Oh, for Pete's sake. Depends on what? Depends on how much time is left on your two-year contract with AT&T and how much you spend on your cell phone bill. (It always comes down to money, doesn't it?)

According to AT&T, which keeps the secret of who pays what under lock and key, the bigger your monthly bill, the better your chances of qualifying for the lower prices on the iPhone 3G S. "In general, the more a customer spends with us, the quicker they become eligible for a price break on a new device," AT&T says in its . "For example, iPhone customers who spend more than $99 a month per line with us generally are eligible for an upgrade between 12 and 18 months into their contract."

AT&T's policy is pretty standard for the U.S. cell phone business, which ties free or inexpensive handsets to long-term contracts. If the carrier lets the customer out of the contract early, it could risk losing money on the customer, paying more to the phone maker than it gets out of the customer's wallet.

That doesn't mean the policy hasn't of iPhone owners who have raged against the machine, claiming they're being treated like second-class citizens even though they've owned an iPhone since Day One.

Yes, but not for everyone.