuySellAds. He’s also the founder of Macgasm.net. And since all that doesn’t quite give him enough content to wrangle, he’s also a technology journalist in his spare time, with bylines at PCWorld, Macworld and TechHive.