T-Mobile finally gets an iPhone of its own this Friday, letting Apple fans enjoy the full speeds of the carrier’s network for the first time ever. As such, T-Mobile is really invested in making this launch a big success, and that means showing the other carriers that, even late to the table, it can still sell a whole mess of iPhones. To help draw customers, it’s offering a trade-in deal for previous iPhone owners, but is this promotion really a good deal?
Normally, the 16GB iPhone 5 for T-Mobile will run you $100 outright, and demand monthly $20 payments for two years. If you trade-in an iPhone 4 or 4S, T-Mobile will waive the initial $100 fee.
Now, on its own, that doesn’t sound that great; going on something like Craigslist, you can get over $200 for an iPhone 4, so saving only $100 is a bit of a let-down.
That’s not all there is to T-Mobile’s offer, however. Depending on the trade-in value of your phone, you could get another $120 in credit. Presumably, the 4S will demand more, and condition would likely factor in. That’s definitely better, if you can get the full $220 value, especially if you don’t want to have to deal with selling a phone yourself. Still, that’s the best-case scenario, so we’re guessing for most people, trading-in an old iPhone for a new T-Mobile iPhone 5 might not be a very smart move.