Beware of carrier iPad and Apple Watch deals

Your carrier wants to give you an iPad. Think twice before taking it.

Plus: Amazon’s cheap stuff store, a digital note digitizer, and a powerful article archiver

Jared Newman   |   November 19, 2024

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The holiday shopping season is basically here, which means it’s time for a warning on one of the worst holiday deals you can get.

I’m referring to the supposedly-free tablets and smartwatches proffered by major U.S. wireless carriers. T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon are all offering iPads and Apple Watches (or comparable Android devices) “on us” in exchange for long-term service agreements.

What they gloss over, of course, is how much money you’ll spend to procure this free gear. Because these smartwatch and tablet offers require their own data plans—with service agreements lasting two or three years—you’ll wind up paying a lot more in the long run if cellular connectivity isn’t essential.

The real cost of “free” tablets

Let’s use AT&T as an example, as it’s currently offering new and existing customers a free iPhone 16 Pro, plus an Apple Watch SE and 10th-gen iPad for $1 per month each.

If you take the nearly-free iPad, AT&T requires a tablet data plan at a minimum $21 per month with a three-year service agreement, bringing the total expense to $792.

By comparison, a Wi-Fi-only 10th-gen iPad costs $319 on Amazon. Buying the iPad on your own, using your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot, and skipping the tablet data plan would save you $473 over three years.

You can make a similar calculation with the other major carriers:

  • T-Mobile is offering a $99 10th-gen iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ “on us,” but they require $20 per month tablet data plan with a two-year service commitment. There’s also a $35 activation fee, for a total expense of $515 for the Galaxy Tab or $614 for the iPad.
  • Verizon offers either a 10th-gen iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE “on us” as part of its smartphone promotions, but it too requires a $20 per month tablet data plan and a three-year commitment, bringing the total payments to $720.

Don’t even think about canceling these data plans early, either. The carriers handle tablets the same way as their phone subsidies, using monthly bill credits to pay off the device over time. If you want to switch carriers or turn off your tablet data plan, you’ll owe remaining balance.

Smartwatches: Only a little better

Carrier smartwatch deals make slightly more sense, because smartwatch data plans are more useful than tablet ones. You might, for instance, want to maintain cellular connectivity while leaving your phone at home during a run or a quick trip to the grocery store.

But if you don’t need cellular connectivity, these freebies will cost you more.

T-Mobile, for instance, requires a $15 per month smartwatch data plan to get an Apple Watch SE for free. (The carrier’s cheaper $12 per month watch plan, which only differs in overseas data use, isn’t eligible.) That comes to $360 over the two-year service period, versus $189 for a non-cellular Apple Watch SE.

The situation is similar with T-Mobile’s competitors:

  • AT&T takes $260 off the price of any Apple Watch as part of its new phone promos, but requires an $11 per month data plan for three years. That brings the total cost to $396 for an Apple Watch SE or $636 for an Apple Watch Series 10.
  • Verizon offers an Apple Watch Series 10 “on us” as part of its new phone promos, but with a data plan that costs $15 per month over three years, for a total of $540. (You also need a phone on a Verizon Unlimited Plus or Unlimited Ultimate plan; cheaper plans aren’t eligible.)

Sure, those deals can be worth taking if you have every intention of using cellular connectivity. Otherwise, a non-cellular model may save you hundreds of dollars over time.

Keep in mind also that some low-cost wireless providers offer smartwatch coverage at no extra charge, including Visible (on its Plus plan) and US Mobile (for Apple Watches on its Unlimited Premium plan). Don’t be fooled into thinking you’ll spend less with an “on us” watch from a major carrier.

Just say no

The carriers may want you to think they’re offering a bargain, but what they’re really doing is sneaking a somewhat extravagant expense (or two) onto your monthly bill, with a multi-year agreement to lock you in. All I ask is that you do the math before that happens.

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Jared