What are the iPhone discounts like?
September 12, 2024 8:54 AM
I have never bought a new flagship iPhone, how do the discounts work? Do they go on sale quickly after release?
I have been buying iPhone SEs for almost a decade now. Before that I would buy whatever was two years old and everyone was getting rid of them with their "free" upgrades. Apple has finally convinced me, via actual 5x optical zoom, to spring for a top-of-the-line iPhone. I am currently on T-Mobile postpaid "Essentials 4-Line", which doesn't include upgrade eligibility. Do the carriers offer actual discounts after release? When new Macs come out you can usually wait a month or two and get them at significant discounts, and this phone costs as much as a cheap Mac. Looking at the iPhone 16 Pro 128GB (base storage) model, don't care about color. Pre-ordering from Apple was tempting, but then I saw they were charging US$50 for a simple plastic case. That made me realize I might be ripping myself off if people who choose to purchase $50 cases are ordering direct from Apple, and decided to explore my options.
Please, no arguments that I should change my carrier or phone plan, unless it somehow involves not upgrading every two years. Right now I am paying $30/month/line after tax and the GoGo Plus plan, which is upgrade-eligible, would be an additional $20 per month, which, what do you know, is just about enough to pay for a brand new iPhone every two years with a trade-in. But since I don't want a new flagship phone every two years on every line, that is a bad deal.
I have been buying iPhone SEs for almost a decade now. Before that I would buy whatever was two years old and everyone was getting rid of them with their "free" upgrades. Apple has finally convinced me, via actual 5x optical zoom, to spring for a top-of-the-line iPhone. I am currently on T-Mobile postpaid "Essentials 4-Line", which doesn't include upgrade eligibility. Do the carriers offer actual discounts after release? When new Macs come out you can usually wait a month or two and get them at significant discounts, and this phone costs as much as a cheap Mac. Looking at the iPhone 16 Pro 128GB (base storage) model, don't care about color. Pre-ordering from Apple was tempting, but then I saw they were charging US$50 for a simple plastic case. That made me realize I might be ripping myself off if people who choose to purchase $50 cases are ordering direct from Apple, and decided to explore my options.
Please, no arguments that I should change my carrier or phone plan, unless it somehow involves not upgrading every two years. Right now I am paying $30/month/line after tax and the GoGo Plus plan, which is upgrade-eligible, would be an additional $20 per month, which, what do you know, is just about enough to pay for a brand new iPhone every two years with a trade-in. But since I don't want a new flagship phone every two years on every line, that is a bad deal.
I am speaking in generalities, but any carrier discount is going to mean you pay off the phone over 2 or 3 years and they give you a discount each month that adds up to that amount. The discount only continues as long as you are making payments. Pay off the phone early and the discounts stop. They want to keep you paying for service in exchange for the discount. My service stays the same price (bill changes, service charges do not) no matter what kind of phone or upgrades I do. Others say their rates change when buying a phone on installments, so it likely depends on your carrier and your plan.
If your plan is not upgrade eligible and you aren't going to change your plan, then buying direct is probably your best bet to get one right now. Apple will tell you the trade in value of your current phone when you start ordering from them. I don't think the price of cases on their website means anything. I've never bought one of their cases. My carrier's stores or Target or Amazon are my sources for phone cases. I got my 10 direct from Apple but my 13 from my carrier as they offered me $1,000 in trade in value on an installment plan.
Macworld says you can expect the iPhone prices to stay the same for the next 9 months at least.
posted by soelo at 9:15 AM on September 12
If your plan is not upgrade eligible and you aren't going to change your plan, then buying direct is probably your best bet to get one right now. Apple will tell you the trade in value of your current phone when you start ordering from them. I don't think the price of cases on their website means anything. I've never bought one of their cases. My carrier's stores or Target or Amazon are my sources for phone cases. I got my 10 direct from Apple but my 13 from my carrier as they offered me $1,000 in trade in value on an installment plan.
Macworld says you can expect the iPhone prices to stay the same for the next 9 months at least.
posted by soelo at 9:15 AM on September 12
To give a specific example, the latest M3 MacBook Airs came out March 8th of this year, and by April 26th Best Buy and Amazon were both offering $100 off.
posted by wnissen at 9:23 AM on September 12
posted by wnissen at 9:23 AM on September 12
To give a specific example, the latest M3 MacBook Airs came out March 8th of this year, and by April 26th Best Buy and Amazon were both offering $100 off.
