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iPhone 16 Pro Max How much did you pay out of pocket for your current iPhone?

It was £300 for a used iPhone 13. The battery went and I fancied something bigger so I jumped ship and bought a new Nothing 2a for £349. I cannot fault it.
 
I paid full price for my 16 Pro 1 TB, 1,829.-€ to be precise. I always got my iPhones independent from a carrier contract.
 
I paid full price from Apple. Cheaper than having to get a $90/month plan to get a 'free' phone from carriers.
 
engbren said:
Most carriers here no longer subsidise the phones. They generally offer the phone at full price which can be paid back in instalments over 24 - 36 months, making it effectively a no-interest loan.
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What you are saying is strictly true. Carriers have moved away from contracts with subsidized phones, to an interest free loan model.

Where I disagree though, is on the savings. The carriers regularly will give you a phone with 24-36 month bill credit that equals the cost of the phone. For example I got the iPhone 14 Pro for free during the release week of the iPhone 15 series. I got the iPhone 16 Pro for free during preorder of the iPhone 16 series. And I am eligible for any other promotional discounts they might offer on their cellular plans.

Now where I am limited is in switching carriers for 36 months…but I am not that limited. If, for example, I wanted to switch after 1 year, the prorated remainder I would owe on the phone would be less than Apple’s own trade in value on device. So I can always just sell the phone for a profit and switch carriers.
 
tbgb50 said:
I paid full price from Apple. Cheaper than having to get a $90/month plan to get a 'free' phone from carriers.
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Ya, paying for one of their premium plans to get a free phone makes absolutely no financial sense.

If you follow carrier deals though, there are usually about 6 weeks spread across the year that they will run a sale and give you a free phone, even on their cheapest cell plan. And they are incredibly predictable. Think Black Friday, Christmas, Presidency Day, Father’s Day, back to school season, etc.
 
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engbren said:
Most carriers here no longer subsidise the phones. They generally offer the phone at full price which can be paid back in instalments over 24 - 36 months, making it effectively a no-interest loan. The downside of this loan is that you need to sign up for a mobile plan for the same term, often forgoing other discounts available to you, or impeding your ability to switch carriers should a better offer arise. I have been able to negotiate a sizeable discount from my carrier and would be worse off acquiring my phone on a plan.
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Carriers in the U.S. still "subsidize" phones but slightly differently than they used to. Instead of requiring a traditional contract, they offer "free" or deeply discounted phones, inflated trade-in values, etc. with savings typically spread over 24 to 36 months. For example, right now if you trade in a device to AT&T worth at least $230 you can get a new $999 iPhone 16 Pro for "free" but the extra (inflated) trade value is spread over 36 monthly bill credits.
 
iPhone 15 pro purchased in December and paid full price over the counter. paid about 1 371,38 use. I live in Norway, so it's just an estimate from NOK to USD.
I usually pay the phone without financing, but a few of my phones have been about 91,4 use cheaper because you got that discount with the carrier I used before.
I always sell my old phone, because I don't need an old phone laying around and to finance the new one.
 
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