iPhone

Why You Should Always Buy Your Phone from Apple and Never from Your Cell Carrier

For starters, the carrier deals sometimes are not deals at all

All photos by author

I worked at an Apple retail store for a few years after closing my consulting business. I had fun, learned a thing or two, and made some money to pad out my retirement.

One of the many things that surprised me was how many customers had no idea that they could buy, activate, and set up a new phone at the store. These folks assumed that they had to buy at their cell carrier.

That’s not at all true and there are many reasons why you might choose not to buy through your carrier.

Cost, subsidies, trade-ins

Another thing that surprised me was that many customers believed that the major carriers would subsidize the purchase; that is, the carrier would absorb part of the cost in exchange for signing up for cellular service. In fact, that subsidy stopped years ago and was replaced by things that looked like subsidies but were not.

I’m not saying that carriers never offer a deal on a new phone. They do sometimes but most of the time, the deal is nothing more than interest-free payments disguised as something else. Trade-ins are often…