Updated on September 29, 2023
iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max Trade In Deals
The pre-orders begin tomorrow on September 15 (of course it starts on the 15th!). Here are the best offers and even FREE iPhone 15 and 15 Pro's with trade in! Free iPhone 15 and Pros can be easily obtained with trade in at T-Mobile and AT&T. With Verizon, you can only get the iPhone 15 for free since the max is $800. T-Mobile is calling with the best deal up to $1000 and credits are given over a 24 month period – that's only 2 years compared to 3 years with Verizon and AT&T.
Update: Costco has a new arrangement where they have 1 carrier per store, not the Wireless Advocates shop that sold all 3 carriers. For T-Mobile, if you do your upgrade in the store, you'll get a $75 Costco card. If you activate a new line, you get $150. However, they no longer sell the phones there so you'll simply be placing your order and waiting for the delivery.
This year's trade in offers are very similar with offers of up to $800-$1000 trade in credit. Verizon and T-Mobile require the higher plans to get the most trade in credit. See below for the details on the 3 carriers. One word of caution, the credits from Verizon and AT&T come in over 36 months so you'll have to stick with the new phone for 3 years to get all the credits. With T-Mobile, it's 2 years.
What is the iPhone 15 release date?
iPhone 15 pre-orders begin on September 15 at 5am Pacific Time (8am Eastern time) and available in the stores Sept 22. So, no need to to wake up in the middle of the night if you're on the east coast if you really want to order one.
How much does the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max cost?
All the prices are the same as last year except the Pro Max which is $100 more but includes 256gb memory at the same price.
- iPhone 15 starts at $799
- iPhone 15 Plus starts at $899
- iPhone 15 Pro starts at $999
- iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1199
What iPhone 15 Colors are Available?
iPhone 15: blue, pink, yellow, green, black
iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max: natural, blue, white, black
Most people I see have a case on their phone so do the colors really matter? Yes, clearly they still matter a bit.
Trade In Offers
The offers are not live on the carrier websites yet so save this post. I found the trade in values on Apple's website for now.
Verizon Wireless
Get up to $800 off with trade in
Verizon, as usual, is less generous than T-Mobile and AT&T, both which will give you up to $1000 with a trade in. The most you can get on Verizon is $800 and you'll need the more expensive unlimited plans.
- Unlimited Ultimate, Unlimited Plus, One Unlimited, 5G Get More, 5G Do More, or 5G Play More: To get the max $800 credit, you can trade in even an older iPhone XS or newer phone.
- Any other rate plan: all iPhone XR, XS, XS Max, 11 ($400)
- Older phones: iPhone 8 can get you $400/$100 depending on your rate plan
- Trade in credits are applied over 36 months… that's 3 years before you get all the credits
AT&T Wireless
Special Offer: NEW AND EXISTING CUSTOMERS CAN GET UP TO $1000 OFF iPhone 15 Pro models and $800 off non-pro 15 models.
Trade-In Offer: AT&T is offering quite good trade-in values for your old phones. You'll need to stay on a postpaid monthly plan of $75/mo. For example trading in an iPhone 12 which had a retail price of $829 for the base model when released can get you now $1000 credit. That will even cover a Pro model or an upgraded 14 or 14 Plus. Even for very old phones like the iPhone 8, you can still get $350. Considering they give the same amount for an iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Max, the future value of the non-Pro models hold up the best.
- Get up to the maximum $1000 bill credit, trade a 12 Pro Max or newer (including non-pro models: 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max, and all 14 models. If you have an Android, you can trade in a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra or newer
- Get up to $800 in bill credit trade in models 11 or older. For Androids, eligible trade-ins include Samsung S22+ or older
- Trade in credits are applied over 36 months similar to Verizon. T-Mobile is only 24 months.
T-Mobile
Link to Offer (or my refer a friend link)
Special Offer: NEW AND EXISTING CUSTOMERS CAN GET UP TO $1000 OFF iPhone 15 Pro models and $833 off non-pro 15 models.
Trade-In Offer: Get the Go5G Plus plan and you can get up to $1000 to purchase a Pro/Pro Max with the trade in of an iPhone 11/12/13 Pro and Pro Max models only. Or get up to $800 for a non-Pro model by trading in an iPhone XR, 11 or newer. If you have an older phone like the iPhone X, 8 or older, you can get $400 trade in credit. The oldest iPhone accepted is iPhone 7 and that still gets you $400!
- To get the most trade in credit, you'll need to have the Go5G Plus.
- Go5G Plus customers: Receive credit with purchase of an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max of $1000, $800, or $400
- All other plans: up to $650 for the iPhone 14 Pro Max (not a good deal), the iPhone 7 gets $175 (not bad!)
- To get the maximum $1000 credit towards a 15 Pro, trade in an iPhone 11/12/13 only Pro/Pro Max models
- To get the maximum $800 credit towards a standard iPhone 15, trade in an iPhone XS, 11, 12 or newer (non-pro). Great deal to trade in an old iPhone XS or 11 and get a new iPhone 15! Those phones from 2018 and 2019.
- A portion of the trade-in credits are applied over 24 months which is better than AT&T and Verizon
Which iPhone 15 to Get?
UPDATE: There have been reports of the 15 Pro and Pro Max overheating and being extra fragile. I think I just saved a couple hundred bucks. I was considering the Pro this year but that's not something i want to deal with.
Last year the main differences between the 14 and 14 Pro's were, of course, the camera as well as the dynamic island (the morphing cutout). If you wanted the 48 MP camera, the only choice was the Pro. The Pro line also have LiDAR if you ever have a reason to use it. Last year you would have to pay $200 extra for a much better camera setup.
This year, there are even less differences between the 15 and 15 Pro. The base 15 received a big improvement and now has the 48 MP camera. All the models have the Dynamic Island too. So what do you get if you splurge for the 15 Pro and spend $200 extra? You get a 3rd camera (Telephoto 12MP), 3x optical zoom, and a phone made of titanium instead of aluminum. You also get a faster USB-C which supports USB 3 but most people probably don't care about that.
Really it's $200 for the lightly better camera… and they add better materials but I'm not choosing a phone because it's titanium.
If you have an iPhone 11 Pro or newer, T-Mobile will give you $1000 credit towards the new 15 Pro — that's an obvious choice. If you have an iPhone XS or 11 (non-pro) you can get the standard 15 from T-Mobile for free. Another great choice.
The base model 15 or 15 Plus is the best unless you need that telephoto lens for +$200. I'd save the money for an upgrade in storage if anything. One downside of storage upgrades is that they have almost $0 trade in value in the future — they will usually pay the same amount for any storage size even if you pay for the largest size.
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