I hate dealing with carriers and their Three Card Monte pricing where you need to hire an account to figure out your billing. At least with MNVO's like Mint Mobile, I get charged $15 per month, 5GB of Data/Hotspot and unlimited everything else.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
First iPhone 16 Carrier Deals Include iPhone 16/16 Pro For Free, $1,000 Off iPhone 16 Pro Max
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
att is a 36 month free phone plan. meaning if you leave att before then, you have to pay off the phone yourself and lose their monthly installment of free. Also have to have the $75.99 a month unlimited plan...
iPhone 16 Series Trade-in Offer
Overview
AT&T is offering a trade-in deal for the iPhone 16 Series. This offer is available in select locations and requires the activation of a new line or an upgrade of an existing line.
Trade-In Offer Details
iPhone 16 Series Trade-in Offer
Overview
AT&T is offering a trade-in deal for the iPhone 16 Series. This offer is available in select locations and requires the activation of a new line or an upgrade of an existing line.
Trade-In Offer Details
- Discounts: Up to $1000 off on iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, and up to $830 off on iPhone 16 and 16 Plus after 36 monthly bill credits.
- Purchase Requirements: Eligible smartphone must be purchased and remain on a qualifying 0% APR 36-month installment plan with monthly payments of up to $44.45. $0 down is available for well-qualified customers; others may require a down payment. Other installment options may vary by location. Customers must pay tax on full retail price and an activation/upgrade fee of $35 per line.
- Trade-in Requirements: The offer is valid with the trade-in of an eligible smartphone that has a minimum trade-in value of $180 for up to $1000 off iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max; min $130-$179 for up to $830 off (min. $35 for up to $350 off) iPhone 16 series.
- Eligible Plans: The offer requires a postpaid unlimited voice and data plan starting at $75.99/mo. plus taxes and fees before discounts. AT&T may temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy. See att.com/unlimited for current unlimited plans. Value Plus, Value Plus VL, and Value Plus Unlimited plans are not eligible.
- Offer and requirements subject to change at any time and without notice.
MOST IMPORTANT NUGGET OF INFO:
If you upgrade or pay up/off the installment agreement on the discounted device early, your credits may cease.
My last upgrade did not include that nugget
Last edited:
Simple Choice for life. When they finally boot me from that plan I’m all the way gone. T-mo used to be cool but now it’s just another carrier.
Not really, no. Do Europeans really think Americans believe the phones are free?
They also give you free international roaming. I've taken advantage of that numerous times. It's amazing not having to acquire a local sim every time.
At least they're getting more subtle with their BS I guess. I worked for VZ back in 2015/16 when they were trying to force everyone onto new, more expensive limited plans. Customers with grandfathered unlimited plans who wanted to upgrade in store or who bought a compatible phone elsewhere were told that "the system" blocked us from activating any devices on their accounts unless they switched to a current plan. A blatant lie of course, but never underestimate the scumminess and greed of carriers.
I only lasted a few months there because I was not a good enough liar to "sell the value" of overpriced 3gb data plans and I refused to sneak insurance and "free" tablets on people's accounts without their permission. I have so many stories about Verizon lol.
Help me understand this, currently I have Get More for $69/mo and the new Unlimited Ultimate is $65/mo. So it's a little less. Not sure what it doesn't come with?
But I will add that I'm not using the Apple Music subscription since I'm already paying for Apple One. And since the new plan gives you Apple One for $20/mo (family plan) and I'm paying $38/mo through Apple right now....seems like a win, at least for me.
We ARE using the Disney Bundle currently so I guess that may increase my bill by $10/mo after 6 months since it's not fully free...but I think I'm still coming out way ahead.
I'll also move my wife and MIL from Do More plans to Unlimited Plus in order to let them get an upgrade credit...but that's $5/mo less as well.
Is it just that my circumstances are different?
