Verizon vs T-Mobile: which carrier has the best Black Friday iPhone deal right now?

This past week, we’ve been hit with a barrage of early Black Friday iPhone deals from the likes of T-Mobile and Verizon. AT&T’s promotions are conspicuously absent, but potential upgraders already have a difficult decision to make between two major carriers.

As an overview, both are offering the standard iPhone 17 for free alongside a new unlimited data line without a trade-in right now. That’s a real step up from the deals that we saw during the initial pre-order period back in September, when a trade-in was strictly required to get a discount.

In terms of which has the better deal, it’s almost a dead heat right now, too. There are subtle differences in the carrier’s offerings, however, which you should consider carefully. First, here are those deals in full:

On paper, Verizon’s iPhone 17 deal is a really compelling option with the free iPad and Apple Watch. These are two gifts that you won’t find anywhere else right now.

You will, however, need to take out cellular lines to claim them, which comes out at around $30/mo extra on the Welcome Unlimited plan if you have a single line. You can get the additional lines for as little as $20/mo, but only when you spend more than $80/mo on your mobile plan. That would either be two lines on the Welcome Unlimited plan, or a single line on the Unlimited Plus or Ultimate plans.

In comparison, T-Mobile’s iPhone 17 deal doesn’t offer a free iPad or Apple Watch, but it can potentially be a little cheaper if you’re a multi-line user. With $830 off per device, this is a significant discount considering an Essentials plan comes out at $100/mo in total for four lines. Obviously, the caveat here is that you require four lines, which immediately excludes a lot of people, I’d imagine.

With both deals, I’m tempted to recommend that you look at the iPhone 17 Pro as well. In the case of Verizon, by the time you’ve tacked on the free iPad and Apple Watch, you may as well go for the higher-end plans to get a bundle discount. If you’re going for a higher-end plan, then why not just skip the freebies and get an iPhone 17 Pro instead?

It’s a similar case at T-Mobile. Since single-line users are more or less excluded from the carrier’s excellent deal on the iPhone 17, the massive rebate of up to $1,100 you can currently get with a switch is arguably the best deal. That’s enough to cover the entire cost of the iPhone 17 Pro, so it’s the obvious choice here.

While you’re here, check out our main Black Friday page for more recommendations from our team of experts. Also check out our Black Friday deals hub for a roundup of today’s best sales from Amazon, Best Buy, and other key retailers.

• Amazon: 60% off TVs, AirPods & vacuums
• Adidas: shoes, clothing & gift ideas from $18
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $85
• Best Buy: $1,000 off TVs, laptops & headphones
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99 at Amazon
• Christmas: wreaths, trees & decor from $5
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, grills & tools
• Hulu: Hulu + Live TV – $64/m for the first 3 months
• Lenovo: 45% off laptops & tablets
• Lowe’s: up to 30% off appliances & holiday decor
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off TVs & phones
• Target: Christmas decor & clothing from $10
• T-Mobile: up to $1,100 off latest iPhone 17
• Walmart: TVs, vacs & holiday decor from $4
• Wayfair: 54% off Christmas, furniture & decor