Best Cyber Monday iPhone deals: no surprises here

Cyber Monday 2023 is well behind us, so why don't we take a look back and do a quick recap at the iPhone offers we saw during the sale event. As you probably already suspect, there wasn't much to get excited about, even though we still hoped for a nice surprise.

Most of the deals, when there were any, didn't even include discounts but some other forms of reimbursement, like a gift card for example. Even the iPhone 14 didn't get any significant price cuts. Frankly, the best deals were seen with the iPhone SE from 2022. Below you will find an overlook of the deals we saw.

Being the latest model and all, of course the iPhone 15 series did not see many impressive discounts, which was to be expected. The best offers we saw hovered around the 6-7% mark, which is not exactly what one might call "a steal". That being said, Walmart had an AT&T-locked iPhone 15 Pro with a $300 eGift card at one point.

As per usual, the more affordable iPhone 15 and 15 Plus models got even smaller price cuts of 4-5%.

Unlike the newer generation, the iPhone 14 family did get some love. The iPhone 14 Plus, for example, was free with a new line activation at Verizon.

There were also some deals at Amazon on renewed iPhone 14 models, like the 256GB variant, which was down by $81... Wait, that's an awful deal. Well, there you have it, that's Apple products during sale events for you.

The iPhone SE, in contrast to Apple's more premium offerings, saw some hefty discounts during Cyber Monday 2023. The model from 2022 (latest) went as low as $150, which is around 60% off of its original price tag, otherwise said $230!

The older, 2nd-gen iPhone also went down, despite its already lower price, getting a 16% discount at Amazon.

How good are Cyber Monday iPhone deals?

Unless you have an older model to trade-in, or are not willing and able to sign a new contract — not great. iPhones tend to stick to their price and rarely drop by much during deals events.

If you don't mind refurbished units — that's where the retailers really take their gloves off and do some real discounting. 

However, if you time things right and are up for contract renewal during the Black Friday / Cyber Monday period, you can expect some really good offers — like buy one, get one free, or $1000 off on an iPhone Pro Max. It seems it is worth making November your default month for renewing services!

How to find the best iPhone deals on Cyber Monday?

Going directly to your carrier of choice is one way — Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile will all have their best deals listed front and center. However, be aware that major retailers also sell carrier-locked units, and sometimes their offers differ (or are better) than going to the carrier. For example, a carrier may ask for a trade-in to give you an awesome discount, the retailer may simply want you to activate the phone on said carrier with your purchase.

It's good to look around and exhaust all options. But if the prospect of doing this sounds... exhausting to you — just follow us here, where we will be cherry-picking and listing all of your choices for best iPhone discounts.

Can you get an unlocked iPhone on Cyber Monday?

Not the newest models. They are exclusively sold locked.

Sometimes, this applies to older variants as well — we did expect to spot more straight-up discounts on the iPhone 13 line last year, but alas, it was pretty hard to find them unlocked.

So, refurbished units or iPhone models that are a couple of years old now are your best bet. Like the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11, which were more often seen at bargain prices during the last Black Friday and Cyber Monday.