About the new iPhone 14

Basic information

The U.S. versions of the entire iPhone 14 lineup are dual eSIM, so they are not very practical to use after bringing them back to China. Please consider carefully. Also, the new satellite-related features may not be available in China either.

I won’t go into the technical upgrade details here. People who like it will still praise it, and people who don’t will still criticize it. For someone like me, a neutral bystander, it makes no real difference.

Purchase timing

  • iPhone 14: Pre-order starting at 5:00 a.m. PDT on 9.9. Available starting 9.16
  • iPhone 14 Plus: Pre-order starting at 5:00 a.m. PDT on 9.9. Available starting 10.7
  • iPhone 14 Pro: Pre-order starting at 5:00 a.m. PDT on 9.9. Available starting 9.16.

Prices

  • iPhone 14: starting at $799
  • iPhone 14 Plus: starting at $899
  • iPhone 14 Pro: starting at $999
  • iPhone 14 Pro Max: starting at $1,099

Ways to buy at a discount

There are still plenty of ways to get a discount on an iPhone. The channels below can be combined for a higher discount. Of course, not all promotions can be stacked.

Credit card cashback (save 5%)

The easiest thing to think of is credit card cashback. The cards below can earn extra rewards at the Apple Store. But be sure to pay attention to the cashback caps, since iPhones are not cheap. Also note the eligible purchase location: buying on apple.com is different from buying at an Apple Store retail location.

  • US Bank Altitude Reserve : Apple Pay 3x points, worth 4.5% cashback (no cap)
  • Apple Card: 3% cashback at Apple-related merchants, so it works both online and in store (no cap)
  • US Bank Cash+: for the 5% category of your choice, you can select the electronics category, including Apple Store. Works both online and in store (quarterly $1,500)
  • BofA Customized Cash Rewards: you can choose 3% cashback on online shopping (Preferred Rewards members can get up to 5.25% cashback), and it must be purchased on apple.com (quarterly cap $2,500)

If you don’t have one of the above cards that earns extra rewards at Apple, you can use a card with strong flat-rate cashback and get up to around 2% cashback.

Of course, since this is a big purchase, it’s also a good opportunity to meet the minimum spending requirement for a new card bonus. Just pick one from the ranking below~

Note that the cashback mentioned here only applies to Apple Store purchases. If you plan to buy from a third party, such as Best Buy or major carriers, there are other relevant credit cards you can use; I won’t go through them one by one here.

Cashback portals (basically none)

You can only get cashback by shopping on Apple.com through a cashback portal; you can’t do that for in-store purchases. Although the cashback rate shown on Apple.com portals looks pretty high.

However, after checking several major cashback portals, iPhone 14 does not qualify for cashback. So at most you can earn a little cashback on AppleCare or accessories bought along with it. If you have Chase, it’s still worth using the Chase portal.

  • Rakuten: cashback is only available for accessories, refurbished items, and services; no cashback for new iPhone, Mac, iPad, and similar items
  • TopCashback: explicitly says no cashback for new iPhone
  • Chase UR portal: explicitly says iPhone 14 is not eligible; it seems other older iPhones are eligible

Discounted Apple/iTunes gift cards (save 5%-30%)

The most cost-effective way is probably to stack discounted Apple Gift Cards and then go all in on buying the iPhone. iTunes gift cards and Apple gift cards are now interchangeable, and you can store Apple gift cards in your Apple account for a certain level of safety.

Buying Apple gift cards directly from Apple’s website doesn’t make much sense, but there is a good chance of finding discounted ones from third parties, with up to 30% off.

  • Most supermarkets: most supermarkets carry Apple gift cards, and you can buy them with a high-cashback supermarket card
  • Drugstores: CVS and Walgreens both have them, and sometimes quarterly 5x cards include the drugstore category, such as Chase Freedom and Citi Dividend
  • PayPal/eBay: they’re also sold on PayPal and eBay (purchase link). For example, this quarter’s Discover it earns 5% cashback on PayPal, and it can double to 10% in the first year
  • Amazon: they’re also available on Amazon (purchase link). In one quarter, Chase Freedom had 5x on Amazon, and in Q4 Discover it had 5% at Amazon. Using the Shop with Points discount, you can get up to 30%-50% off
  • Streaming bonus categories: topping up Apple ID usually counts as streaming spending. For example, Blue Cash Preferred offers 6% cashback on streaming with no cap;
  • Office supply stores: available both online and in store at Staples, OD, and others, and you can buy them with Ink Business Cash
  • Target: available both in store and online (purchase link). If you have the Target RedCard, you can get 5% off. Sometimes there are 10% off deals

If you make good use of the extra cashback from your cards at supermarkets, PayPal, drugstores, Amazon, and office supply stores, plus the discounts offered by each merchant, an average discount of 15% is still possible. However, using gift cards to buy also has some side effects, which we’ll discuss below in the section on extended warranty from credit cards.

