Get Ready for iPhone 15 Pre-Orders With This List of the Best Carrier Deals

[tmoney468]

So I just noticed on Apple's site, with Verizon, you get 2 discounts:

Discounts​

$800.00
Total trade-in credit for: iPhone 13 Pro
Here’s a breakdown of your total trade-in credit: You’ll receive two different types of credit — instant credit and bill credits.
Instant trade-in credit: $475.00
Bill credits: $325.00

This seems like a much better deal as you get the instant trade in credit, and only bill credits of $325...so if you wanted to upgrade after 2 years you don't lose as much for the bill credits?

This is different than going directly to Verizon right, where the $830 would all be bill credits?

 

[coachgq]

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.

How are they forcing you? Because you want a piece of hardware for free vs paying for a newer piece of tech? Just because you can't control your desires and use a phone for 2 years doesn't mean they didn't do right by you when you signed up. You're free to leave at any point. You may have to pay off the remainder of the hardware you have, but you can still leave.

 

[webkit]

Unless you’re on a family plan, I still think that paying for the phone outright and doing T-Mobile prepaid is the best way to go. No activation fees, taxes included, mobile hotspot included, data not prioritized below their postpaid plans.

Which T-Mobile prepaid plan has "taxes included"? I thought only their upper end postpaid plans (Go5G, Magenta Max, Magenta) have taxes and fees included.

 

[slimejester]

All bait and switch plans. When I upgrade, I want stick with my good old $15 plan with 3 GBs of data. Free WiFi at work and pay for the WiFi as part of rent.

Which plan do you have? And are you still rocking the X and holding out for 16 Pro? Your strength has made me hold out on the 13 and 14 Pro, so thank you for resisting the urge.

 

[B-Mc-C]

Has anyone noticed that Apple’s AT&T carrier offer is different from AT&T’s? Apple is offering $800 off a 15 Pro if you trade in a 12 Pro, while AT&T’s website is offering the full $1000 off (since the 12 Pro trade-in is valued above $230). What the heck!

 

[Gengar]

On AT&T the credits are over 36 months - this just doesn't seem worth it. Rather trade in direct with Apple and get the credit immediately, right?

It’s worth it if you are the type to upgrade every three years and have no plans on leaving your carrier. My parents are trading in to get the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus and they’ll definitely hold on to them for 3 years (upgrading from a 12 mini and 12 Pro Max). We’ve been with AT&T for over a decade (and T-Mobile for 7 years before that).

Apple won’t give you nearly as much in trade-in value. The carriers just want to lock you in as a guaranteed postpaid customer and AT&T has pretty much always had the most aggressive promotions.

 

[xpxp2002]

How are they forcing you? Because you want a piece of hardware for free vs paying for a newer piece of tech? Just because you can't control your desires and use a phone for 2 years doesn't mean they didn't do right by you when you signed up. You're free to leave at any point. You may have to pay off the remainder of the hardware you have, but you can still leave.

The problem is that it's artificially driving the prices of phones up, making payment plans and promotions the only way many people can afford to buy one.

If phones were only sold without financing, Apple would never be able to charge $1200 for a base tier Pro Max. They'd either sell far fewer units or have to accept less profit and charge a more reasonable price. And I use the Pro Max as one example, but it really applies across the board. You'd see a lot more people running iPhone SE and other older models and Apple would have to charge more reasonable prices.

But as long as carriers keep letting people trade in "any phone, any condition" for $800-1000 in credit and a three-year ball-and-chain to get the promotion to pay out, phone prices will be artificially inflated for anybody who actually wants and can afford to pay upfront and not leverage those "deals".

 

[Mr. Dee]

Which plan do you have? And are you still rocking the X and holding out for 16 Pro? Your strength has made me hold out on the 13 and 14 Pro, so thank you for resisting the urge.

I think it’s called T-Mobile New Connect $15 per month plus tax for unlimited talk and text with 3 GBs of data.

Still am using my iPhone X and won’t budge until 16 Pro Max. I am squeezing every last bit of my 1,299 out of it.

 

[brentawilson]

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.

