Carrier Verizon monthly payments?

[puckhead193]

I finally ordered my iPhone 17 Pro Max (from a 14 pro max) through verizon and now I'm having second thoughts about it. Not so much about the phone about doing it on monthly payments. I think my payments are like $15 and change though discounts etc. Here's the thing. I don't like having monthly payments. I rather just buy the phone outright.

When doing it this way though monthly payments am I'm locked in for 3 years with the 17 for three years and can't upgrade?

Part of the deal was they added a line to my phone through an esim. I have no real use for a second line. Then they added some wifi backup bs that I plug in if I loose power. Again I don't need this as my whole house is a on generator (Thanks Sandy!)

My biggest concern isn't about the money (yes of course it is) but rather down the line and upgrading to the next iPhone 18/19 etc if I choose to in a year or 2.

I feel like I should've just gone to apple and trade in my iPhone 14 Pro Max and gotten a $400 credit and bought an Apple Watch with it...

Anyone "finance" a phone through Verizon or any carrier and have opinions on upgrading down the line.

 

[Momof2.1107]

I finally ordered my iPhone 17 Pro Max (from a 14 pro max) through verizon and now I'm having second thoughts about it. Not so much about the phone about doing it on monthly payments. I think my payments are like $15 and change though discounts etc. Here's the thing. I don't like having monthly payments. I rather just buy the phone outright.

When doing it this way though monthly payments am I'm locked in for 3 years with the 17 for three years and can't upgrade?

Part of the deal was they added a line to my phone through an esim. I have no real use for a second line. Then they added some wifi backup bs that I plug in if I loose power. Again I don't need this as my whole house is a on generator (Thanks Sandy!)

My biggest concern isn't about the money (yes of course it is) but rather down the line and upgrading to the next iPhone 18/19 etc if I choose to in a year or 2.

I feel like I should've just gone to apple and trade in my iPhone 14 Pro Max and gotten a $400 credit and bought an Apple Watch with it...

Anyone "finance" a phone through Verizon or any carrier and have opinions on upgrading down the line.

My mobile carrier is Verizon. I upgraded through the Apple App and did my trade in with Apple. I put a $500 down payment down and received a $520 trade in credit for my 15PM. I have $10.20 monthly payments through Verizon for 36 months. My plan is to pay the remaining balance off at the beginning of the year, so that I will not have any monthly payments and can upgrade before 36 months.

 

[Apple_Tiger]

You can always pay off your device, just as long as the line doesn't have any promotional credits. If you had promotional credit for 36 months and you pay it off, you lose the promotional credit.

I always purchase my iPhone through the Apple Store. I don't like being tied to a carrier 36 months paying monthly.

 

[chrfr]

My mobile carrier is Verizon. I upgraded through the Apple App and did my trade in with Apple. I put a $500 down payment down and received a $520 trade in credit for my 15PM. I have $10.20 monthly payments through Verizon for 36 months. My plan is to pay the remaining balance off at the beginning of the year, so that I will not have any monthly payments and can upgrade before 36 months.

This doesn't work if you got a promotion for the trade in as Verizon charges you the full price of the phone but then applies monthly credits to your bill. As such if you pay early, like the OP is looking to do, you have to pay the full remaining price of the phone without the promotional discount.

 

[Momof2.1107]

This doesn't work if you got a promotion for the trade in as Verizon charges you the full price of the phone but then applies monthly credits to your bill. As such if you pay early, like the OP is looking to do, you have to pay the full remaining price of the phone without the promotional discount.

It will work out that way. I’m eligible for an upgrade in September 2026. I will pay off the device before then so that I do not owe anything. I traded my phone in through Apple at the Apple Store, not with Verizon, even though I have monthly payments through Verizon. This is why I didn’t upgrade through the Verizon app.

 

[eyoungren]

I'm not on Verizon, so can't really speak to this. But T-Mobile, as of June 2024, will take away any promo credits if you pay off early. If you pay extra on your EIP (Equipment Installment Program) balance then your EIP ends earlier, at which point the credits stop. So, the earlier you pay off the device the faster the credits end.

The trick to get around this (on T-Mobile) is to pay enough down when you start the promo so that you're only paying around $1 a month in payments. So, leave about $24 as the balance (T-Mobile EIP is two years). That way it's only $1 payment a month and you get the credits in full.

Neat trick, no idea if it works on other carriers.

But, the complexity of promos, the requirements they would make of me is why I don't do promos. Also, their potential to disturb my 10+ year old plan. I'm paying the same rate pricing I was in 2015 because I didn't take any promos in 10+ years that would cause me to lose this plan.

I'll happily pay full price without a promo to get what I want and keep my plan.

 

[puckhead193]

I went to verizon...
I can do what's called an early upgrade at 18 month which would be around May 2027 (I'd wait till September for the latest announcement) if the math is mathing.. Not terrible so about two years. I don't understand though what am I paying to get out of the new 17 pro. Do they just waive that and turn in the phone.

I swear you need an advance degree in "Verizon-economics" to understand all this crap.
Verizon is just scamming all of us 😂 - end of my grandpa rant. (PS I'm a share holder too ☠️)

 

[VineRider]

I don't do carrier upgrades anymore because of all this complexity. The carriers goal is to keep you tied to your plan for as long as they can.

I just trade in with Apple, and pay the balance at time of purchase so that I am not tied to the carrier, or a phone for any length of time. I prefer this flexibilty over paying out over time.

 

[puckhead193]

I don't do carrier upgrades anymore because of all this complexity. The carriers goal is to keep you tied to your plan for as long as they can.

I just trade in with Apple, and pay the balance at time of purchase so that I am not tied to the carrier, or a phone for any length of time. I prefer this flexibilty over paying out over time.

yeah I'm leaning to cancel my order and going this way. It's less of a deal but I'm free to do what I want with upgrading. (I don't plan on leaving verizon as I'm a "happy" but I'm starting to see why people just upgrade the phone every year through apple.

 

[BigBlur]

I don't understand though what am I paying to get out of the new 17 pro. Do they just waive that and turn in the phone.

Pretty much. The remaining payments are cancelled, and you send the phone back. Since it's not paid off in full, you cannot use it as a trade-in. That means you'd be paying full price for the next phone. This is only beneficial if the remaining balance is more than the trade-in value. It's usually not, so you'd be better paying it off so you can trade it in.

yeah I'm leaning to cancel my order and going this way. It's less of a deal but I'm free to do what I want with upgrading. (I don't plan on leaving verizon as I'm a "happy" but I'm starting to see why people just upgrade the phone every year through apple.

Sometimes you just have to take the time to crunch the numbers to see what ends up being better in the long run. Carrier deals are typically better, especially when you have no plans to leave. As an example, my mom traded in her old iPhone 13 for $830 towards a free iPhone 17 for the next three years. That ends up being about a $275 credit per year. So even if my mom decides to upgrade next year by paying off the phone and forfeiting the remaining credits, she still comes out ahead since she would have received $275 in credits compared to Apple's $200 trade-in value. If she were to upgrade in two years, it ends up being around $550 in credits for it.