Buying A Phone From Apple...

[Murphy Slaw]

I've always bought my phones from the Verizon Store, but the other day I pushed the Apple button on my phone and they have some good deals with HUGE trade in allowances.

How does that work? If I buy direct from Apple, do I still have to go into Verizon and have it set up? Will they want money to do this, offsetting any savings?

I have the (paid) iCloud backup so shouldn't lose anything, right?

Educate me !

[Nymuso]

I bought my last few phones from Apple and set them up on Verizon online, never went to the store. Data transfer also easy. Don’t recall the specifics of that part at the moment, but if you Google it you can get the instructions.

[AX17609]

I'm not an expert, but I have an iPhone with Verizon Wireless service. I received the phone by mail and went into the local Apple store to get it activated. There was no charge, and I don't remember needing a Genius appointment. After signing into the Cloud, it integrated itself seamlessly with my other Apple devices right down to passwords. This is the real strength of the Apple lineup. I was surprised and impressed how little effort it took.

Beyond cost considerations, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another iPhone. In fact, I was in the Apple store the other day and had to stop myself from buying an Xs.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

I've always bought my phones from the Verizon Store, but the other day I pushed the Apple button on my phone and they have some good deals with HUGE trade in allowances.

How does that work? If I buy direct from Apple, do I still have to go into Verizon and have it set up? Will they want money to do this, offsetting any savings?

I have the (paid) iCloud backup so shouldn't lose anything, right?

Educate me !

You can buy your iPhone directly from Apple with no worries.
Since you are a Verizon customer, (I assume so anyway), tell Apple that Verizon is your carrier when buying the phone. You can do that at a store or on-line.
After receiving the phone, just input your Verizon account info for final setup. You can even do that at the Apple store, but I would just do it at home.
It's not going to cost you anything extra.

If you are not a Verizon customer, and are unsure about which carrier to go with, you can still buy the phone from Apple. You'll be buying a SIM-free phone, which is unlocked and is not contract bound to any carrier.

Note: If you have an existing phone, and a contract with a carrier, you'll have to resolve those obligations (i.e. do you own the old phone outright or do you still owe money on it?) before buying a new phone. That's why if you have an existing account, it's easiest to stay with them, (assuming you are satisfied with their service).

[imwjl]

A topic coming across my desk a lot lately.

You can buy direct or visit an Apple Store where your purchase will for sure get a good backup and data transfer before you leave the store. If your employer has Business Team you might be able to tie your purchase for discounts if they apply and red carpet service.

The Apple Store or Apple will be a Verizon franchise but you can buy an unlocked phone for other carriers from Apple. Verizon's warranty is not the same as Apple Care. I believe it allows more devices but it's a third party warranty. I always do Apple Care because the phone is vital for my work.

Up to about last weekend Apple was beating Verizon. Another Verizon promo came out to make it equal. For the Verizon and phone carrier trade deals you will not get credit until the party buying the phone inspects it. At Apple Store it's all a done deal immediately.

My wife just chose the Apple Store over other deals because they recycled some old devices, had great trade and then stacked the trade via gift cards for some older phones. She along with some other associates really appreciated the Apple Store services and hands on with every product, size and color option.

All of a sudden quite a few of my users have upgraded and have been really happy. Some who did not value two rear cameras really like their XR. It's a lot of money but everyone getting the Max just loves them. A few who had Plus models really love the XS for a little less to carry but great real estate for reading and the dual cameras.

It could be the Verizon aspect by I don't believe any of the nonsense about Intel modems. I've travelled to 3 US regions and outside the US with the new phone and the radios work better than anything I've ever had. No one with an older or competing phone had the consistent reception I had.

Good luck.

[Wadcutter]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

I've always bought my phones from the Verizon Store, but the other day I pushed the Apple button on my phone and they have some good deals with HUGE trade in allowances.

How does that work? If I buy direct from Apple, do I still have to go into Verizon and have it set up? Will they want money to do this, offsetting any savings?

