Do iPhones Get Cheaper on Cyber Monday?

A phone sits in your cart on Black Friday, and by Saturday morning you're wondering if it will cost less on Monday. Three days is not long to wait. It is long enough to miss a price you were happy with, though, so it helps to know what Monday usually brings.

Do iPhones get cheaper on Cyber Monday? Not usually, beyond what Black Friday already offered. In 2025, Apple's gift-card event ran through Cyber Monday with the same amounts, the big carriers kept their trade-in and bill-credit offers going, and Best Buy's unlocked iPhone 16 was $679.99 on both days. Black Friday 2026 is Nov 27 and Cyber Monday is Nov 30. If the Friday price works for you, Monday rarely beats it.

The Short Answer: Cyber Monday Mostly Repeats Black Friday

For iPhones, Cyber Monday in 2025 looked like the last day of Black Friday rather than a second sale. Similar offers ran on both days, though the carriers described theirs differently from Friday to Monday.

Here is what the 2025 evidence shows:

• Apple: Its Black Friday Shopping Event ran Nov 28 to Dec 1, 2025, which covered Cyber Monday, according to MacRumors' report of Apple's terms. The gift-card amounts didn't change on Monday.
• Carriers: Cyber Monday coverage from Tom's Guide, Macworld and ZDNET described carrier iPhone deals as continuations or variations of the Black Friday offers, built on trade-ins and bill credits rather than lower sticker prices.
• Retailers: The one like-for-like price we could match across both days, Best Buy's unlocked 128GB iPhone 16, sat at $679.99 on Black Friday and on Cyber Monday (Tom's Guide, Dec 1, 2025).

Cyber Monday is still a big shopping day, and Plug's Cyber Monday deals are one place to see current offers. Adobe reported a record $14.25 billion in US online spending on Cyber Monday 2025, up 7.1% from the year before, against $11.8 billion on Black Friday. More money spent online doesn't mean a lower price on any one phone, though.

One limit on all of this: nobody publishes a clean, day-by-day price history for unlocked iPhones. What we have is a set of dated snapshots from deal coverage and sellers' own terms, so treat the pattern as a strong guide, not a guarantee.

Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday 2025: What Each Seller Did

The quickest way to see the pattern is to put the two days side by side. In 2025, Black Friday was Nov 28 and Cyber Monday was Dec 1.

Two notes on reading the table. The carrier rows don't line up model for model, because the coverage named different phones on each day, so they show the type of offer rather than a clean price change. The renewed rows are different listings in different condition grades, so they can't tell you whether one day was cheaper than the other.

Apple: Gift Cards, Not Price Cuts

Apple's Cyber Monday offer in 2025 was a gift card, not a lower price on the phone. You paid the regular price and got a $75 Apple Gift Card with an iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Plus, or $50 with an iPhone 16e. The iPhone 17 line was left out entirely.

Apple's offer was a gift card, not a price cut. A gift card is worth its face value only if you'd spend that money at Apple anyway, on accessories like a case or AirPods, or on an app subscription. If you wouldn't, the "deal" is closer to a coupon for your next purchase.

Apple's iPhone page, checked on Oct 22, 2026, lists the iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone Air, iPhone 17, iPhone 17e and iPhone 16. That puts the iPhone 17 line a generation back going into this year's sale. If Apple follows its 2025 pattern, the newest models would again sit outside any gift-card offer. Before you count on a gift card this year, read Apple's terms on the day. For the newest model specifically, see whether the iPhone 17 goes on sale on Black Friday.

Carriers: "Free" Is a Stream of Credits

The biggest numbers you'll see on Cyber Monday come from carriers, and almost none of them are a lower price at checkout. A carrier deal usually takes a set amount off your phone in monthly bill credits, and only when you trade in an eligible phone and sign up for, or stay on, a qualifying plan.

Apple's own iPhone page shows the current ceilings, as of Oct 22, 2026: up to $1,200 with AT&T, up to $1,000 with T-Mobile and up to $840 with Verizon, each on a new iPhone after trade-in.

Here is how the credits work out in plain numbers:

• $1,100 over 36 months comes to about $30.56 a month off your bill.
• $1,100 over 24 months comes to about $45.83 a month.

Think of it like a gym membership discount. The savings arrive a little each month, and they stop the moment you cancel. T-Mobile's 2025 terms worked exactly this way: leave early and the credits stop, and the remaining device balance comes due.

