AT&T ‘free’ iPhone 16 Pro offer requires $2,735 spend over three years

An AT&T ‘free’ iPhone 16 promo invites both new and existing customers to “get the new iPhone 16 Pro, on us, with eligible trade-in, guaranteed.”

As is usual with such offers, however, the headline giveth and the small print taketh away – with two big catches …

AT&T is offering three ways to get a ‘free‘ iPhone 16:

• New and existing customers get iPhone 16 on us or up to $830 off iPhone 16 Plus, guaranteed with eligible trade-in.
• New and existing customers get iPhone 16 Pro on us or up to $1000 off iPhone 16 Pro Max, guaranteed with eligible trade-in.
• Plus – new AT&T Fiber customers are eligible to get iPhone 16 Pro Max on us.

The terms for each require entire paragraphs to explain.

Looking at the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro offers, both are limited to the 128GB model – which is probably a little tight for most people.

Each requires you to trade-in an existing phone, and to take out an instalment payment plan. The payments will be covered by monthly credits to the same value, but only if you maintain an AT&T unlimited plan (which of course has its own small-print) at a minimum cost of $75.99 per month.

The instalment plan runs for three years, so that equates to a total spend of $2,735.64. If you cancel your plan before then, the remaining balance on the iPhone cost becomes immediately payable.

The Pro Max deal is essentially an additional $200 credit in return for also subscribing to AT&T Fiber, and as the credit is applied at the rate of $5.56 per month, you’d also have to maintain that subscription for three years too.

Photo: Apple