Apple Rolls Out Black Friday Deals With Up to $1,200 Off iPhone 18 Models

Q: Are carriers using the new iPhone 18 and iPhone Duo to trap you in 36-month contracts disguised as massive holiday discounts?

Yes—many of the biggest iPhone 18 and iPhone Duo “holiday discounts” are effectively long-term financing commitments, not true upfront price cuts. The headline offers from AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and retailer activations like Best Buy typically rely on 24- to 36-month bill credits, with 36 months now common. That means the advertised “up to $1,200 off” usually arrives a little at a time on your monthly bill, and only if you keep the qualifying line, eligible plan and financing agreement active for the full term. Leave early, pay off and switch, or move to a cheaper nonqualifying plan, and the remaining credits generally stop. That structure functions like a modern contract even when carriers market it as “no contract.” The old service-contract model may be gone, but the device payment plan creates a similar lock-in: if you cancel service, the remaining phone balance can become due, and any unpaid promotional credits are typically lost. T-Mobile’s new Flex 36, for example, lowers upfront costs by stretching payments over three years, while Verizon and AT&T also use 36-month credit schedules on major iPhone promotions. These deals can still make sense for shoppers who already intend to stay with the same carrier and plan for three years. But they are not equivalent to cash savings or an unlocked phone discount from Apple or Amazon. The key question is not the headline discount; it is whether you are willing to trade flexibility for it.

3 articles · Updated · MacRumors · Nov 14

Early Black Friday promotions now span Apple’s lineup, led by carrier and retail offers of up to $1,200 off the iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max and iPhone Duo through AT&T, T-Mobile and Best Buy.
Those iPhone discounts generally require trade-ins, eligible unlimited plans or new-line activations, with most credits paid out over 36 months rather than as upfront price cuts.
Apple Watch deals are also deepening: Best Buy cut the older Ultra 3 to $549 from $799 for a record $250 discount, while Amazon matched the Ultra 4’s low at $699.99.
Mac discounts include the M5 MacBook Air from $1,099.99, down $199, and the M5 Max Mac Studio at $2,299, while AirTag 2 fell to a record $23.
With Black Friday less than two weeks away, the current offers mark an early wave of holiday pricing that could still be beaten later this month.