With Black Friday fast approaching, the beginning of the holiday shopping season is about to begin in earnest. Consumers are looking for the best deals they can find on a variety of highly sought after products and one perennial favorite it Apple's (AAPL -0.78%) flagship iPhone.
Apple is offering the iPhone 11 Pro for $599 or an iPhone 11 for $399, each after trade-in of an iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone X in good condition.
While the tech giant's Black Friday offers are reasonable, they won't work for everyone, and the best deals are typically offered by wireless carriers and third-party retailers. Let's look at the best ways to score a cheap iPhone for the holidays.
Image source: Apple.
Free is my favorite price
True to form, wireless providers Verizon (VZ 1.61%), Sprint (S), and AT&T (T 2.74%) each have a heck of a deal on the new iPhone 11, with a few strings attached.
Verizon is offering what is essentially a buy-one-get-one free offer. Customers can get a free iPhone 11, or any phone worth up to $700, with the purchase and activation of a another smartphone that costs at least $700. Verizon customers can also get up to $500 off an iPhone 11 with the trade-in of an iPhone 7 or newer model, if they are on an unlimited plan or sign up for a new line. An iPhone SE, iPhone 5, or iPhone 6 is worth $300 at trade-in.
Sprint has a similar offer that yields a free iPhone 11, though it's a lease-one-get-one deal. Buyers who lease an iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or iPhone XS Max will get an iPhone 11 free of charge. The lease payment depends on the model chosen, but the lease term runs for 18 months. The deal also applies to the 24-month installment plan.
AT&T is offering a 64GB iPhone XR for free with signup. The model typically costs $599. Customers will get a monthly credit over the course of the 30-month contract.
Big discounts are good, too
Electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY 1.79%) is offering a couple of interesting deals on iPhone models.
Customers with a late model iPhone to trade-in can score savings of up to $500 on trade-in and activation on the purchase of an iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, or iPhone 11 Pro Max. The amount of the trade-in will be based on the model of the iPhone and the amount of storage. You can estimate your savings using Best Buy's trade-in calculator.
Best Buy shoppers can also get a 32 GB iPhone SE for just $59.99, which is probably one of the cheapest iPhone deals you will find this year on an early model iPhone. The deal is available through wireless carrier Simple Mobile, so you must be willing to use this network.
Amazon.com (AMZN -4.25%) has a number of deals on used products, which it calls "renewed." It says they "work and look like new," and are backed by Amazon's 90-day renewed product guarantee.
The e-commerce giant is offering shoppers a fully unlocked 256 GB iPhone XS (renewed) in Space Gray is for $620.86, more than half off the list price of $1,299.99.
One of the more impressive deals on Amazon for an older model iPhone is for a fully unlocked 64 GB iPhone 6S (renewed) in Rose Gold for $169.99 a savings of nearly 75%. The phone is locked to the GSM network, so is only compatible with the AT&T or T-Mobile (TMUS -1.55%) networks. Amazon shoppers can also score a fully unlocked 64GB iPhone 8 (renewed) for $309.
Image source: Getty Images.
Merely a starting point
A couple of words of caution. These deals may change over the course of Black Friday or as we get closer to Cyber Monday. As with any deals, some will only be around while supplies last.
Finally, this list isn't meant to be exhaustive, and with new deals arriving on a regular basis, bargain shoppers are sure to find the iPhone they're looking for.
