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It's nice Visible is providing deals considering the anti-consumer change to Apple Card where you need to be connected to one of the Big Three to finance or even get a CitizensOne installment loan.
Visible is switching to offering lousy bill credits like the major carriers vs rebate credit card like in the past.


Save up to $240 when you join

Purchase a qualifying phone on the Visible+ plan, then enjoy a monthly discount up to 24 months.

Offer disclosure: Limited-time offer; subject to change.

New members will receive a discount off monthly service for the promotional period (12-24 months) with the purchase of an eligible device via device loan or full retail purchase. Eligible devices for this promotion can be found here. Full device cost, including applicable taxes and fees, are required to be paid or financed via Affirm at device purchase. Affirm financing subject to credit approval through Affirm. Standard monthly service pricing applies once the full promotional value is applied. Monthly promotional credits will stop if the member is not on the Visible+ plan or if eligibility requirements are no longer met.

Monthly service credit is not transferable, not redeemable for cash and has no cash value. Member must maintain service for full promotional period (12-24 months) to get full benefit of the promotion; no value will be provided to the member for unused promotional months if an account is terminated.
 
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Article completely fails to mention the duration of the agreement, which is a critical factor.

I have an iPhone 14 Pro on the AT&T deal from last year (pretty much the same terms). We were already on a top tier Unlimited plan so that was fine for us. But the big factor here is that you better not be wanting to upgrade your phone any more often than every 3 years. As long as you are good with that and the plan requirement, then these are good deals. Otherwise they are too restrictive.
 
I am SO f-in glad I moved away from these contract companies. You need to hire an accountant to try and figure out their billing and deals. It's like dealing with a used car lot. I have been using NVMO's since 2007 and I have saved a ton and know exactly what my monthly bill is. It's tough to beat Mint Mobile at $15 mo plus tax with 5GB of data that can be used as a hotspot.
 
Yeah... that could work. Although can I cancel service w/T-Mobile without getting charged some kind of fee?
I could see there being a catch like that.

Probably gotta read the fine print, but from T-Mobile's perspective, you did BYOD so they would (should) let you out of a day old contract pretty easy
 
Unless you are already on one of the top tier plans, the deals aren’t deals. They are sucker plans that give more profit to the carrier.

Can you elaborate? I don't understand the relevance of how being "already on one of the top tier plans" matters.

To be clear - I've previously always bought my iPhone outright at Apple Store prices, so I'd just like to better understand what's the pros / cons of using carrier deals instead.
 
I ran this analysis last year when I got my wife a 14 Pro and the cheapest overall option (considering total cost over a 24 month period including the phone, service cost, and any rebates or credits) was Mint Mobile (operates on T-Mobile network). Like around $900 cheaper over the 2 years.

Most of the "deals" are the carriers getting you to sign up for their expensive monthly plans, generally not worth it unless you have extreme mobile data usage, a ton of phone lines (maybe), or some combo of those scenarios.
 
It's nice Visible is providing deals considering the anti-consumer change to Apple Card where you need to be connected to one of the Big Three to finance or even get a CitizensOne installment loan.

I use Visible and is still the best MVNO by value so far. Upper edge over Mint with roaming support and true unlimited. Having postpaid is a sinkhole of money.
Yeah agreed on Visible. Has been a great MVNO, converted friends and family to it nearly zero problems (main one being credit cards expiring), but some still don't exactly get it. They are super happy with the lower bills, but they wonder why they don't get crazy discounts like their friends on Verizon or whatever. And I have to explain to them that their friends have been grossly overpaying for years, to the extent that the carrier giving the phones away for super cheap/free is still profitable for them.

In the end, I'm going to order my 15 Pro through Apple's website instead of Visible. Even though they took away the 0% Apple Card financing for us, I'll still get the 3% back, can apply a trade-in and can also apply gift cards.
 
I’ve been speaking with Verizon for two days. They literally have no clue. They said you get the 830 trade-in for an iPhone 13 Pro split over 36 months as bill credits 🤣

Imagine
 
All of the new phone promos from the big carriers are just trash these days. Trade in required and bill credits spread over years. If the big carriers did things like they did in the good old days with upfront subsidized discounts on a 2 year contract maybe I would go back to them.

For the first few generations of iPhone up to maybe 6s it was the norm to pay just upfront $199-$399 depending on phone model with no trade in required. Only catch was you were tied to a 2-3 year contract and if you cancelled your phone would still be locked to the carrier. Also you would be liable to pay off the full price of the phone.

Fast forward to today or the past 5+ years and I would rather just pay full price on an unlocked phone and go MVNO. I save $30-$50+ a month compared to what I would pay by getting stuck on contract with stupid expensive big carrier plans. I come out ahead this way as I can keep or sell my previous phone plus save $350—$600 plus a year on service.

There is no such thing as a free phone from the big carriers just convoluted gimmicks and overpriced plans.
 
Verizon deals are not deals at all. I'll pass and if more did then we would start seeing real deals. We all have the power.
Yep. I was ready to trade in my 12Pro for 15Pro, but there are no deals here. I pay $50/line on TMo and that’s not about to change. I wish Legere would come back.
 
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Not a criticism, just a comment from outside the US.

Your carrier shenanigans, hocus pocus, mathematical complexities and cost structures rival your HMO medical insurance red tape and bafflegarb :oops:

However, with regard to phones, you pay far less than we do in Europe.

“Not a criticism” - writes a criticism.

(I live in the US and your criticism is valid btw :) )
 
Expensive phone or expensive plan. Choose one.

I use little data and pay $6.09 each month. Nobody is giving me a deal on my phone. 😁

When retailers have apple gift cards on sale (usually 10-15% off), I stock up. Only buy them online from reputable retailers (e.g., Target, Best Buy, etc.) as in store gift cards are often emptied.
 
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crazy that they are in business to make a profit.
You can make a profit without abusing your user base. Tmo got me as a customer because they brought 5GUC out first. They innovated and worked for my business. Now they are sitting back and trying to profit by forcing users to agree to more expensive contracts. And most people don’t bother to put the brain power into seeing what these colluding companies are doing.
 
It's nice Visible is providing deals considering the anti-consumer change to Apple Card where you need to be connected to one of the Big Three to finance or even get a CitizensOne installment loan.

I use Visible and is still the best MVNO by value so far. Upper edge over Mint with roaming support and true unlimited. Having postpaid is a sinkhole of money.
how are the speeds? US Mobile is pretty fast verizon.
 
I checked VZ (my carrier) and for my 13PM they are offering $570 instant plus $230 over 36 months in bill credits - that’s a sucky deal, locking me in for 3 years…
 
Watch out with AT&T, last year I traded in my 11 pro max and they never gave me any credits, basically stole the phone from me. Full on crooks.

I’d recommended switching to any other carrier or selling to a private party.
 
Thank you. I’ve personally moved away from financing these. I either want to pay for the device up front or not at all. Did that last year with my 14 pro and will do that next year with my 16 whatever they call it. But thanks for the clarification!

This is the way! Many savings accounts (I use Ally) allow you to create "Buckets" for focused savings. That is what I do with Apple devices. Have a bucket called "Apple Device Upgrade" and I pay myself each month as device insurance + the next device purchase. Then just buy it outright when ready and get 4.25% interest paid to me while I wait for my next purchase.
 
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IMG_2072.jpeg

FYI The taupe cases are darker irl than on the apple website.
 
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