Unfortunately, the duration is 36 months. In my case, we are on a multi-line plan with Verizon. Last year, I got the 14 Pro, and my wife got my old 11 Pro. This year, I plan to get the 15 Pro on my wife's line but use the device for myself and give the wife my 14 Pro. Then next year... who knows? Maybe I will add a line for my oldest daughter and get the 16 Pro on that line for myself, give my wife the 15 Pro, and my daughter the old 14 Pro. Then, my line would be ready to upgrade to the 17 Pro the next year. With 36-month phone payoffs through the carriers, it would be great to have 3 lines and be on a rotation where we get 1 new phone each year on one of the lines and pass down the other two phones.

 

[dannyyankou]

T-mobile's promotions are trash as usual

Yeah, no way I'm getting their most expensive plan just to save a little more on a trade in. I have their Essential Saver plan for $50, which is actually a decent price for a single line plan. I'll just trade in with Apple and take my $450 from them.

 

[giddyuptex]

Has anyone noticed that Apple’s AT&T carrier offer is different from AT&T’s? Apple is offering $800 off a 15 Pro if you trade in a 12 Pro, while AT&T’s website is offering the full $1000 off (since the 12 Pro trade-in is valued above $230). What the heck!

Where are you seeing this on AT&T's website? The only thing I see on AT&T's website is that they will give you $830 for an 12 pro.

 

[bankshot]

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 haven't looked at the others, but T-Mobile requires you to be on one of their two most expensive plans (Go5G Plus or Go5G Next) in order to get the large ($800-1000) discount. For me, it would cost an additional $66/month to switch to that plan for a discount that effectively amounts to $25/month. Not remotely worth it. Better and easier to get the trade-in from Apple.

 

[webkit]

The problem is that it's artificially driving the prices of phones up, making payment plans and promotions the only way many people can afford to buy one.

This is largely how cell phones have been sold since at least the 1990s. A discounted price or inflated trade value tied with a long-term contract or payout. If people had to pay outright for phones, the industry wouldn't have grown (units sold) and expanded (new features/capabilities) quite as quickly as it did.

If phones were only sold without financing, Apple would never be able to charge $1200 for a base tier Pro Max. They'd either sell far fewer units or have to accept less profit and charge a more reasonable price.

True. Of course, this can be said about pretty much everything sold on payment.

And I use the Pro Max as one example, but it really applies across the board. You'd see a lot more people running iPhone SE and other older models and Apple would have to charge more reasonable prices.

But as long as carriers keep letting people trade in "any phone, any condition" for $800-1000 in credit and a three-year ball-and-chain to get the promotion to pay out, phone prices will be artificially inflated for anybody who actually wants and can afford to pay upfront and not leverage those "deals".

While Apple added a new layer of features/capabilities with the Pro line (which came with a new, higher price layer), prices of "regular" iPhones haven't necessarily changed much (when adjusting for inflation). For example, the starting price of an unlocked Phone 4 was $649 in 2010 which is about $913 in today’s dollars. The starting price of the larger (display, storage, battery) and more capable iPhone 15 is only $829.

 

[chevman]

Seriously, look at Mint Mobile (yes, they use T mobile's network) - when I ran the numbers last year when getting my wife's 14 Pro this was the cheapest overall when looking at all costs, credits, promos, etc over the 2 year period. Saved about $900 all in compared to anything else I could find, including T-mobile themselves!

Here's a link if you want to sign up thru my referral code - http://fbuy.me/t-i7J

Both my wife and I have been on them for a year now with zero problems. 2 lines, unlimited talk/text and 5GB of data per line per month for $30/month total.

 

[spinedoc77]

The problem is that it's artificially driving the prices of phones up, making payment plans and promotions the only way many people can afford to buy one.

If phones were only sold without financing, Apple would never be able to charge $1200 for a base tier Pro Max. They'd either sell far fewer units or have to accept less profit and charge a more reasonable price. And I use the Pro Max as one example, but it really applies across the board. You'd see a lot more people running iPhone SE and other older models and Apple would have to charge more reasonable prices.

But as long as carriers keep letting people trade in "any phone, any condition" for $800-1000 in credit and a three-year ball-and-chain to get the promotion to pay out, phone prices will be artificially inflated for anybody who actually wants and can afford to pay upfront and not leverage those "deals".

