I was curious to see what trade in deals Verizon had for the 16 so I called today and was offered an iPhone 16 for free (just had to pay taxes) with a trade in of a 12 Pro. The current line I was upgrading was on the unlimited welcome plan and I was allowed to remain on the plan to my surprise. The only “catch” is I need to keep the phone for 36 months and the trade in credit of $830 will be applied as bill credits over 36 months. Anyone else take advantage of this deal?

Verizon is advertising a deal where you can get up to $1,000 off a new iPhone (like the 16 Pro) when you trade in your old phone — sounds amazing, right? I almost did it, but when I ran the numbers, it turned out to be a lot less valuable than it seems.

Here’s how it actually plays out: • I currently have an iPhone 14 Pro Max 256GB, which has a resale value of around $600 in excellent condition (not $700–$850 like I previously thought — sorry for the overestimate). • I’m on Verizon’s Unlimited plan with a $15/month BYOD (bring your own device) discount, and my total bill is $195/month. • If I do the trade-in: • Verizon removes my $15/month BYOD discount • They charge me $2.77/month for the new phone (after applying the $1,000 trade-in credit over 36 months) • My new monthly bill becomes $212.77

That’s a $17.77/month increase Over 36 months = $639.72 extra paid over time

So I’m “saving” $1,000 on the iPhone… but paying $640 more on my bill, which is basically just another way of financing the phone over 3 years.

And I’m giving up a phone worth $600 to do it.

$640 ÷ 36 months = $17.77/month — almost exactly what it would cost to finance the iPhone yourself without losing your BYOD discount or trade-in device.

Bottom line: Verizon’s “$1,000 off” is just a shell game: • They give you $1,000 in bill credits • But quietly raise your monthly bill in ways that offset most of it • And you lose flexibility (e.g., switching carriers = lose remaining credits)

If you sell your phone and buy a new one directly from Apple, you keep more value, avoid hidden bill increases, and don’t get locked into a 3-year commitment.

Don’t fall for the fine-print math — it’s not a “free iPhone.” It’s a clever upsell wrapped in shiny marketing.

Was looking at this deal and it sound pretty good but there obviously has to be a catch to this. So what is it. Besides the 3 year contract.

My husband and I went into a corporate Verizon. Took two phones to trade in for iPhone 16 Pros.

We upgraded both lines to unlimited ultimate.

We got the $1000 trade in promo for the new 16 pros, but we were told that we couldn’t get the ipad and watch because it was for “NEW unlimited ultimate smartphone lines”

This is not even, at all, how the promo is presented, in commercials, online, their own website, or the screens in store. Even the link at the top of the iPhone 16 Pros page, for the “free iPad and watch” thing.

From my perspective…we upgraded both lines to Unlimited Ultimate, which makes them new Unlimited Ultimate lines….right?

And I’m not trying to be dense or ridiculous here, just trying to understand. But before going in, I read a ton of posts here in this sub and other stuff that said that we’d just be required to have new lines FOR the iPad and watch. Not brand new smartphone lines. So some clarification on that would be helpful.

My question is: both of our phones are fully paid off. If we had called 2 hours before going in and cancelled the lines for our phones, brought the trade ins in, we would have gotten the iPad and watch deal, right?

For those that did the upgrade or are planning to what is the downsides of doing this? Its saying something about having to have a specific plan in order do do this upgrade.

I have iPhone 14 Pro on Verizon, one payment away from fully paid off. I want to get the $1,000 off on iPhone 17 Pro w/ 36 month commitment to Unlimited Ultimate. Swappa listings seem to indicate I could get ~$500 for the iPhone 14 Pro selling it as an individual.

When looking at Verizon upgrade deals on apple.com, it says phones as old as Google Pixel 6 in any condition will be accepted for the $1,000 off offer. A Google Pixel 6 can be purchased on Swappa for $129, so it would seem to make sense to buy a Pixel 6, trade it in immediately and pocket the ~$370 difference.

There is no language on apple.com that I can find stating the trade in phone has to be previously active with Verizon. However, on Verizon's site there is this: "For upgrades, trade-in phone must be active on account for 60 days prior to new device purchase."

Does this requirement not apply to upgrades done through apple.com?