Free Iphone 7 Upgrade with Iphone 6 Trade-in

Every wireless carrier knows millions of people are trying to buy the iPhone 7 right now — and every one of them is using it as an opportunity to draw in customers. That's why AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint are all offering the extremely eye-catching opportunity to pick up an iPhone 7 for free. It sounds too good to be true. And, of course, it is. So here's what the deal is when it comes to these free offers.

The first thing to know is that all of these free iPhone 7 offers require you to trade in a relatively new phone. In most cases that's either an iPhone 6 or 6S, although Sprint, and in some cases AT&T, will also accept the Galaxy S7. Those phones will also have to be in good shape — so no broken screens. In most cases, you'll also have to pay cash if you want an iPhone with more than 32GB of storage.

Trading in a phone is pretty par for the course here and hardly a secret. The big thing to know is that all of these deals essentially lock you into that carrier for two years. They’re basically a new spin on the old two-year contract, where you'd pay $200 for an iPhone so long as you agree not to leave the carrier. The difference this time around is that, instead of paying $200, you’re handing over a lightly used $650 phone.

(In theory, at least, your wireless plan is cheaper now than it was a few years ago, explaining the huge gap between those two payments; but you should check your bill to see if that's actually the case.)