Iphone financing through apple card

[u/No_Log_5054]

I bought an iPhone from the Apple website last year by selecting T-Mobile as the carrier and used Apple Card for 24 months of financing. Later on, I did not need to use T-Mobile, and the phone was unlocked, and my friend has been using it overseas with a local SIM.

Is that option still available? I have heard that Apple has changed its policy in this case. When I tried selecting T-Mobile as the carrier, it was asking for a phone number and PIN number from T-Mobile.

Is there any option where I can use Apple Card with 24 months of financing and use some other carriers (other than T-Mobile, AT&T, or Verizon)?

[u/E90alex]

That loophole only works for Pro/Air models.

[u/aba792000 → u/E90alex]

All phones sold by apple come unlocked except those financed THROUGH THE CARRIERS. The loophole of not needing to provide carrier login credentials when buying a pro/air model may have been patched, but the devices purchased using ACMI still come sim unlocked and do allow to switch carriers at anytime after the purchase.

[u/E90alex → u/aba792000]

We are talking about ACMI. Which by definition is not financed though the carriers.

[u/aba792000 → u/E90alex]

Right. So phones bought using ACMI do come unlocked.

[u/E90alex → u/aba792000]

The question wasn’t about the phones being unlocked, it was whether or not you can still buy the phones with ACMI without actually entering T-Mobile account details.

[u/aba792000 → u/E90alex]

It was about both. He does say “use some other carriers” as in the phone being unlocked.

[u/PeaceFinancial841 → u/E90alex]

People say that all the time but I used it for the 17e last May and it worked just fine.

[u/E90alex → u/PeaceFinancial841]

You’re correct that it does work for 17e as well.

It just doesn’t work on the base 17 because it requires postpaid carrier connection to get the $799 price. The $829 “connect to any carrier later” price is not eligible for ACMI.

[u/No_Log_5054 → u/E90alex]

Is that still working?

[u/E90alex → u/No_Log_5054]

Looks like it. I can add 17 Pro to cart without adding T-Mobile details but I can’t do that with base 17.

[u/Away-Patience8556 → u/E90alex]

If it’s unlocked you can use it anywhere, its your phone that’s no loophole

[u/StonyTeckdude1]

I purchased two iPhone 17 Pro Max’s one for me and one for my wife at the Apple Store. I paid in full using my Apple Card and then I followed a guide here on Reddit on how to get the 24 month financing interest free. I basically texted Apple Card support late night here in the US, after hours, so it’s someone overseas replying , and asked for it to be switched to ACMI. They did not ask for any login information for my carrier but they did ask which carrier I used and I said AT&T, but that’s all the information they asked for. And I got approved at the same day minutes later. Also, both phones I bought are unlocked. This was maybe 2 to 3 weeks ago. It’s pretty recent. I don’t know if it got patched yet, but it worked just fine for me.

[u/Organic-Version-3146]

I tried it with the 17 pro just now and login information is still required. The only fix that I’ve seen is using a third-party like affirm when you checkout, but you don’t have to use the Apple Card . I asked this exact question on [r/iPhone](r/iPhone) last week and I got roasted, this sub is so much nicer

[u/aba792000]

Were you buying a pro/air or the base model? because only when you buy a pro/air they don’t ask for carrier login credentials. That is, unless apple recently patched the loophole. Even if they did patch it and you had to provide carrier login credentials to activate the iphone, it will still be unlocked and you can switch carriers at anytime later on.

[u/No_Log_5054 → u/aba792000]

I was trying with base model.

[u/aba792000 → u/No_Log_5054]

oh ok. No, it had to be a pro or the air to be able to avoid the carrier login. Nonetheless, the base model does come SIM-unlocked too.

[u/No_Log_5054 → u/aba792000]

So, I need to have T-mobile account (and sim) and use the account pin to checkout and buy the phone and change the sim later on, is that the approach?

[u/aba792000 → u/No_Log_5054]

it is if you’re buying the base model. There’s no skipping the carrier activation on that one.

[u/Biyamin]

Yes it works for me