So a "free" iPhone 17 Pro on Cyber Monday is real value if you were going to stay on that carrier, on that plan, for two or three years. If you might switch, or your plan costs more than the one you have now, work out the full cost over the credit period before you sign. A phone that's paid off and unlocked carries none of those strings.

Retailers and Resellers: Small Cuts on Specific Models

In 2025, the retailer and reseller iPhone discounts we could check didn't get deeper on Monday. Best Buy's unlocked iPhone 16 is the clearest example: $50 off its $729.99 price on Black Friday, and the same $679.99 on Cyber Monday.

That's one model at one retailer, so it can't stand for every store. Some retailers do add a one-day Cyber Monday price on a specific phone, and NBC Select and Forbes both noted that Cyber Monday prices usually mirror Black Friday, with the occasional limited-time extra. Best Buy's iPhone 15, for example, was $629 on Cyber Monday 2025, with a lower price only if you activated it on AT&T or Verizon.

Renewed and refurbished phones get the same treatment from the calendar. Sellers advertise big percentages on both days, but no dated price series shows these phones getting cheaper on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday. When you see a discount, check what it's measured against. A percentage off an inflated "list" price can be smaller in dollars than it looks. If you're weighing this route, are refurbished iPhones worth it covers value and performance.

Should You Wait Until Cyber Monday? A Simple Rule

If the Black Friday price is one you'd be happy paying, buy it. In 2025 similar iPhone offers ran on both days, described differently from Friday to Monday, so waiting mostly cost you a weekend.

Here is how to decide quickly:

• You'd be happy at the Friday price: Buy on Friday. Popular colors and storage sizes can sell out over the weekend, and Monday rarely brought a lower price on the same phone.
• You're watching one model at one retailer: Waiting can make sense if that store has a history of one-day Cyber Monday prices. Set a price you'd pay and check it on Monday.
• The deal needs a plan or a trade-in: Add up the plan cost for the full 24 or 36 months, subtract the credits and compare that with buying the phone outright.
• You don't need the newest model: An older generation, bought unlocked, can come out cheaper than a new-phone deal once plan costs are counted. Compare the totals, not the headline discounts.

Whether you're shopping for yourself or for a gift, the date matters less than the terms attached to the price. To judge whether a Friday price is a good one, see how much iPhones usually drop on Black Friday.

Where Plug Certified iPhones Fit

If you'd rather not time the calendar at all, a Plug Certified iPhone is priced below new every day, up to 70% off retail, with no plan, trade-in or gift card attached. Plug sets prices from live market data and changes them often, so the price you see on the day is the one that counts.

On Oct 21, 2026, Plug's site listed these starting prices (they move, so check the live listing):

• iPhone 13: from $259.99
• iPhone 14: from $296.99
• iPhone 15: from $413.99
• iPhone 15 Pro Max: from $616.99

What you get for that price doesn't change with the date. Each phone passes Plug's 90+ Point Inspection, ships unlocked for any carrier and has battery health of 80% or higher. Plug's 12-Month Warranty covers it, with 30-day returns and free shipping on US orders. Good, Great and Excellent grades differ in looks alone, since every phone is fully tested and gets the same warranty.

Plug was also named the "Best Experience" for buying used iPhones by Wirecutter, The New York Times' product-review site. Every device carries our name and our warranty. That's our promise.

If a carrier deal's strings don't suit you, an unlocked Plug Certified iPhone gives you the phone without the plan. You can browse all iPhones from Plug to compare models.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Apple having any Cyber Monday deals?

Yes, in 2025, though only as gift cards. It applied at US Apple Stores, in the Apple Store app and on apple.com. Separately, Apple's iPhone page in October 2026 shows a $30 connectivity discount on the iPhone 17 and 16, which needs carrier activation. Read Apple's own terms on the day before you buy.

Is Cyber Monday good for deals?

Yes, for online shopping in general, but the biggest growth has shifted to Black Friday. Adobe said 2025 was the second holiday season in a row where Black Friday spending grew faster than Cyber Monday. Category discounts also varied widely: toys peaked at 28% off, apparel at 25% and computers at 23%.

What is the cheapest time of year to buy an iPhone?

It depends how you pay. If you're signing up with a carrier anyway, late November usually brings the biggest advertised credits of the year. If you're paying outright for an unlocked phone, the price on the day matters more than the season, since resellers like Plug reprice often from live market data.