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iPhone New Year's Deals Include Up to $1,000 Off iPhone 14 Pro and Free AirPods Pro 2 With iPhone Purchase
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No. Not anymore. Used to be true when iPhone was $200 by the carriers which was almost 8-9 years back. The cell phone plans (line rental fees as you say) have become cheap.
For eg. I pay $100 for 4 lines with T-mobile with everything unlimited including Wi-Fi on the flights. Also, unlimited in Mexico and Canada. Unlimited slow internet in all countries but high speed 5GB data in 11 European countries. There are many such bells and whistles to the plan which I don’t care or use.
Exactly.
It seems to me these deals are the modern way of locking you to a carrier, just a new expression of the older phone subsidies.
Even Apple’s apparently measly trade in values match when you do the math.
Case in point.
I have an old iPhone 7. I can trade it to a Apple for $60. Or I can trade it to Verizon for $400 spread over three years. Except with Verizon, I have to move to a new plan that would end up costing $15 more per month. Over the three year period to amortize a new phone, I’d end up spending $540, so minimally $200 MORE than just a simple trade.
Better to just buy the phone outright.
Edit: fixed my math in net difference
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Looking at the AT&T deal link above it looks like you pay for the device up-front (i.e. you fork over $999 minimum) and sign up for a plan at minimum $75/month. If you trade in a half-decent phone you will then get $1000 credit applied as monthly credits. This means that you are paying out $2,700 (+tax) on the plan over the next 3 years which is $900+tax per year.
In the UK, prices tend to be £70-80/month for 24 months with perhaps £50 upfront. Over 2 years this is £1849 (inc tax) or £924 per year so similar to the US prices with this offer but with no need to stump up the phone cost initially.
Also in the UK you can find SIM-only deals for £25/month for 24 months with unlimited 5G data. This means a price of £600 across 2 years or £1700 if you buy the phone yourself (iPhone 14 Pro is £1099 in the UK
)T-Mobile will gladly give you a free iPhone....if you trade one in, add an additional line you don't need, and make sure you're on one of their most expensive plans. Aside from coverage issues with T-Mobile, their lack of deals without adding unnecessary lines or upgrading to a more expensive plan is what drove us to Xfinity Mobile.
Xfinity Mobile changed its plans and terms recently as I switched from them to Mint Mobile.
One could've bought a new iPhone and then wait for a gift card after 60 days or so. Now whatever 'cash back' is available is now spread out over 24 months and you can Not pay down the remaining balance without the cash back amount being revoked and you have to pay full price for the device.
The 'per Gig' plan increased slightly and is a rip off... starting at 1Gb/$15 and the Unlimited Plan is now separated into 3 tiers when it used to be 1 tier and it's become very pricey, each with different caps before throttling kicks in.
The service was relatively good, as it used Verizon's backbone, but it became costly.
I just ran through the pricer/shopping cart thingiee on Verizon, and it says my new price for a 1TB iPhone pro max will be $1,800-something-something. And that's with a huge $93 trade-in on my older iPad 12.9" device. Whoohoo!
Today we're tracking the best New Year's deals on Apple's iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models from carriers including AT&T, Visible, and Verizon. This also covers a few side offers from these companies, like free AirPods Pro 2 at Visible when purchasing a brand new iPhone 14.
Visible
Starting with Verizon-owned Visible, you can save $15/month for your entire first year of service with the company thanks to their New Year's offer. You'll need to join Visible and bring your own smartphone (via eSIM or pSIM) with an existing number.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
When placing your order for the new Visible plan, you'll also need to enter the code 15OFF12 at the checkout screen. With this discount, you can get the Visible plan for $15/month (regular $30/month) or Visible+ for $30/month (regular $45/month).
This promotion will last for twelve months, after which your service will return to its regular price. You can find more information about the sale on Visible's website, including the type of plans and details of each.
There are a few other offers from Visible going on in the new year, including a gift card worth up to $200 plus free AirPods Pro 2 with select iPhone models. You'll need to join Visible and transfer your number from an eligible carrier to get this deal.
After three full months of service payments, you'll get an email with a code to redeem your free AirPods Pro 2 and virtual gift card. You can browse the list of compatible smartphones on Visible, including the iPhone 14 Pro, Pro Max, Plus, and more.
AT&T
Holiday deals have carried over into 2023 at other carriers as well, with AT&T still offering up to $1,000 off the iPhone 14 Pro with eligible trade-in on select installment plans. This also works for the iPhone 14 Pro Max; you can get the iPhone 14 at no cost or the iPhone 14 Plus for $5/month as well.
In terms of trade-ins, you can get up to $1,000 bill credits with smartphone trade-in value of $230 or higher, up to $800 bill credits with smartphone trade-in value of $130 to $229, and up to $350 bill credits with smartphone trade-in value of $34 to $129. These credits start within three bill cycles after trade-in is completed.
Verizon
Similarly, Verizon is still hosting its "Welcome Unlimited" holiday deal, where you can get $25/line per month for four lines when signing up for Verizon Unlimited, with this price guaranteed to be locked in for three years. You'll need to add four new smartphone lines and a $180 credit will be applied per smartphone over 36 months.
Otherwise, you'll find Verizon matching AT&T's iPhone 14 deals. You can save up to $1,000 when you trade in an older smartphone and purchase any iPhone 14 device on a Verizon Unlimited plan. If you're buying two, you can buy one iPhone and get another at up to $800 off as well.
Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week.
Article Link: iPhone New Year's Deals Include Up to $1,000 Off iPhone 14 Pro and Free AirPods Pro 2 With iPhone Purchase
I closed the browser tab. This is not a "deal" in any way, shape, or form. Let's see if Verizon calls or emails me to say they can save me something more than $93. But if not, I'll just stick to my original strategy of waiting for the iPhone 15 or 16 to come out or until I break the one I have. I'd rather get the watch ultra at this point.
can only dream of these special sales. we pay so much and get little special discounts like this. since we pay her highest for these items.
I'm fine with the discount being given as bill credits, as that's what virtually every carrier is doing now. It's just a new way of having a 2 year (or 3 in the case of Verizon) contract like the old days when you got a $200 phone for signing a 2 year contract. But they're also giving us a $250 gift card per line for switching. And at $30 a month per line for service, we are paying a nearly identical bill as we were with T-mobile once you add the phone payments, but we have brand new iPhone 14 Pro's now and coverage that actually works most places we need it. I have no issue with throttling over 20GB/mo, as I've only eclipsed that kind of usage maybe once in my lifetime.