Verizon sucks for current customers. They try to force you into newer plans and ridiculous "new lines" when you already have a line.
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Here Are The Best Carrier Deals You Can Get When Pre-Ordering iPhone 17 Today
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Save your cash and buy the phone from Apple. Then take it to Mint Mobile. I just paid them $240 for a full year of service. $20 a month. Yep, it's for real and it works as well as AT&T ever did at $80/mo. That leaves $60 each month for an iPhone payment or just savings in the bank.
Or, if you're a watch user, Visible also has great plans. $425 for a full year works out to ~ $35 a month, includes unlimited data, unlimited (throttled) hotspot and connectivity for an Apple or Pixel watch.
Not an ad, just a satisfied customer.
Good thing there are several options that are INTEREST-FREE financing. But cool overdramatization. Feel better?
Yes, as is always the "catch", in order to get these deals from the US carriers, you have to:
- Be on (or move to) one of their more expensive plans. Neither my wife or I are power users, so we're both still on a $45/month Essentials plan ($90/month for both) from T-Mobile. 50gb 5G full speed (we rarely use more than 20-25gb /month), and then LTE thereafter
- The "discount" isn't upfront, but typically given to you as monthly credits over 24 (or 36) months depending on the carrier. I'm not sure, but I do think even if you upgrade you phone before then, you still keep those monthly credits, you just have to pay off the device balance. It's only if you cancel the service (eg. move to another carrier) that you forfeit the rest of the monthly credits.
Either way, just time-value of money alone (especially at today's interest rates), getting the discount over 2-3 years is not nearly as valuable as getting the discount all upfront.
- Be on (or move to) one of their more expensive plans. Neither my wife or I are power users, so we're both still on a $45/month Essentials plan ($90/month for both) from T-Mobile. 50gb 5G full speed (we rarely use more than 20-25gb /month), and then LTE thereafter
- The "discount" isn't upfront, but typically given to you as monthly credits over 24 (or 36) months depending on the carrier. I'm not sure, but I do think even if you upgrade you phone before then, you still keep those monthly credits, you just have to pay off the device balance. It's only if you cancel the service (eg. move to another carrier) that you forfeit the rest of the monthly credits.
Either way, just time-value of money alone (especially at today's interest rates), getting the discount over 2-3 years is not nearly as valuable as getting the discount all upfront.
Alright I don't live in the US but i still don't get how this is financially better. assume 7% tax rate
AT&T: $76/mo minimum x 36 mo + 7% tax on that + trade in (say worth $200) + $77 in taxes on 17Pro = $3204
Competitor: buy $1099 phone outright + $52.66/mo plan + 7% tax on all that = $3204
Can copy-paste to an iOS note for specific differences from that:
((76*36*1.07) + 200 + 1099*.07 - 1099*1.07)/36/1.07 =52.661
I get that the caveat here might be that anyone but AT&T or Verizon absolutely sucks but....do they? I can't imagine the $25-35 MVNO's that run on those two networks are that bad, but maybe so. Going with one of those saves you $700-1100 and zero cancellation fees. Even then, I'm guessing there's a $40-50 plan out there that doesn't suck.
Even all the above is making conservative assumptions
- no activation fee or anything else from AT&T
- $200 trade-in value. If one was willing to sell it outside the carrier e.g. on swappa or FB, probably more
- one wants the pro model specifically and wouldn't want to save $100-300 by getting an Air or base 17
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on #1, my point is that only the base 17 is "free". the original article stated that iphone17 pro is free on AT&T and then goes on to describe that verizon only gives you $1100, contrasting it for no reason. in fact, the deal is exactly the same on both carriers.
2) in english, "stuck waiting for the creditS to apply" does not mean that the credit applies only at the end. maybe i could have said "fully apply".
it's a bad deal. i've done it before. AT&T has also cheated me (and others) out of trade-ins that they unilaterally decided were non-qualifying. when they do this, the traded-in phone disappears; there is no way to get it back. these guys suck, and you should be wary of them.
These carrier subsidized plans aren’t really cheaper.
They offer bill credits of 30-40/mo, over 2-3 years.
In a plan that is massively more expensive than a plan from visible example.
A similar Verizon plan all in taxes and fees is about 90-100/mo. The visible pro plan is about 37/mo. That’s a $50 difference. Or more than what they give you to subsidize the phone.
And you’re not locked in.
