OK, so you’re a big Apple fan.
You really want the new iPhone XS or XS Max, with the giant 6.5-inch screen and the fancy camera, when it comes out later this week.
The only problem? You don’t want to pay $999 or $1099 — plus tax — for your new phone.
If that’s you, then here’s some good news: You don’t have to. Thanks to aggressive price cutting and some nifty deals, you can get Apple’s AAPL, +0.59% new flagship phones for as much as 60% off, brand new.
All you have to do is combine a couple of deals — a tactic that is perfectly legitimate and relatively easy.
Don’t miss: Watch out for iPhone scalpers
Naturally, whether it makes sense to buy a new phone, or chase the latest products, is another question.
Spring is offering steep discounts on the XS and XS Max
Steep discounts on the new iPhones are being offered by cellular network Sprint S, +1.11% , which is offering an 18-month lease for the XS Max for $4.17 a month, under certain conditions. That’s $750 off the sticker price.
Sprint is also offering the smaller XS, an upgrade from last year’s X, for an 18-month lease of $0 a month.
The offer is open to people opening new lines and comes with a $100 bonus for signing up as well, the network says.
The downside? To get the deal you also have to trade in a phone. Only certain models apply. The cheapest seems to be the iPhone 7.
Combine trade-in deals at Sprint to get more off
Apple is selling “refurbished” iPhone 7 models for $379. (Sprint is selling refurbished iPhones for $288, but a company spokeswoman said those aren’t eligible for the trade-in program).
• So a customer aggressively chasing a deal can pay $379 to Apple for a refurbished iPhone 7, trade it in to Sprint, and lease an XS or XS Max super-cheap on a new line.
• They’ll get $100 back as a sign-up bonus, reducing the initial cost to $279, and then pay either $0 or $4.17 a month for the phone, depending on whether they get the XS or XS Max. (Sprint plans start at $40 a month.)
Mobile virtual network operators have more deals
These are not the only deals. While Apple charges top dollar for its phones, mobile networks are offering aggressive sign-up bonuses to gain market share. Some of the best come from mobile virtual network operators, companies that don’t have their own towers but resell capacity they buy from the big carriers.
Prepaid carrier USMobile, for example, is offering $400 in statement credits if you bring over a new iPhone XS, XS Max or XR and stay with the network for 12 months.The company’s plans offer menu pricing. Menu pricing means you can choose individually how many minutes, texts and data you want each month.
And if you’re an Xfinity cable or internet customer, you can buy the new iPhones from their Xfinity Mobile service for $300 off so long as you bring over your number from another network .
Xfinity Mobile, a subsidiary of Comcast CMCSA, +1.87% , charges $12 a month for one gigabyte of data, or $45 for unlimited data. Calls and text messages are free. It uses the Verizon VZ, -0.03% mobile network.
