All the carriers that will give you an iPhone 16 for free

The iPhone 16 was officially unveiled today at Apple’s It’s Glowtime event, with pre-orders starting XYZ. Now that the phone is official, you might be looking to pick it up for the best deal possible. Is there any way to get the iPhone 16 for free? Actually, yes, though there are some caveats as you’d expect.

Where can you get a free iPhone 16?

No one is going to give you a free iPhone, outside of maybe a giveaway or something. For everyone else, the best way to get a free iPhone 16 is through a special carrier deal. This requires you to jump through varying hoops which might include upgrading to a higher tier plan, signing up for a new line, trading in a device, or more. Some carriers even offer more than one pathway to a free phone, such as giving you the option of a trade-in or signing up for a new line.

Be aware the free phone discount pretty much always takes the form of credit discounts over a long period of months. The average is three years, though T-Mobile still keeps its repayment contracts to just 48 months. If you cancel your plan or change up phones sooner than expected, you may end up owing back some money as well before you can switch carriers.

Below we take a quick look at the carriers and retailers currently offering an iPhone 17 for free right now.

Verizon

New and existing customers can get a free iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, or even iPhone 16 Pro from Verizon by simply trading in any phone, regardless of its condition. Just be aware that pre-orders don’t start until Friday, but you can sign up now for a notification the minute sales go live.

Sound too good to be true? The only catch is the plan you pick matters. Those who are on Unlimited Welcome and Unlimited Plus will get $830 off with their trade-in, enough to cover the base model only. For those who sign up (or already are on) the Unlimited Ultimate will get $1000 off with trade-in which opens the door for a free iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro.

T-Mobile 

T-Mobile is offering the iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro for free with trade-in. Prefer a bigger display? You can get the iPhone 16 Plus or iPhone 16 Pro Max for $830 and $1,000 off, respectively. This means you’ll pay for the latter two devices but it’ll be less than $100 for the Plus and under $200 for the Pro Max. Looking for even more savings? For every new line added to Go5G Next or Go5G Plus will net you $200 back per line for up to four lines. Be sure to head over to T-Mobile’s sign-up page now for an alert when pre-orders formally kick off this Friday.

AT&T

AT&T effectively has the same deal as you get from T-Mobile with a free iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro with an eligible trade-in, or up to $830 off on the iPhone 16 Plus. Lastly, you can get the iPhone 16 Pro Max for $1000 off with this promotion as well. You’ll want to head on over to AT&T’s website for more details.

Boost Mobile

Boost Mobile also offers the iPhone 16 for free, but there are a few things to clarify first. These days the Dish Network-owned Boost Mobile offers both prepaid and postpaid plans under the same brand, which is powered by a combination of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Dish’s own fledgling 5G network. The offers here primarily apply to postpaid customers.

Interested in prepaid service and thinking about getting the iPhone 16? While it’s not as exciting as getting the phone for free, you can buy the iPhone 16 series from Boost Mobile’s store at full price in return for a full year of free phone service. That’s only a value of $300, but it’s still a nice bit of extra savings.

For a free iPhone 16 on Boost Mobile, you’re going to need to sign up for a postpaid plan, specifically the Boost Mobile Infinite Access plan, which is $65 a month and includes unlimited data, global roaming, and a free iPhone upgrade every single year. That’s without requiring a trade-in even! Boost actually gives you up to $1,000 off which you can use to get the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, and iPhone 16 Pro for absolutely free.

While Boost still charges you $200 for the iPhone 16 Max Pro after the discount, this is the only carrier that does give you a way to get it for completely free! The company says it has teamed up with Apple Retail for a trade-in promotion that will give you $1,650 in total credits if you sign up for an Infinite Access plan and also trade in an older iPhone.

Boost Mobile’s free iPhone 16 deals aren’t live yet but you can sign up now for an alert when pre-orders formally kick off later this week.