Also, if your credit limit is not enough—for example, if you only have a $1,000 credit limit but want to buy an iPhone that costs more than $1,000—what should you do? The easiest way is to first buy an $800 Apple gift card, pay that off, and then use part gift card and part credit card when making the purchase.

Tax-Free States

When you buy things in the US, there is state sales tax, so you can drive to a tax-free state or buy using an address in a tax-free state. If that is too far, you can also go to a nearby state with a lower sales tax. Compared with the highest tax rate of 9.55%, buying tax-free saves you about 9% right away. That feels great.

  • Tax-free states: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon

Carrier and Trade-In Discounts

Carrier promotions are usually pretty average, and locking yourself into a specific carrier plan is honestly not very worthwhile. That said, there are sometimes good deals, and if we see them we will update the post in time. Below are some iPhone 13 deals (some may already have expired; just for reference):

Trade-in discounts also depend on the offer. You may be able to buy an iPhone very cheaply through certain channels, and then join a trade-in promotion. Similar deals in the past included:

Apple Employee Discounts

Apple employees can get one 25% off discount in each category every year, which is great for buying an iPhone. If a friend around you does not need to buy an iPhone this year, you can discuss it with them. Apple employees’ family-and-friends discount gets 15% off, up to 10 per category.

Related Perks

Besides price, as a device you use very frequently, it would be even better if you can also get some warranty and insurance benefits when you buy it.

AppleCare

iPhone itself comes with a 1-year warranty. If you want to extend the warranty, you can buy AppleCare or AppleCare+ for a longer warranty period. Whether it is worth buying depends on the person; if you do not replace your phone often and are prone to damaging it, buying a one-year plan is fine too. As mentioned earlier, although iPhone purchases do not earn cashback, AppleCare does.

  • Rakuten: 2% back on AppleCare+
  • Chase UR portal: AppleCare is not listed, so no bonus; use the Freedom portal for 2x, and the portal with other cards for 1x

In addition, back-to-school students get 20% off AppleCare, though I do not know whether you can take advantage of it.

Extended Warranty

Credit card extended warranty is very suitable for iPhone. Based on prior experience, AMEX is the most hassle-free to use. Citi and Chase are also good. Apple itself provides a 1-year manufacturer warranty, and a credit card can extend the warranty by one more year. If it breaks, just submit the claim online with the various receipts. At present, most AMEX cards provide 1-year extended warranty coverage (excluding BCE, Magnet, and ED), and Citi cards provide 2-year extended warranty coverage (excluding Citi Double Cash and Dividend). If you hold premium cards for the long term, it is still better to buy with the higher annual-fee card.

We also wrote up some examples of using extended warranty:

One thing to note here: if you want to use your credit card extended warranty with confidence, I recommend paying the full amount with a single card and not combining it with gift cards. It is also best if that card remains open during the warranty period.

Cell Phone Insurance

Besides the warranty that comes with the purchase, some credit cards also offer cell phone insurance. You only need to use the right credit card to pay your phone bill, and you can automatically enjoy this benefit. See:

Purchase Examples

Maximum Savings

If you do not need extended warranty, the best way is to slowly accumulate discounted Apple gift cards and then pay with them. The discounts you can combine are:

  • Pay part of the purchase with Apple gift cards, save 15%
  • Use Altitude Reserve to pay the remaining amount, save 4.5%
  • Buy in a tax-free state, save an average of 7%

I am not sure whether you can combine employee discounts; if so, you could save another 15%-25%. P Of course, you can also wait for Black Friday, carrier port-in trade-in deals, and other discounts.

Most Hassle-Free

Just use an AMEX or Citi annual-fee card to buy it~ simple and direct