I have the (paid) iCloud backup so shouldn't lose anything, right?

Educate me !

Hey Murph, I have an old iPhone SE and was thinking of upgrading but I’m not sure exactly where to go on my iPhone for this “Apple button” you referred to. Where is this “Apple button” at? Probably a dumb question I know but I ain’t exactly Mr High Tech if you know what I mean, but I really do love my iPhone and would like to look into an upgrade.

[AX17609]

Originally Posted by Wadcutter

Hey Murph, I have an old iPhone SE and was thinking of upgrading but I’m not sure exactly where to go on my iPhone for this “Apple button” you referred to. Where is this “Apple button” at? Probably a dumb question I know but I ain’t exactly Mr High Tech if you know what I mean, but I really do love my iPhone and would like to look into an upgrade.

I have an SE, too. The "button" he's referring to is the one labeled "Apple Store". Navigate to the various phone options and to the "iPhone Upgrade Program".

[dhalbert]

I have purchased refurb iPhones from the Apple website and they have been in perfect condition. Got some 6s's a while ago because we wanted headphone jacks.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Wadcutter

Hey Murph, I have an old iPhone SE and was thinking of upgrading but I’m not sure exactly where to go on my iPhone for this “Apple button” you referred to. Where is this “Apple button” at? Probably a dumb question I know but I ain’t exactly Mr High Tech if you know what I mean, but I really do love my iPhone and would like to look into an upgrade.

This will probably do better than I can to explain the backup. It' still good to have a local backup via cable and iTunes. For the latter don't forget that you have to choose encryption for all of your photos to restore. Don't ever lose that password.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203977

Not being sure what button, I'll add that it's valuable to have their Store and Support apps on your phone. You can chat or reach help fast, and ease the purchase process whether you go to a physical store or not.

[Earl49]

When it was time to upgrade from our old flip phones my wife tried an iPhone 6. Set up was seamless at the Apple store, as was connection to Verizon as our carrier, done right there by Apple. They even found a cable that would allow the address book to port over. She liked hers so much that the next week I was dragged into the Apple store, and 45 minutes later I walked out with my new 6. We buy phones outright and never lock into two-year contracts.

We recently switched carriers to T-Mobile (saving about $65 a month on the same phone / data plan). Swapping out sim cards in the T-mobile store took about 30 minutes -- 28 to set up the account, plus 2 to swap sim cards and test drive the phone on the new system. We've had far better customer experiences at Apple and T-Mobile than we ever did at Verizon stores.

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by Wadcutter

Hey Murph, I have an old iPhone SE and was thinking of upgrading but I’m not sure exactly where to go on my iPhone for this “Apple button” you referred to. Where is this “Apple button” at? Probably a dumb question I know but I ain’t exactly Mr High Tech if you know what I mean, but I really do love my iPhone and would like to look into an upgrade.

When you hit the "compass" to search the internet, there is an Apple logo there. It's the store. You can shop iPhones, iPads, Macs, etc.

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by imwjl

You can buy direct or visit an Apple Store where your purchase will for sure get a good backup and data transfer before you leave the store.

There closest Apple Store is 3 hours drive. The Verizon Store is 25 minutes.

But we own ours outright.

I just didn't know if we were smart enough to get them set up ourselves ?

What info do you need besides the account #/ phone # ?

[chistrummer]

I usually pickup new phones at the store. I keep the backup on my computer.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

There closest Apple Store is 3 hours drive. The Verizon Store is 25 minutes.

But we own ours outright.

I just didn't know if we were smart enough to get them set up ourselves ?

What info do you need besides the account #/ phone # ?

The corporate owned Verizon stores are usually very good or at least in my region You can do it all online too.

Good luck.

[Wadcutter]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

When you hit the "compass" to search the internet, there is an Apple logo there. It's the store. You can shop iPhones, iPads, Macs, etc.

Thanks Murph!