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Apple Using Streamlined Purchase Process for T-Mobile and AT&T iPhone SE Buyers

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Apple is streamlining its iPhone purchase process with the launch of the iPhone SE, and has introduced a new buying method that allows customers to purchase T-Mobile and AT&T devices without inputting their current carrier information.

iPhone-SE-3-stacked.jpg

As outlined by Bloomberg, customers typically need to provide their wireless phone number and social security number when making an iPhone purchase, a process that allows their carrier to do a credit check and approve the transaction to ensure the person receiving the device will pay their cellular phone bill.

With the iPhone SE, AT&T and T-Mobile customers will not need to provide their carrier information when checking out, and can instead connect when turning on the iPhone SE for the first time. Customers also do not need to select a network plan at the time of purchase, cutting down on carrier involvement when a person buys an iPhone from Apple.

Apple told retail employees that the new method is called "on-device authentication," and it makes the iPhone checkout process quicker. The purchase process is available online right now and will be implemented in stores on March 29.

Apple already has a "Connect on your own later" option for iPhone 13 buyers who don't want to input their information at the time of purchase, but this is apparently separate from the way the iPhone SE on-device authentication works. Apple also offers unlocked devices that can be purchased without a carrier association.

As of right now, on-device authentication is limited to AT&T and T-Mobile customers who purchase an iPhone SE, but Apple is planning to expand it to Verizon and could also implement the feature for flagship iPhone purchases in the future to make the preorder process smoother.

Article Link: Apple Using Streamlined Purchase Process for T-Mobile and AT&T iPhone SE Buyers
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/17/iphone-se-streamlined-purchase-process/
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“Customers also do not need to select a network plan at the time of purchase, cutting down on carrier involvement when a person buys an iPhone from Apple.”

Does this signal the end of the $30 carrier discount on iPhone 13/13 mini and iPhone 12/12 mini models? I always hated how Apple made you pay more for an unlocked phone.
 
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Lamborrari said:
“Customers also do not need to select a network plan at the time of purchase, cutting down on carrier involvement when a person buys an iPhone from Apple.”

Does this signal the end of the $30 carrier discount on iPhone 13/13 mini and iPhone 12/12 mini models? I always hated how Apple made you pay more for an unlocked phone.
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I don't think that is Apple making you pay more, but rather the carrier providing a discount. I do not love much of the cell phone ecosystem in Canada (pricing is generally awful compared to most other regions of the world), but it is very nice having all cell phones sold in Canada since Dec 2017 required to be unlocked and all carriers being required to unlock your cell phone on request if it was previously locked.
 
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Lamborrari said:
“Customers also do not need to select a network plan at the time of purchase, cutting down on carrier involvement when a person buys an iPhone from Apple.”

Does this signal the end of the $30 carrier discount on iPhone 13/13 mini and iPhone 12/12 mini models? I always hated how Apple made you pay more for an unlocked phone.
Click to expand...
Canada has never had that $30 discount if buying a phone from Apple. You either get the phone on your plan from the Apple Store and it is billed by the carrier, or you buy it without a contract with no discount.

So I'd assume that $30 is going away.
 
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Lamborrari said:
“Customers also do not need to select a network plan at the time of purchase, cutting down on carrier involvement when a person buys an iPhone from Apple.”

Does this signal the end of the $30 carrier discount on iPhone 13/13 mini and iPhone 12/12 mini models? I always hated how Apple made you pay more for an unlocked phone.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I was wondering. I checked and the answer is no. iPhone 12 and 13 are still $30 more if you don't choose a carrier and select "Connect on your own later" which is dumb. Apple only did away with the extra $30 charge for the new iPhone SE and the 11.

And why is Sprint still listed as a carrier? They got bought out by T-Mobile years ago.
 
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sw1tcher said:
Exactly what I was wondering. I checked and the answer is no. iPhone 12 and 13 are still $30 more if you don't choose a carrier and select "Connect on your own later" which is dumb. Apple only did away with the extra $30 charge for the new iPhone SE and the 11.

And why is Sprint still listed as a carrier? They got bought out by T-Mobile years ago.
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Sprint's billing system is still not integrated into T Mobile's. While they are shutting off the sprint network, and moving everyone to T Mobile, the billing system will take longer to integrate
 
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Apple recognizing that US store employees are not knowledgeable enough about all the options for all carriers and putting the burden in the hands of the end-user. It won't reduce the customer service calls for "errors", it merely shifts the blame to the end-user, including the activation fee for ATT (and Verizon).
Anyway I can easily see Apple Store employees saying the customer can get an automatic $30 discount on 13 mini and 13 (and 12 mini and 12) without activation.
Wondering what happens if the customer tells the store employee they want to activate, get the phone at a discount and then change their mind... and how the discount will be charged after the sale... I know, not going to happen!
 
Lamborrari said:
“Customers also do not need to select a network plan at the time of purchase, cutting down on carrier involvement when a person buys an iPhone from Apple.”

Does this signal the end of the $30 carrier discount on iPhone 13/13 mini and iPhone 12/12 mini models? I always hated how Apple made you pay more for an unlocked phone.
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Most likely not, that's been rumored heavily to be due to their inclusion of 5G mmWave in those models which bumps the modem price while the SE just has basic 5G.
 
imdropbear said:
That's actually sad. But if there is the option to buy them unlocked, I guess it's not *that* bad.
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True, but many people wont buy them from apple directly but rather their carrier or a store that has agreements in place with carriers to only sell carrier specific phones. Essentially locking you on a specific network and making device transfers difficult.
 
ian87w said:
This US carrier stuff is so confusing and weird. Everybody else in the world doesn't seem to have any problems with people buying phones without anything to do with the carriers.
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It’s that Capitalist thing America is built on. You can basically take most of this article’s subject matter and apply it broadly to most anything in the US, like Healthcare.
 
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ian87w said:
This US carrier stuff is so confusing and weird. Everybody else in the world doesn't seem to have any problems with people buying phones without anything to do with the carriers.
Click to expand...

You can easily buy a phone in the U.S. without anything to do with a carrier.

About the only potential reason to buy a phone through a carrier here is if they are offering some sort of meaningful discount or inflated trade-in offer.
 
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I really hope that this model applies to all phones. I worked at apple retail from 2007-2013 and when the iPhone launched and we activated in store (either the 3G or 3GS) it was a nightmare. The activation process was the worst and if it failed we had to DOA the phone and try it on a new one. I remember some customers being in store for 2 hours due to day one activation issues. The worst was someone who was there for 4 hours and the numbers ported to the wrong phones.
 
Can I use this method to purchase replacements phones and then swap them into current AT&T devices?
 
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