While it's true that some of the Apple retail partners will use various products as loss leaders (Amazon could even pay you to take a brand new iPad, prices at are at their discretion) to get people in the store (virtual or otherwise), I don't recall ever seeing it with iPhone.
But even I'm wrong and it's "rare" instead of "never", it's going to be a long time, if ever.
I'm one of those people that helps make iPhone worth that price, and with the caveat that I don't have any internal knowledge, and I won't know until tomorrow when everyone else can buy them, but it's possible that as someone who gets an employee discount that it might be weeks or months before customer demand subsides enough for me to get that discount. We always make sure the paying customers get theirs first. If if demand is high enough to restrict who even has access to purchase them, Amazon and friends aren't leaving that money on the table.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 10:30 AM on September 12
While it's true that some of the Apple retail partners will use various products as loss leaders (Amazon could even pay you to take a brand new iPad, prices at are at their discretion) to get people in the store (virtual or otherwise), I don't recall ever seeing it with iPhone.
But even I'm wrong and it's "rare" instead of "never", it's going to be a long time, if ever.
I'm one of those people that helps make iPhone worth that price, and with the caveat that I don't have any internal knowledge, and I won't know until tomorrow when everyone else can buy them, but it's possible that as someone who gets an employee discount that it might be weeks or months before customer demand subsides enough for me to get that discount. We always make sure the paying customers get theirs first. If if demand is high enough to restrict who even has access to purchase them, Amazon and friends aren't leaving that money on the table.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 10:30 AM on September 12
What are iPhone discounts like?
They don't exist. Carriers build the price of the phone plus interest into the price of the plan. This approach to phone ownersghip makes sense in the same general situations that leasing a car makes sense: if you don't have cash upfront to buy the phone outright, or if you are the kind of person who upgrades every year or two.
If neither of those apply, just buy the phone you want outright from the most convenient retailer (probably Apple themselves if you have an old phone to trade in) and connect your new phone to your existing network of choice.
posted by caek at 10:44 AM on September 12
They don't exist. Carriers build the price of the phone plus interest into the price of the plan. This approach to phone ownersghip makes sense in the same general situations that leasing a car makes sense: if you don't have cash upfront to buy the phone outright, or if you are the kind of person who upgrades every year or two.
If neither of those apply, just buy the phone you want outright from the most convenient retailer (probably Apple themselves if you have an old phone to trade in) and connect your new phone to your existing network of choice.
posted by caek at 10:44 AM on September 12
Carriers build the price of the phone plus interest into the price of the plan. This approach to phone ownersghip makes sense in the same general situations that leasing a car makes sense: if you don't have cash upfront to buy the phone outright, or if you are the kind of person who upgrades every year or two.
Apple also has their own iPhone upgrade program. The monthly cost is the cost of the phone and AppleCare plus, spread over 24 months with 0% interest. If you want to, you can upgrade after a year and restart the 2-year payment clock; otherwise, you own the outright phone after 24 payments. It’s a good alternative to carrier financing, as it doesn’t require any contract renewals or changes with your carrier.
posted by bluloo at 11:47 AM on September 12
Apple also has their own iPhone upgrade program. The monthly cost is the cost of the phone and AppleCare plus, spread over 24 months with 0% interest. If you want to, you can upgrade after a year and restart the 2-year payment clock; otherwise, you own the outright phone after 24 payments. It’s a good alternative to carrier financing, as it doesn’t require any contract renewals or changes with your carrier.
posted by bluloo at 11:47 AM on September 12
Just another voice to hop on the "there's no real discounts on unlocked iPhones until very late in the game" bandwagon.
iPhones aren't like MacBooks, where Amazon or Costco or the Apple Refurb Store regularly puts things on sale a few months into the lifecycle. I recently got a sweet Apple refurb M3 Air for $350 off retail. It's fantastic. I'm a bargain-hunter too, I know what you're looking for.
