Black Friday 2021: What iPhone deals can we hope to see?

There was once a time when Black Friday was a single day–one Friday after Thanksgiving in the U.S., where retailers would have huge sales in stores. Then came “Cyber Monday,” another one-day event for online deals.

Now, “Black Friday” is as much a state of mind as anything, a catch-all term for any sort of sale throughout the whole back half of November, online or in stores. Certainly, iPhones are very popular this time of year, and there’s no reason to pay full price if you don’t have to. Here’s what you might expect for iPhone deals this Black Friday.

Current iPhone deals

Most of the carriers and several big-box stores have been running special offers on the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro since its launch in September. Some of those deals are good for earlier models, too. We break down those offers by carrier and store in our iPhone 13 deals guide.

These are the current deals from the three major U.S. carriers, but they might change (or be enhanced) for a few days around Black Friday.

Verizon: Save up to $1,000 with a trade-in and new line activation.

AT&T: Save up to $800 on select iPhones with trade-in.

T-Mobile: Get up to $1,000 off with trade-in and new line activation.

Apple is always running a trade-in deal that gives you up to $790 for your old iPhone when you trade it in towards a new one. Granted, that steep savings is only if you have an iPhone 12 Pro Max to trade in, with most others fetching between $300-500.

Black Friday iPhone deals from Apple

Last year, Apple offered a $50 gift card with the purchase of an iPhone 11, XR, or SE as part of its annual four-day shopping event. If Apple follows the same pattern this year, the offer would be for an iPhone 12, 11, SE. But don’t expect any sort of deal directly from Apple on the iPhone 13 or 13 Pro—Apple never has offered Black Friday deals on the very latest models, instead relying on promotion trade-in offers and deals from its carrier partners.

Black Friday iPhone deals from Amazon

Amazon has an iPhone store with all the latest models, as well as third-party resellers who sell iPhones. Generally speaking, you’re not going to find a lot of iPhone sales on Amazon, Black Friday, or otherwise. Amazon’s iPhone 13 models are sold locked to Cricket Wireless (AT&T) and require a $55/month unlimited talk and text plan.

Sometimes, however, Amazon has deals on slightly older iPhone models, such as the iPhone 12 or iPhone SE. Some of those deals come with similar requirements for carrier subscriptions, so be careful as you browse.

Black Friday iPhone deals from Best Buy

Best Buy currently has the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro carrier deals available in its stores for those that activate a phone with Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile.

That means you can save from $800-1,000 on the purchase of a new iPhone, depending on the model and carrier, if you trade in an applicable phone in good condition. Lots of terms and conditions apply.

Black Friday iPhone deals from carriers

Our iPhone deals guide breaks down the biggest carrier deals from the launch of the iPhone 13. Most of them require a trade-in of an older phone (not necessarily an iPhone) and you have to buy the new iPhone on a payment plan. Some carrier deals require you to activate a new line, often with specific plans.