The iPhone 12 and 12 mini price and preorder deals on T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T or unlocked

What they failed to mention, however, was the iPhone 12 and 12 mini carrier prices, unlocked, and without a trade-in deal:

• $699/$749/$849 on Verizon and AT&T, or $729/$779/$879 on T-Mobile and unlocked

• Apple officially unveils iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max
• The Apple iPhone 12 is finally official. Welcome to 5G
• Apple’s iPhone 12 mini comes with the smallest price, 5G, and a late release date
• iPhone 12 series battery life revealed: Here’s how they compare with all the previous iPhones
• Apple brings back a familiar face: meet MagSafe for iPhone
• The incredibly affordable HomePod mini is official with nifty new features

That little factoid that Apple touts in the press release may be behind the more expensive iPhone 12 and 12 mini prices. After all, if you buy an iPhone on T-Mobile, Verizon, or AT&T, it only needs to support their peculiar low-, mod- or high-band mmWave 5G network, but the unlocked iPhone 12 has to support most global 5G frequencies. 

Those extra 5G antennas all around the phone, as well as the modem interference filters don’t come cheap, so what are the US carrier prices for the iPhone 12 and 12 mini then?

With its cute mmWave 5G network, Verizon wasn’t really a contender in nationwide coverage compared to T-Mobile but it certainly made it up in speed. Now, however, together with the iPhone 12, it announced availability of its 5G Ultra Wideband service in 55 more cities, 43 stadiums and arenas, and seven airports, making its “5G Nationwide service” available to more than 200 million people in 1,800 cities in the US.

In short, Verizon  will be carrying the full suite of 5G iPhone 12s with preorders for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro beginning on October 16, availability on October 23. and iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini on November 6, with availability on November 13.

Verizon iPhone 12/mini prices are as follows:

• iPhone 12 mini starts at $29.16 per month for 24 months on Verizon device payment (0% APR, $699.99 retail)
• iPhone 12 starts at $33.33 per month for 24 months on Verizon device payment (0% APR, $799.99 retail)
• iPhone 12 Pro starts at $41.66 per month for 24 months on Verizon device payment (0% APR, $999.99 retail)
• iPhone 12 Pro max starts at $45.83 per month for 24 months on Verizon device payment (0% APR, $1,099.99 retail)

Verizon iPhone 12/mini deals list: 

• Get an iPhone 12 for as low as free when you switch to Verizon, trade-in select smartphones and sign up for a select Unlimited plan.
• Existing customers can get an iPhone 12 model for as low as $15 a month on Verizon Device Payment with a select unlimited plan, when you trade in select phones. Existing iPhone 8 or iPhone 8+ customers can save $250 when you trade-in and purchase a new iPhone 12 online on a select Unlimited plan.
• Apple Music, with over 70 million songs, thousands of playlists, daily selections from the world’s best music experts, the groundbreaking Apple Music radio, and innovative features like time-synced lyrics, is currently included, at no additional cost, in Get More Unlimited. And for those choosing Play More Unlimited, Do More Unlimited or Start Unlimited, you can still get six months of Apple Music free.

Since T-Mobile is not as generous as AT&T or Verizon, it will sell you the iPhone 12 mini at full price, which starts from $729, or in installments:

• iPhone 12 mini from $30.37 a month, or $729 before trade-in
• iPhone 12 from $34.54 a month or $829 before trade-in

Still, no more embarrassing retweets like this one for Apple:

As you may have heard already, the much touted iPhone 12 mini $699 starting price is actually with a $30 AT&T or Verizon discount, and requires activation with the carriers. AT&T’s offer is to pay these in installments:

• iPhone 12 mini at $29.12 a month or $699 before trade-in
• iPhone 12 at $33.29 a month or $799 before trade-in

AT&T just informed us that new or existing subs will be able to get the latest iPhone 12 for free. Pre-orders start Oct. 16 with in-store and online availability on October 23. Here’s what you need to do in order to qualify for the free iPhone 12 offer:

1. Purchase the device on an AT&T installment plan.
2. Subscribe to an AT&T Unlimited plan.
3. Trade-in an eligible device (good working condition, valued at $95 or more).

As you can see, you can easily trade in a clunker and get gold, or, in your case, a new blue iPhone 12 that will come with a much improved, well, everything compared to its predecessor the iPhone 11.