But it's just not the case with iPhones. Due to their astronomic price, carriers use financing deals to try and convince you to sign a contract for 2-3 years that will cost you far more than just buying an unlocked iPhone and going with a pre-paid carrier, and those offers and the desirability of the iPhone effectively keeps the iPhone from losing value until well into its lifecycle. Even if you look at the now-discontinued iPhone 15 Pro Maxes used in only fair condition on Swappa, they've held their value well a year after they were introduced.
I'm like you. The 5x zoom, combined with the titanium enclosure and ceramic screen, got me to actually get an iPhone 15 Pro Max after years of cheap Android phones. I like it! I've had it for almost a year, and it looks pristine! It works well. It cost too much money. I still have a cheap pre-paid plan.
Yet despite browsing deal sites and Apple news outlets and regularly checking in with the used market since getting my iPhone last year, I haven't seen a single "deal" on an iPhone that wasn't related to a multi-year contract deal that would cost me more per year than my current "spent the money, got a cheap pre-paid plan" deal. Sure, there are deals on models that are 3+ years old, and that's not what you're looking for.
It's tough to buy a flagship iPhone after cheaping it out for years. They're real nice phones. But the deals aren't out there.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 6:28 PM on September 12
iPhones aren't like MacBooks, where Amazon or Costco or the Apple Refurb Store regularly puts things on sale a few months into the lifecycle. I recently got a sweet Apple refurb M3 Air for $350 off retail. It's fantastic. I'm a bargain-hunter too, I know what you're looking for.
But it's just not the case with iPhones. Due to their astronomic price, carriers use financing deals to try and convince you to sign a contract for 2-3 years that will cost you far more than just buying an unlocked iPhone and going with a pre-paid carrier, and those offers and the desirability of the iPhone effectively keeps the iPhone from losing value until well into its lifecycle. Even if you look at the now-discontinued iPhone 15 Pro Maxes used in only fair condition on Swappa, they've held their value well a year after they were introduced.
I'm like you. The 5x zoom, combined with the titanium enclosure and ceramic screen, got me to actually get an iPhone 15 Pro Max after years of cheap Android phones. I like it! I've had it for almost a year, and it looks pristine! It works well. It cost too much money. I still have a cheap pre-paid plan.
Yet despite browsing deal sites and Apple news outlets and regularly checking in with the used market since getting my iPhone last year, I haven't seen a single "deal" on an iPhone that wasn't related to a multi-year contract deal that would cost me more per year than my current "spent the money, got a cheap pre-paid plan" deal. Sure, there are deals on models that are 3+ years old, and that's not what you're looking for.
It's tough to buy a flagship iPhone after cheaping it out for years. They're real nice phones. But the deals aren't out there.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 6:28 PM on September 12
Agreeing with everyone else that Apple does not put its flagship phones on sale. Often around Christmas/Black Friday certain retailers (Target, Walmart, etc) will offer a gift card of $100 or so with purchase, but this isn't a discount, it's something the retailers are throwing in to sweeten the deal. Substantial discounts of the kind you're used to seeing with laptops usually don't come till much closer to the end of the product cycle. Apple satisfies the market for those of us who like to bargain shop by continuing to offer previous models (in this case the 14 and 15) at lower prices, but if the 16 has specific features you want, you'll need to pay retail or get a "renewed" model in a few months.
The upshot is that if you've definitely decided you want a new iphone 16, you should just get it to maximize the amount of time you're going to have and use it.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 2:00 PM on September 13
The upshot is that if you've definitely decided you want a new iphone 16, you should just get it to maximize the amount of time you're going to have and use it.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 2:00 PM on September 13
Thanks, everyone. Sounds like the carriers are the ones in the driver's seat as far as the iPhone goes. FYI, the Apple financing only applies if you purchase Apple Care, so I'm not interested in that. So there truly aren't real discounts unless you want to buy a used or older phone.
posted by wnissen at 10:18 AM on September 15
posted by wnissen at 10:18 AM on September 15
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As for the macs, you do not see discounts typically in the first year. However, even when there are discounts they are on the order of 10-15%. If you look at Costco pricing, which includes the applecare and their own extended protection, you can see that there are no standard discounts, but they go on sale from time to time at the above referenced 10-15%. When they are obsoleted by a new model you can often get a higher discount.
posted by drossdragon at 9:13 AM on September 12