Apple is already informing customers about early upgrade pricing for the iPhone 4S, even though pre-orders are only set to start on October 7th. For a Verizon iPhone 4 bought in February, for instance, a 16GB 4S is $649, while a 32GB model is $749, and 64GB is $849. Regular upgrade/new customer prices are $199, $299 and $399, respectively.
The latter amounts are heavily subsidized by carriers however, meaning that the early upgrade prices are more reflective of the 4S’ true cost. A 64GB 4S is in fact $20 more expensive than a 64GB 3G iPad 2, although the 4S does have the advantage of a dedicated GPS receiver and a “world phone” voice/data chipset.
Also available from Apple is the cost of upgrading to an 8GB iPhone 4. An early switch is $549, far in excess of the regular $99.
