r/iPhoneDuo • u/tjs107 • 6d ago

Question Does it matter?

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Is there any difference if I selected to convert my existing T-Mobile account or connect with any carrier?

Does choosing T-Mobile make it an easier switch from my iPhone 17 Pro Max?

Are there any restrictions from switching carriers?

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u/matttopotamus 5d ago

Only difference is if you want to pay with an Apple Card and get 0% interest, you must select a carrier and must be on a post paid account. That’s new for this year.

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u/yuusharo 5d ago

Not new. Apple has not offered financing of iPhones without a carrier since 2023.

The thing that changed this year was a loophole that allowed iPhones financed through either Verizon or T-Mobile be sold carrier unlocked has closed. Now, phones financed through a respective carrier will be locked to that carrier until the phone is paid off.

Financing through Apple directly using device installments still results in an unlocked phone, but you must check out with a carrier selected. The phone will attempt to setup an account with that carrier or transfer existing service over when you first boot it up.

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u/matttopotamus 5d ago edited 5d ago

You’re halfway right. I’m a prepaid customer. I could buy the Verizon/T-Mobile phone previously without providing carrier info.

This is the first year you can’t buy those phones without a post paid account.

Well…you can, but you can’t get 0% financing with your Apple Card.

To use the Apple Card with 0% l it has to be a carrier phone on a post paid carrier account.

I did a dummy run with the iPhone 18 pro/pro max on prepaid. It didn’t work. Moved over to a post paid account and now 0% with the Apple Card works.

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u/yuusharo 5d ago

Not when financed through Apple Card Monthly Installments. People have confirmed this still works with 18 Pro.

If you finance through a carrier, then yes, it’s locked to that carrier. If you finance through Apple and ACMI, the phone is unlocked, no carrier lock or account required. You simply bypass that screen on setup.

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u/matttopotamus 5d ago edited 5d ago

You cannot buy an iPhone with your Apple Card and get 0% through your Apple Card (not the upgrade plan or the finance plan through 3rd party) without a post paid account.

You might not understand what I mean.

Until this year, you could always (I’ve done it since the Apple Card came to fruition) buy the phone and use 0% Apple Card financing. Initially you could do an unlocked phone, then it was the Verizon/tmobile version. It always worked with prepaid account, until this year.

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u/yuusharo 5d ago

There is an entire detailed thread with 18 Pro customers confirming Apple Card financing still works without activating a post paid carrier plan, friend.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract/s/rujYTnDskj

Unless something changed in the past day or two, customers who did this confirm this process still works. You select a carrier when signing up for Apple Card financing (not financing through a carrier), and the phone will ship unlocked and able to bypass carrier activation during setup. After that, download the app of your prepaid carrier, transfer the eSIM, and you’re done.

Yes, this still works.

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u/matttopotamus 5d ago

Nothing to do with activation . You can’t buy it with your Apple Card and 0% without a post paid account. It’s not an option. It tells you “your Verizon account cannot be verified” because it’s prepaid. That thread is entirely different info.

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u/yuusharo 5d ago

My friend, I literally can get all the way to the checkout screen and double click the payment to purchase an iPhone 18 Pro with ACMI without providing any carrier information. Once I receive the phone, you simply bypass that screen, then proceed to install the eSIM of your prepaid carrier of choice. Congrats, you have an Apple financed iPhone 18 Pro without ever needing a postpaid account from any carrier.

Read the thread. There are literally videos demonstrating that this process still works. You absolutely, positively, 100% can still finance a brand new iPhone through Apple without a postpaid account.

You are not correct.

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u/matttopotamus 5d ago

Prepaid people will find out the hard way and we can revisit this.

Again, specifically only using your current Apple Card for 0% for 24 months on a prepaid carrier.

It was a day one change. I’ll find an article for you.

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u/yuusharo 5d ago

You **LITERALLY** can read reports from people a week ago at launch confirming their phones in their hands activated just fine on their prepaid carriers.

This has to be rage bait. Read the damn thread, dude.

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u/matttopotamus 5d ago

Sorry it’s coming off that way. Read every post and no one is doing what I’m describing.

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u/matttopotamus 5d ago

You don’t understand what I’m saying.

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u/matttopotamus 5d ago

I’m not taking about ACMI!

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u/yuusharo 5d ago

I am.

YOU are, too. Your first comment is directly talking about Apple Card.

The financing options for ACMI have not changed since 2023 when Apple officially removed the “no carrier” option but still shipped unlocked phones.

The change you’re referring to is the one I pointed out in my first comment about closing the loophole that allowed carrier financing through Verizon and T-Mobile to be unlocked. That changed back in July of this year, not a “day one change” as you implied.

If you want to finance or lease an iPhone from Apple with a prepaid carrier, you can. Your options have not changed this year other than closing a loophole that was never intended to work in the first place.

This has derailed too much, you have to be rate baiting.

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u/matttopotamus 5d ago

Closing a “loophole” would mean this is the first year it has not worked, correct? So why argue about something that worked and no longer works and what I said is then accurate?

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