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Phone upgrades are expensive!

Key Point

• Trade in your old phone and you’ll get some great credit towards your new iPhone 14.
• Purchasing a model with a smaller screen or less storage space can lower the price.
• Earn a credit card sign-up bonus and potentially $200 in cash back just by buying an expensive iPhone.

September means Halloween stuff is hitting the shelves, pumpkin spice lattes are back, and new iPhones have been announced. That’s right, the iPhone 14 has officially been announced!

You won’t be able to play with the new model until October, can Book now and make sure you’re one of the first. Of course, if you’re already drooling at the idea of ​​getting the latest iPhone, you’ve probably already seen that many of this season’s options carry his four-figure price tag. prize.

Savings accounts are strained as many of us are already dealing with inflation and skyrocketing housing. But while there are no amazing pre-order discounts, there are still a few ways you can save money when pre-ordering the new iPhone 14.

1. Trade in your old smartphone

The best way to buy a new iPhone 14 is to trade in another phone. Whether you have an older model iPhone, the latest Samsung model, or a more recent Google Pixel, you can pre-order an iPhone 14 and trade it in to Apple for a discounted price.

Your phone must be in good condition to get the full trade-in value. An iPhone 13 Pro in good condition runs up to $720, and one with a cracked screen is $280. Plus, the older the phone, the less money you get. You can trade it in as far back as an iPhone 7, but you’ll only get $40.

2. Choose a smaller screen

The first choice when pre-ordering the new iPhone 14 is which model to get. the only difference? Screen size — and $100.

Both the Pro and Pro Max come with an upgraded camera system, the latest software (including the much touted Dynamic Island), and the A16 Bionic chip. However, the Pro has a 6.1 inch screen and the Pro Max has a 6.7 inch screen.

If you can live with a slightly smaller screen, you’ll save $100 over buying the larger Pro Max. Basically, a 9% smaller screen is 9% cheaper. It’s like fair trade.

3. Choose less storage

Like it or not, the current trend in smartphones these days is to skip SD cards and buy phones with more storage. Of course, the more storage you need, the higher the price.

The iPhone 14 Pro with 128 GB of storage costs $999, and the iPhone 14 Pro with 1 TB of storage costs a whopping $1,499. If you know you won’t be loading media on your phone, choosing a smaller storage option can save you quite a bit of money.

4. Get a carrier-locked phone

When you buy a new iPhone 14 from Apple, you get either a fully unlocked phone (a phone that can connect to any carrier) or four carriers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon. Locked phones are usually , available only on that carrier.

There is no difference in price between the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, regardless of which carrier option you choose. But if you’re looking to pre-order the cheaper iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Plus, it will cost you another $30 to get an unlocked phone from Apple.

For example, the base model iPhone 14 Plus is $899 with four carriers, but it drops to $929 with the “connect to any carrier later” option. If you’re a carrier enthusiast and know you won’t be switching anytime soon, opting for a locked phone can save you a bit of money on your purchase.

5. Use it to get a signup bonus

It’s probably an unconventional saving option, but a credit card sign-up bonus is a solid way to get some money back on your iPhone purchase. how does that work? Simple:

Sign up for new Cash Back Rewards credit cards with great sign up bonuses. Then use your new card to buy an iPhone 14. Depending on how much you spend and the model of iPhone you buy, you can get the bonus just for this purchase. (Buy gas and groceries if you need to spend a little more.)

And that’s it. In the first three months he spends $1,000 and can easily find a card with a $200 bonus. This means that the new iPhone Pro Max can get a $200 bonus on his single deal.

Even better, most cashback reward cards these days also come with a pre-launch 0% APR offer. This means you can pay off your iPhone in months without worrying about interest. When still get rewarded When signup bonus. It’s a win-win-win!