How Aggressively Are U.S. Carriers Pushing the iPhone 16e?
With the iPhone 16e launching at just $600, that should give carriers room to heavily subsidize it for subscribers who want a good iPhone without all the bells and whistles. But they aren’t. Every major U.S. carrier is offering the new iPhone with promotions, but they aren’t nearly as generous as you might expect. The caveats and terms of each carrier offer exposes some interesting differences in how each carrier approaches customer acquisition and retention these days.
OVERVIEW and Outliers
AT&T’s offer also looks aggressive on paper, as it is the only one that doesn’t require a new line or a trade-in, and only charges $6 / month for a total outlay of $215. However, that still requires a three-year commitment on an unlimited plan, and there’s a hidden $35 activation fee even for existing subscribers.
T-Mobile is fairly generous to existing postpaid customers on their top tier plans with a trade-in, requiring just a two-year commitment to pay off the device. Still, the economics shift if your trade-in is actually worth something on the open market. T-Mobile is also offering free iPhone 16e’s on its lower priced plans for a two-year commitment, but only for new subscribers with a trade-in.
If you’re willing to stick around for a year, Metro by T-Mobile offers a free iPhone 16e with a new line. Not bad.
Verizon is using its incentives to gain new subscribers and lock them in for three years. Where it differs is on the trade-in: it will accept any phone with an Apple, Samsung, or Google logo on it in any condition.
The most unique offer is from Boost Mobile, which is offering the iPhone 16e for $200 [in store] if you bring your number to Boost and get a $60/month Unlimited Premium Plan. [update 2/25/25: that offer is only at retail; online the phone costs $300]. What makes this special is that there is no obligation to stick with the carrier – you could theoretically pay $200 plus $60 for the service and get a $600 phone and then walk away. $340 is a lot to acquire a customer that might not stick around; we’ll see if people take advantage of them and if Boost Mobile changes those terms to match the longer requirements from rivals.
| New sub? | Trade in? | Type of Plan | Up front device $ | Monthly device $ | Length | Total hardware cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | No | No | Unlimited (any) | -- | $5.99 | 36 months | $215 |
| Boost | Yes | No | Unlimited Premium | $200 | $0 | 1 month | $200 |
| Metro by T-Mobile | Yes | No | Metro Flex Up, Metro Flex Plus | $0 | $0 | 12 months | $0 |
| T-Mobile | No | Yes | Magenta Max, Go5G Plus/Next | $0 | $0 | 24 months | $0 + trade-in value |
| T-Mobile | Yes | Yes | Go5G, most plans | $0 | $0 | 24 months | $0 + trade-in value |
| Xfinity Mobile | Yes | Yes | Unlimited Plus | $0 | $0 | 24 months | $0 + trade-in value |
| Xfinity Mobile | No | Yes | Unlimited, by-the-gig | $300 | $0 | 24 months | $300 + trade-in value |
| Verizon | Yes | No | myPlan | $0 | $5 | 36 months | $180 |
| Verizon | Yes | Yes | myPlan | $0 | $0 | 36 months | $0 + trade in value |
Conclusion
In my recent conversations with U.S. carrier executives, they have been wary of entering an incentives pricing war, and instead are creating offers that look good, but won’t cost them enormous amounts of money to fulfill. And that’s exactly what we see with the iPhone 16e.
All U.S. carriers and cable MVNOs are willing to finance devices over a 24 or 36 month period at 0% interest. However, beyond that, carriers are being quite restrained with their incentives. Getting a free or deeply discounted iPhone 16e, requires a new subscription, a trade-in, or both – plus a long commitment and often a premium service plan. One key variable carriers are playing with is the value of that trade-in: some are trying to offset their costs, while others are using the trade-in as part of the incentive. If consumers jump through all those hoops, they get a modest discount on a phone that is hundreds of dollars cheaper than other iPhone 16’s to start with.