AppleInsider Staff
Though Apple raised the price floor of its iPhone lineup this year, U.S. carriers are offering only moderate discounts and incentives on iPhone 8 series devices, much less so as compared to last year.
Apple's latest iPhone 8 models start at $699 for the base 64GB 4.7-inch iPhone 8 and go all the way up to $949 for the 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus with 256GB of storage. That's a $50 base increase compared to iPhone 7.
In years past, carriers looking to stimulate smartphone adoption and, more importantly, customer churn, have offered deep discounts and even free handsets with trade-ins. That is largely not the case for 2017.
After Apple's big event yesterday, T-Mobile announced a trade-in deal that nets customers up to $300 to put toward an iPhone 8, 8 Plus or iPhone X purchased as part of an installment plan. Customers who turn in an iPhone 6 or newer in decent condition will receive their discount via 24 monthly bill credits.
Verizon, America's largest cellular carrier by subscribers, on Wednesday announced a nearly identical plan that provides customers up to $300 off iPhone 8 or 8 Plus when they purchase the device with an unlimited plan.
The firm's terms are more stringent, however, as only iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 6s and 6s Plus are eligible for the full $300. Buyers trading in an iPhone 6, 6 Plus and SE get a $200 discount, while iPhone 5, 5c and 5 net $100, Verizon said. Like the T-Mobile plan, Verizon will pay the credit out over a 24-month period.
The best deal appears to come from AT&T, which is extending a buy one, get one offer to DirecTV customers who buy iPhone 8 or 8 Plus through its device leasing program. Buyers need to purchase the smartphone through AT&T and need to maintain service over the agreement's two-year term.
Alternatively, AT&T customers subscribed to an upgrade plan that allows annual swap-outs can snag a 32GB iPad for $100 with the purchase of iPhone 8 or 8 Plus.
Finally, in what seems to be the worst deal of the bunch, Sprint is offering 50 percent off the lease of a new iPhone 8 or 8 Plus under Sprint Flex and with the trade in of an eligible handset. The discount is meted out over an 18-month period, at the end of which customers will have to turn in their iPhone or pay the $175 difference.
Apple will open preorders for iPhone 8 and 8 Plus at 12:01 a.m. Pacific this Friday, with carriers expected to follow suit. The devices are slated to hit store shelves on Sept. 22.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
Charles Martin
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
6 Comments
Any news on Canadian carriers?
Just sell it on eBay and get on a cheap MVNO plan.
pretty solid deal on AT&T, but who has TV service these days?
They'll use this price bump to offer massive discounts on Android devices to try to win some (tens/hundreds of thousands of) customers back for their "value added services" (like their network version of "find my family", "home kit", voicemail-digitization, etc.)
My wife and I planned on discounted 7's. T-Mobile came through with $300 off each one for us.