Isn't this true with just about any purchase these days? I'm in fear every time I go to the supermarket that toilet paper will finally be on a subscription plan, although I suppose it already is as a necessity.

 

[spinedoc77]

Seriously, look at Mint Mobile (yes, they use T mobile's network) - when I ran the numbers last year when getting my wife's 14 Pro this was the cheapest overall when looking at all costs, credits, promos, etc over the 2 year period. Saved about $900 all in compared to anything else I could find, including T-mobile themselves!

Here's a link if you want to sign up thru my referral code - http://fbuy.me/t-i7J

Both my wife and I have been on them for a year now with zero problems. 2 lines, unlimited talk/text and 5GB of data per line per month for $40/month total.

Yeah but... Tmobile. No seriously, I know they have much better reception but last time I tried them about a year ago I wasn't really impressed going up and down north and central NJ, and zero reception inside my house which might be a Faraday cage. All of those cheap plans/carriers depend on what you want, I priced out my Verizon plan vs a Visible plan which is one of the cheapest Verizon MVNOs and the price difference was very minimal to have to worry about throttling, network congestion, and lose all my extras like Disney+. I think these plans work much better for a single person though, but for families not so much.

 

[orangeadrenaline]

zero reception inside my house

Wifi calling FTW

 

[Rogue AI]

I’ll be upgrading my 14 Pro Max for the 15 Pro Max through Best Buy tomorrow. But I’m not excited about it.

 

[Four oF NINE]

That’s exactly how I see it too with ATT.

You get $800 discount spread out over 36 months.

$22 off your bill monthly. IF you trade in your phone in 2 years, then you lose the remaining $22 a month credit over the next 12 months.

So basically you traded in your phone for $800-$264=$536.

So you don't get the option of going a shorter period, 24 months or 30 months, for instance?

 

[B_mark_R]

Im not seeing the at&t 14 pro for $15/month.

 

[Four oF NINE]

Has anyone noticed that Apple’s AT&T carrier offer is different from AT&T’s? Apple is offering $800 off a 15 Pro if you trade in a 12 Pro, while AT&T’s website is offering the full $1000 off (since the 12 Pro trade-in is valued above $230). What the heck!

I'm also not clear on this.. I think they try to make these so called 'deals' as confusing as possible.

 

[Rogue AI]

The trade in for Verizon is in the form of bill credits. Not an up amount. You need to pay for the device and what you trade in is taken off your monthly bill. I asked them. Hard pass.

Yeah, that’s kind of a scam. And if you choose to upgrade the phone before the 36 monthly payments schedule, you actually lose those credits. So Verizon takes possession of your phone, gives you the value quoted over 36 months, and if you upgrade, you lose the remaining value. That sounds like theft to me.

Instead, I’m going to trade in my 256GB iPhone 14 Pro Max for a pathetic $650 at Best Buy (I got $800 trade in last year for the 256GB 13 Pro Max when I traded it in) and I’ll get the trade in credit right away via Best Buy gift card. I can then use that to buy a case, screen protector, and the Apple Watch Series 9.

 

[Four oF NINE]

Where are you seeing this on AT&T's website? The only thing I see on AT&T's website is that they will give you $830 for an 12 pro.

Today the AT&T phone rep promised I would get $1000 credit for my iPhone 12 Pro with 512 GB storage.

 

[giddyuptex]

Today the AT&T phone rep promised I would get $1000 credit for my iPhone 12 Pro with 512 GB storage.

AT&T reps have promised me lots of things in the past. Unless you have it in writing via chat, they will tell you it never happened.

 

[Four oF NINE]

AT&T reps have promised me lots of things in the past. Unless you have it in writing via chat, they will tell you it never happened.

Obviously ALL will have to be confirmed in writing prior to purchase. I had an issue regarding a credit for an old phone when I bought my current phone, the iPhone 12 Pro 512 GB storage.. They were offering $700 credit, which they refused to honor. Because of COVID, the AT&T stores were not open and I had to do everything by mail.. They claimed the phone had an exploded battery, then they claimed I sent in a 64 GB phone, which I never owned. I demanded arbitration and prevailed. I think they lost the phone.