Smart money pays cash (or zero $0 Apple dominating) for the phone and gets an MVNO plan.
They offer bill credits of 30-40/mo, over 2-3 years.
In a plan that is massively more expensive than a plan from visible example.
A similar Verizon plan all in taxes and fees is about 90-100/mo. The visible pro plan is about 37/mo. That’s a $50 difference. Or more than what they give you to subsidize the phone.
And you’re not locked in.
Smart money pays cash (or zero $0 Apple dominating) for the phone and gets an MVNO plan.
Neither my city nor state have a sales tax.
I get my activation fee waived thanks to a company I contract with, but fee waivers aren't hard to find if you look online.
I've used AT&T for 28 years... I don't think switching is a factor for me.
MVNO's don't support the Apple Watch.
Same for t-mobile. There's no discount offer for me unless I upgrade to a more expensive plan. When they take Simple Choice away I'm just going to drop the company altogether out of spite. The weird part is T-mo offers $300 for my iPhone 13 Pro 256 and Apple only offers $250. Last time Apple had the better deal. But if I add in the 3% from Apple Card, it's almost even....
Maybe I'll just wait until next year. Either way it's a lot of money.
Verizon requiring upgrading the plan to the new "Unlimited Ultimate" plan to get a good trade-in upgrade deal is some BS. The wording on the Ultimate Phone Upgrade vs Plus Phone Upgrade is almost identical... They snuck that "best" into the new one so they could change how the upgrades work without changing the Unlimited Plus ToS.
"Both new and existing customers are eligible to receive our BEST current in-market smartphone offer with trade-in, whether they upgrade an existing device or add a line to the Unlimited Ultimate plan."
"Both new and existing customers are eligible to receive our current in-market smartphone offer with trade-in, whether they upgrade an existing device or add a line to the Unlimited Plus plan."
For comparison, last September, I traded in my iPhone 13 Pro 128Gb for $990 towards a preorder on an iPhone 16 Pro 256Gb. Which is an insane deal. Now, if my current phone were paid off in full, I would only get $830 trade-in if I stay on my current Unlimited Plus plan, or I could pay $10 more a month forever(for extras I won't use) to get $1100... I'm not even saying $830 is not a fair trade-in value, I'm mostly mad that they added a new plan above my Unlimited plan, which makes my trade-in values less.
"Both new and existing customers are eligible to receive our BEST current in-market smartphone offer with trade-in, whether they upgrade an existing device or add a line to the Unlimited Ultimate plan."
"Both new and existing customers are eligible to receive our current in-market smartphone offer with trade-in, whether they upgrade an existing device or add a line to the Unlimited Plus plan."
For comparison, last September, I traded in my iPhone 13 Pro 128Gb for $990 towards a preorder on an iPhone 16 Pro 256Gb. Which is an insane deal. Now, if my current phone were paid off in full, I would only get $830 trade-in if I stay on my current Unlimited Plus plan, or I could pay $10 more a month forever(for extras I won't use) to get $1100... I'm not even saying $830 is not a fair trade-in value, I'm mostly mad that they added a new plan above my Unlimited plan, which makes my trade-in values less.
Interestingly, Red Pocket was left out but whatever, MR is a rumor site, read it for the gossip. If anyone hunts for deals, this isn't the place for it unless you prefer being told buy paid "influencers" what to buy.
Bill credit over 36 months is never a good deal.
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I am on the Visible+ Pro Plan for $450/year which comes out to be $37.50/month. It includes Smart Watch Service, Unlimited Premium Data which includes access to Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband, an Unlimited Hotspot (up to 15 Mbps), 4K HD Video Streaming and great International Service which includes 24 Global Pass Days per year.
I was with AT&T for over 20 years paying so much money for just basic service. It is so nice to now have a premium plan at such a low price!
Did you also get a free phone out of it? Flipping it is a great way to offset the price of the plan. Again, not an ad, just a satisfied customer.
I had saved money towards buying the 17PM outright this year but other financial obligations that came up that needed to be take care of, so I used half of what I saved. What I did instead was preorder through Apple and did the Verizon installment plan with my 5G Get More Plan, so I do not qualify for the $1100 trade in credit. Instead I made a down payment of $500 towards the price of the phone, and along with Apple’s $520 trade in of my 15PM, my device payments with Verizon work out to be $10.52 over 36 months. I’m going to pay that over at the end of September and my device will be paid off and I can upgrade next year and join the IUP with Apple next year.