T-Mobile is rolling out a limited-time offer on the most expensive iPhone models, and this one doesn’t even require you to buy-one-get-one-free. Starting February 23rd, you’ll get $200 off the purchase of an iPhone X, iPhone 8, 8 Plus, 7 or 7 Plus via a prepaid Mastercard, which is nothing to turn your nose up at.
However, you’ll need to read the fine print quite carefully, because this offer requires a trade-in of a relatively recent flagship iPhone or Android device to qualify.
In order to get the $200 Mastercard, you have to trade in one of the following:
- Samsung GS8 / Samsung GS8+ / Samsung GS8 Active / Samsung GS7 / Samsung GS7 Edge / Samsung GS7 Active
- Apple iPhone 7 / Apple iPhone 7 Plus / Apple iPhone 6s / Apple iPhone 6s Plus
- LG V30 / LG V30+
To be clear, you get the $200 on top of the value of your trade-in — this isn’t T-Mobile trying to buy a working iPhone from you for $200. But the trade-in requirement still means you’re going to have to evaluate this deal carefully, because carrier trade-in pricing tends to undervalue new phones particularly badly. For example, a 32GB iPhone 7 will get you an estimated $122 from T-Mobile, whereas they’re going on eBay for around $350. Things are even worse for old Android phones, which hold value less well than iPhones.
Still, if you have one of the older devices on the list (since the trade-in value for older devices is closer to the true resale value) and you can’t be bothered with dealing with Craigslist strangers, this is a good deal, especially on a premium device like the iPhone X, which doesn’t see many discounts.
