How many people are actually in a position to afford the newest iPhone (which somehow renders the older one instantly crap)?
Newest iPhone 6, 16GB, is $99 with a 2 year contract at Sprint.
When you can SELL your old iPhone for more than the cost of the subsidized new contract iPhone model, it doesn't really matter, now does it? When i moved from my iPhone 4s to a iPhone 5, I sold my 4s for $275. . . which more than covered the upgrade costs and, since there were some other spiffs being offered, I got the new iPhone 5, and put $175 in my pocket. My monthly cellular phone rate did not change. Two years later, when I moved to my new iPhone 6, I sold the 16GB iPhone 5 for $280 on eBay . . . $20 less than I paid for my new 64GB iPhone 6. Ergo, my iPhone 5, cost me $20 for two years use, plus my contract payments. It would have cost me more for one of the Android junk. . . because Androids don't sell worth a damn at the end of their contracts.