An AT&T “free” iPhone 16 promo is out there, inviting both new and existing customers to “get the new iPhone 16 Pro, on us, with eligible trade-in, guaranteed.”
However, as is often the case with such offers, the headline gives and the small print takes away – with two major catches looming…
AT&T is presenting three ways to obtain a “free” iPhone 16:
- For both new and existing customers, they can get the iPhone 16 for free or enjoy up to $830 off on the iPhone 16 Plus, all guaranteed with eligible trade-in.
- New and existing customers can also get the iPhone 16 Pro for free or receive up to $1000 off on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, again, guaranteed with eligible trade-in.
- And that’s not all – new AT&T Fiber customers are eligible to get the iPhone 16 Pro Max for free.
Each of these terms requires extensive paragraphs to fully explain.
When looking at the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro offers, it’s notable that both are limited to the 128GB model, which might seem a bit tight for most people.
They all require you to trade in an existing phone and sign up for an installment payment plan. The payments will be covered by monthly credits of the same value, but only if you maintain an AT&T unlimited plan (which, of course, has its own set of fine print) at a minimum cost of $75.99 per month.
The installment plan spans for three years, which translates to a total expenditure of $2,735.64. If you decide to cancel your plan before that, the remaining balance on the iPhone cost becomes immediately payable.
The deal for the Pro Max essentially involves an additional $200 credit in return for also subscribing to AT&T Fiber, and since the credit is applied at the rate of $5.56 per month, you would also need to maintain that subscription for three years.
Update: The $75.99/month minimum spend is mentioned in AT&T’s own press release, but the company informs us that it should have been listed as $65.99. AT&T also notes that multi-line plans have a lower per-line cost.
Photo: Apple
