T-Mobile wants to pay for half of your new iPhone every year with ‘Go5G Next’

T-Mobile announced its latest wireless plan back in April called Go5G Plus with 24-month installment terms, a 30-day money-back guarantee, pricing below Verizon/AT&T, and more. Now the Uncarrier is back with Go5G Next which includes a new phone every year with T-Mobile picking up half of the cost plus a free 5G smartphone to start.

T-Mobile announced the new plan today in a press release:

The Un-carrier is one-upping the upgrade. T-Mobile today announced Go5G Next, the only plan in wireless that guarantees customers are upgrade-ready every year and that new and existing customers always get the same great phone deals. The latest plan from T-Mobile—also available for businesses with Go5G Business Next—means that new and existing customers always have access to the latest technology to light up America’s leading 5G network.

Verizon and AT&T have both killed off 24 and 30-month device installment plans in favor of 36-month terms, which means you typically need to pay extra to upgrade your phone yearly.

With Go5G Next, not only is T-Mobile sticking with a 24-month installment term but it’s only requiring customers to pay 50% of their device off before being able to upgrade each year.

Notably, instead of having to pay the other 50% device balance off, T-Mobile is covering that for Go5G Next customers each year. Plus, the Uncarrier is offering a free 5G phone for new and current customers to get started.

Here’s how the company describes how it works:

1. Switch to Go5G Next.
2. Score the latest 5G phone on T-Mobile’s no-interest phone payment plan (EIP) with any eligible offer. Right now, that’s a free 5G smartphone for both new and existing customers with eligible trade-in via 24 monthly bill credits plus tax.
3. Once you’ve paid off half your phone, you’re eligible to upgrade! In most cases, customers are upgrade-ready every single year or sooner.
4. Simply trade in your old phone (T-Mobile pays off your remaining EIP!) and upgrade to the latest phone on a new EIP.

T-Mobile also says customers can choose to upgrade as soon as every 6 months if at least 50% of their phone is paid off.

9to5Mac’s take

While T-Mobile paying for half of your new smartphone every year sounds great, what’s happening is a packaged cost with the new plan – but it’s still a net positive.

When you choose the new Go5G Next plan, it’s more expensive than the Go5G Plus plan by $10/month per line. That ends up being $120 more per year per line to get the ~$400-500 yearly credit of T-Mobile paying off half of your device – a $280-380 net value.

Another way to look at it is T-Mobile’s Go5G Next has a total monthly cost roughly equal to Verizon and AT&T while including yearly upgrades instead of getting a new phone every three years.

Go5G next will launch on August 24 – but of course, Apple fans will probably want to wait until next month for the iPhone 15 lineup to arrive.

Note: The top of T-Mobile’s chart says “Price Per Line” but it means price per 1/2/3/4 lines.