FREE iPhone15! There I said it. Did it get your attention? Along with the words “New and Improved”, Free is among marketing’s most effective words. It grabs the attention of those seeking a deal or an offer that may be exclusive to them. But it is really “free” or are all of these recent free iPhone 15 deals just another opportunity for data deception and misinformation? Is it a data dupe?
With the launch of the latest edition of the iPhone, there is the usual annual buzz of the next must-have phone that Apple fans have come to expect. However, with iPhone and other brands, the smartphone has matured as a product and there are fewer Wow features than before and less of a reason to stand in line or camp out overnight to be among the first to own one. Some would argue that Apple is losing its preeminent position as the cool phone to own with rivals such as Samsung making gains in the US. So, what can Apple and its mobile carrier partners do?
Free for All
Let’s be clear there is no such thing as free, or at least completely free. Apple iPhones are not alone in this concept of appearing to offer something for free. From your grocery store BOGO offers, to free taco Tuesdays the allure of giving something away is a great hook to capture a person’s attention. What makes free cell phone offers different is they are offering a very expensive item for next to nothing.
The new iPhone 15 has four models (base, plus, pro, and pro max) with prices ranging from $799 to $1599. The free offer of course comes with some qualifications from the mobile carriers giving them away. First, most require an older iPhone as a trade-in, which is really a form of payment. A used iPhone 11 could be worth as much as $500. Second, they require maintaining a cell phone plan for 24 to 36 months. Usually these are the premium plans that cost up to $75 per month and the customer receives ‘statement credit’ towards the cost of the phone during this period. A statement credit is a form of a loan which is also a bit deceiving until maybe you notice the fine print reference to 0% APR (terms often associated with loans). Leave your carrier earlier and you are responsible for paying the balance of the phone’s cost. So much for free.
Free as Can Be
You might look at this and say, well I am already paying for monthly cell service and if I can get a new phone then all the better. If it is not costing any more than you are paying now, then at least it feels free. That feeling of free is also an enabler the carriers rely upon. It brings emotions to an otherwise major purchase. The transaction is easy – trade in a phone, agree to three more years – and you are on your way with a nice shiny new phone. It feels right, it feels easy, it feels free. Free as can be.
It feels right, it feels easy, it feels free. Free as can be.
There are alternatives of course. You could buy a different less expensive phone. You can buy one at full price from Apple and select another less expensive mobile carrier. Competitors that use the same cellular networks offer plans at $30, which is already 25% less than major carrier’s offers of $40 per month.
And while we are on the topic of phone plan pricing, notice the major carriers’ advertising often shows the price of service per line with a footnote. The note states these are the prices for four lines, not one and the premium for fewer lines is enormous. With four lines the cost might be $40 per line. Change to just one line and the cost is $75, an 87% difference in price!
The annual release of the iPhone is fun and exciting, in part to see what the engineers at Cupertino have dreamed as possible. We all want to be part of that dream, to spirit through our lives with limitless ease that allows us to communicate, capture, and share our moments with others. The iPhone is among the ultimate tools for doing so, but also we need to know that the cost of easy and free – the numbers behind it – may come at the expense of being data duped.
Data Duped 