Preorders for the iPhone 14 kick off Friday, giving Apple Inc. devotees their first crack at the company’s latest smartphone lineup.
All four newly announced phones feature camera improvements, while the Pro models gain Apple’s
AAPL,
faster A16 processor and a redesigned area toward the top of the phone.
Perhaps the biggest thing Chief Executive Tim Cook gave iPhone fans was another pause on price increases. The iPhone 14 starts at $799, just as comparably sized models have for two years. The iPhone 14 Pro begins at $999 and the iPhone 14 Pro Max begins at $1,099, consistent with prices going back three years. (The company also added a new screen size for its base model, called the iPhone 14 Plus, which will start at $899.)
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Even though Apple held prices steady in a period of high inflation, the sticker price for its new devices are still high, especially considering that the costs of iPhones with larger storage configurations run up even higher: The most expensive iPhone 14 Pro Max, with 1 terabyte of storage, will set you back $1,599 if you buy it outright.
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Many consumers, though, will be looking for deals that help them pay far less than the sticker price, thanks to bill credits, trade-in offers, installment plans, and other inducements.
Here’s what the big three U.S. carriers will be offering when preorders begin Friday, Sept. 9 at 8 a.m. Eastern.
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AT&T
AT&T Inc.
T,
says on its website that it will offer up to $1,000 in bill credits for new and existing customers purchasing an eligible phone while trading one in as well.
Consumers can get up to $1,000 in bill credits for smartphones with a trade-in value of $230 or higher. They can get up to $800 in bill credits for smartphones with trade-in values of $130 to $229. And they’re eligible for up to $350 in bill credits when trading in smartphones with values of $35 to $129.
The offer applies to consumers signing on with “qualifying installment plans,” which the company describes as 36-month terms that have people paying $22.23 a month to $44.45 a month depending on which device they buy, though the company said that “other installment options may be available.”
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T-Mobile
T-Mobile US Inc.
TMUS,
says on its website that it’s also offering up to $1,000 off any of the phones from the iPhone 14 line. The deals come in the form of 24-month bill credits for those on Magenta Max or other premium plans.
As with AT&T’s offers, the extent of the deal depends on how new and valuable a consumer’s existing phone is. The deals cover new and existing T-Mobile and Sprint customers.
The company notes that customers can get Apple TV+, the smartphone giant’s streaming service, included with their plan if they’re getting Magenta Max service or maintaining a “Plus” line.
T-Mobile adds that consumers can get half off the iPhone 14 Pro, or up to $500 off any iPhone 14 device, when trading in eligible devices on “almost all” of its plans. This deal also manifests through 24-month bill credits.
Further, users buying an iPhone 14 can get up to $700 off a second iPhone 14, through bill credits, when they add a new line to “almost all” of the company’s plans, per a T-Mobile release.
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Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc.
VZ,
says that existing customers can get up to $800 off an iPhone 14 device with certain trade-ins and on eligible unlimited plans.
New customers can receive up to $1,000 off a phone through credits, and Verizon is offering a $200 gift card to help ease the switch away from other carriers. That offer applies to new subscribers who are moving to one of the company’s premium plans. There are lesser discounts for new customers signing on with one of Verizon’s lower plans.
The company is also adding a new plan that bundles Apple One in with wireless service. Verizon says that users on this plan can “get up to $480 in annual value” for them and their family members through this plan, which adds access to Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and iCloud+.
What these mean for wireless carriers
LightShed Partners analyst Walt Piecyk wrote that this year’s wireless deals are fairly similar to what the operators offered last year.
“With no major change in promotions and a consumer struggling with inflation, it’s odd that U.S. operators are expecting a year-over-year increase in upgrade rates in the second half of the year,” he wrote.
