If 5G doesn't matter to you, this MVNO can save you big bucks on the iPhone 12/12 Pro

A small MVNO named Red Pocket Mobile (via BGR) is trying to catch the attention of smartphone owning consumers. And what better way to attract attention, especially right now (just one week after the unveiling of the new iPhone models) by subsidizing discounts of $80 to as much as $200 on the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro respectively. By the way, for those unfamiliar with an MVNO, the acronym stands for mobile virtual network operator.

An MVNO is a company that obtains access to a carrier's wireless network at wholesale prices and sells the service to consumers at retail. In other words, the MVNO doesn't own its own network although it might own its own back office and marketing staff. Red Pocket Mobile subscribers use airwaves from the three major U.S. carriers (Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T).

Red Pocket Mobile gives consumers the opportunity to put together a voice and data plan and save a few bucks on an iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro. For example, you can decide to sign up for service for one month, three months, six months, 12 months, or 24 months. The longer the plan you subscribe to, the bigger your savings are. You can also sign up for 1GB, 3GB, 8GB, or 20GB of data each month. Or you can decide to subscribe to an unlimited data plan. If you go with the latter service, it will cost you $45 per month and you'll be able to buy the 128GB iPhone 12 Pro for only $629. The 256GB model will cost you $899 while the 512GB unit is priced at $1,099; in other words, you're saving $200 on the handset.

The 64GB iPhone 12 with the same network plan will cost you $749, and you'll pay $799 for the 128GB phone, and $899 for the 256GB unit. With these prices, you'll be saving $80 on each model. The iPhone 12 units sold by the MVNO are locked to it for no less than a 12-month period. Even if you subscribe month-to-month, these devices will remain locked to the MVNO for at least one year.

While this does sound a little like the old days when carriers subsidized the price of new phones, there is a major, major caveat. Even though the new iPhone models are 5G capable as Red Pocket Mobile points out, subscribers only connect to 4G LTE service. Those who don't care about 5G and opt in order to save a few bucks on the cost of a new iPhone 12 model need to be in an area where there is decent AT&T coverage. And as long as a Red Pocket Mobile account is open, the subscriber will get AppleCare for free.

One last thing. The MVNO's website makes a point of saying "This device is on preorder with the manufacturer. We will ship it to you as soon as we receive it." So you might also have to have some patience if you plan on saving some money on your iPhone or iPhone 12 Pro purchase.

So if you want to save up to $80 on the iPhone 12 and up to $200 on the iPhone 12 Pro, you might want to give Red Pocket Mobile a shot. Again, you'll have to do without 5G (for many, this doesn't matter since the more easily accessible low-band 5G usually delivers data speeds just slightly faster than 4G LTE. You'll have to commit to being locked in to the MVNO for 12 months and live in an area where AT&T service is not problematic. We can tell you that the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has placed an A+ rating on Red Pocket Mobile.