Last edited:
Clear as mud, isn't it? So, did you use their "tool" that compares your plans if you switch from Get More to Unlimited Ultimate? It does depend on which a la carte items you add. Like you I opted out of the Apple Music etc. because I get what I need directly from Apple (and Verizon's 200 MB Apple Cloud is a joke) and did take the Disney bundle. So that means I lose Apple Music and Arcade because I refuse to pay for them, but thus wouldn't really miss them.
Even then, my monthly went up a good bit and, as I said, it looked like almost $800 over the 3 year lock-in.
All of this said, I suck at math so I would LOVE for someone to prove me wrong so that I can instead get the "free" upgrade. As it stands though I'm just going to buy the phone and trade-in via a third party site.
I’m pretty sure I’m coming out ahead. I’m going to take their deal on Apple One Family for $20/mo and I heard I can use the Netflix discount and upgrade to Premium so I’ll do that too.
I MAY lay it all out on a spreadsheet tonight to verify. But yes, the tool showed me paying slightly more, but it was more than offset by the savings from Apple One.
It helps that I don’t use Verizon Cloud.
I MAY lay it all out on a spreadsheet tonight to verify. But yes, the tool showed me paying slightly more, but it was more than offset by the savings from Apple One.
It helps that I don’t use Verizon Cloud.
I figured out one problem with the plan cost comparison, which is actually good news. Since the 600 GB storage plan (don't use anyway) and Apple Arcade (don't use despite playing plenty games) come off my plan as included perks they are assuming I still want to keep those services and are including their $6.99 and $5.99 monthly fees in the comparison. You have to affirmatively cancel them, which is a bit cheesy, but that definitely helps with the numbers won't you take those out of the calculations. Now I'm leaning toward switching plans for the deal.
Oh, and that would be interesting to know whether you can do the Max/Netflix perk and upgrade both to no ads as a savings over paying for them directly. Ads on Hulu are annoying enough. No way we can do it on those 2 services as well.
Oh, and that would be interesting to know whether you can do the Max/Netflix perk and upgrade both to no ads as a savings over paying for them directly. Ads on Hulu are annoying enough. No way we can do it on those 2 services as well.
Last edited:
Yep, and even with ”up to $800 - #1000 off on trade in”- I don’t think my 11 Pro Max will fetch up to anywhere close to that.
I must be naive. I just switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. I am due an upgrade, and if I trade my 14 PM for the 16PM, I get $830 deducted from 1199.99 (unless I buy more memory...). So for 24 months my payments are $15.41 x 24 months = 369.84 (my cost over 24 mos) + trade-in $830 credit= 1199.84. They also said they'd pay the activation fee.
No other fees. Just tax on the total cost of the iPhone PM is charged separately.
No other fees. Just tax on the total cost of the iPhone PM is charged separately.
They are giving $1k credit for an iPhone 7 Plus if you get the Pro and you're on the Unlimited Ultimate. Your 11 Pro Max will fetch the same. The only difference is how much they give you in instant credit vs monthly bill credits.
Go look at the deal instead of assuming. You may be pleasantly surprised.
That's why I ignored what the tool told me. I pre-emptively removed Verizon Cloud from all my devices and made the move last night. I didn't do the Excel spreadsheet as I knew the rough math worked out.
My only catch was that I have Apple One Premium and they only to Family (which is has far less storage and is missing some services such as Fitness+ which my wife uses.)
But I'm saving on Netflix anyway which is good.
Yeah, the Apple One Family is unfortunately useless with that storage limit, unless you can bump it like the Netflix upgrade you are going to try (please report back as to how much that is).
So I'll have to continue paying for iCloud and ATV directly. No change there since I already do so.
You can add the 2 TB of storage for $9.99/mo....but I needed that AND Fitness+ which drives the prices to $40/mo so kills the deal.
Aha! And that's what I already pay so this would mean getting the rest of this Apple One for no additional cost. Nice.
Also realized that I won't need to add the Disney bundle since we'd still get it through my wife's Play More plan (unless and until we see a reason to change that plan of course).
This is looking better and better.