How To Make At&t Iphone Work On Verizon

Some customers are finding that wireless carriers are denying rebates used to promote Apple Inc.'s newest iPhones, iPads and watches. Plus, omicron's impact on Apple and the company loses yet another car executive.

The Starters

Apple Inc. iPhone 13 Availability Day — A display of iPhone 13 smartphones.

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

There was a seismic shift in the mobile-phone industry about eight years ago. That's when U.S. wireless carriers started eliminating subsidies—deep discounts offered in exchange for a contract—forcing new iPhone buyers to confront the true cost of their devices.

Consumers had sticker shock. Gone were the days of the iPhone costing $199; instead, prices soon soared above $999. And that changed the way people thought about upgrades. Paying $200 for a new iPhone every two years isn't a challenge for a tech enthusiast. Shelling out $1,000 is something else entirely.

Still, Apple and the carriers had a plan to keep sales flowing: letting users pay off their devices with monthly installments. All of the major carriers began promoting such plans, while Apple touted its annual iPhone upgrade program and a monthly installments feature for the Apple Card.

More recently, Apple and the carriers took an approach straight from the old-school retail playbook: rebates. Those additional discounts were especially aggressive this year, perhaps because the iPhone 13 and Apple Watch Series 7 didn't represent major upgrades from previous models.

I had an iPhone 12 Pro Max and, with the rebates offered by Apple and T-Mobile US Inc., I figured out that I could upgrade to the iPhone 13 Pro Max at no charge.

That's because when the iPhone 13 launched, Apple and T-Mobile offered the following: a $790 credit from Apple for trading in the iPhone 12 Pro Max, plus $500 in bill credits over several months from the carrier. That's a total of $1,290—enough to offset the phone price plus most of the sales tax. How could anyone say no to that?

AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. rolled out similar deals for the latest iPhones, and all of the carriers have offered $100 and $200 rebates on cellular Apple Watches and iPads, respectively.

Getting the trade-in credit from Apple was instantaneous when I bought the phone at a store. But it wasn't so easy receiving the rebate money from my carrier—an experience other consumers have struggled with as well.

My rebate was initially denied, forcing me to take the issue to customer service. And that experience seems common—a disappointing outcome for consumers who may have only upgraded to slightly new devices because of major discounts.

While my difficulties were with T-Mobile, Verizon users have been reporting similar problems, particularly around iPad rebates. I haven't seen enough complaints from AT&T customers, meanwhile, to call it a trend.

relates to Apple iPhone 13 Rebates Fail to Deliver for Some Buyers

My struggles with the rebates process started with the Apple Watch. I had purchased the Apple Watch Series 7, which came out in October, and submitted a request to T-Mobile for its $100 rebate.

Several weeks after my submission, to my surprise, T-Mobile's promotion website said that my claim was denied because the product wasn't activated during the promotion window. This, of course, was false.

Multiple hourlong phone calls with T-Mobile customer service didn't resolve the situation, nor did messages sent to the company's support team over Twitter.

Ultimately, the issue was only fixed after talking to T-Mobile at the corporate level. We figured out that my rebate was denied because the fine print of the deal—depending on how you read it—requires the opening of an entirely new phone number.

However, T-Mobile customer service told me that even if I were to create a new line, the rebate requires me to keep my old line open for 90 days. That means I'd have to keep paying for a second smartwatch line with no device connected to it for three months in order to receive the offer.

All of this is a lot more complex than you'd think from Apple's advertising.

After writing about the Apple Watch rebate issue on Twitter, I received complaints from users who claimed to have met all of the requirements. This went beyond the Apple Watch; I heard from numerous buyers of the Verizon 5G iPad Pro who said they never received rebates.

Customers complained of suffering through long phone calls with carriers' representatives and confusingly being transferred to Apple customer service. In my case, I was even told that the Apple Watch promotion didn't exist.

Fast forward to this past week, when I and many other users found that rebates for the iPhone 13 were also inexplicably denied. The vague reason: "Apple returned as ineligible."

These denials came despite the carrier verifying that terms were followed correctly. After I tweeted about the issue, T-Mobile was able to quickly fix it on my account, but I am alarmed that these denials may be a widespread problem.

Many users reported the same rejection reason as me, while others were told they had traded in an "ineligible" device—despite the phone being listed as eligible in the terms and conditions.

After calling customer service, some readers said they have received the $500 via a lump-sum account credit. Others are still having trouble. One person even told me that it feels like the carriers are trying to wear people down so they give up on getting their credit.

Verizon said it has looked into the complaints about iPad rebates and found the "promotion is working as it should for eligible Verizon customers." I had provided the carrier with 13 claims on Twitter from customers stating that the rebate didn't work properly for them.

T-Mobile, meanwhile, said an iPhone rebate issue was caused by a bug, which it is in the process of fixing.

"We are never happy to hear that any of our customers are having a poor experience," T-Mobile told Power On in a statement. "We are going to collaborate with our partners to do better and work to make any needed improvements in the overall offer experience."

The carrier added that, "while every offer has various eligibility requirements and terms, we never want anyone to feel like those terms are misleading, confusing or hidden."

More help could be on its way. In response to my questions, T-Mobile will contact customers via text who were incorrectly denied rebates and automatically process the promotion and ensure they are enrolled.

Apple and the carriers aren't the first companies to have issues with their rebate programs. In 2005, the Federal Trade Commission settled with now-defunct computer retailer CompUSA over not paying rebates out to consumers. The FTC said that CompUSA and its vendors didn't reimburse customers during a specified window, or at all.

I'm grateful that both my Apple Watch and iPhone rebate issues were resolved early on, and I hope the carriers and Apple will be more transparent about their practices moving forward—and that their rebates are easier to get for all consumers. I'm also pleased with T-Mobile's response to the issue and its commitment to fix it.

The Bench

Aerial Views Of Silicon Valley Housing And Tech Campuses — The Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California.

Photographer: Sam Hall/Bloomberg

Will the new omicron variant put another wrench in Apple's plans?Unfortunately, yet another Covid-19 variant is making its way across the U.S. The last time this happened, with delta earlier this summer, Apple delayed its office-return plans and reinstated mask mandates at its retail stores. So far, it doesn't appear that the new variant, given the limited data available, is forcing any major changes for Apple. But as more information comes to light, I'd expect some shifts in the company's operations.

The new variant could potentially limit foot traffic at retail stores, and combined with price hikes for food and gas, that could have an impact on sales in the all-important holiday season. If you saw our story last week, you know that signs of weakness are beginning to emerge. My colleagues, led by Debby Wu, reported that Apple told suppliers that iPhone 13 demand is slowing.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said during the company's last earnings call that revenue would hit a record this quarter, topping the $111.4 billion figure from a year earlier. But Wall Street isn't merely looking for a new record: It expects revenue to approach $118 billion. Meeting or exceeding that estimate will depend on a combination of good supply, strong demand, and the latest Covid variant not throwing a wrench in the economy during the holiday season.

US-IT-APPLE-NEWS-FEED — Apple's Kevin Lynch.

Photographer: Brittany Hosea-Small/AFP

Apple loses at least its sixth car executive this year.Six. That's the number of top managers who have left Apple's car project this year. Who do I consider a top manager? The person who runs the project and anyone directly reporting to that person. Doug Field, who ran the Apple car team since 2018, bolted in September. Earlier this year, Dave Scott, Jaime Waydo, Dave Rosenthal and Benjamin Lyon all left as well.

Now we have the departure of Michael Schwekutsch, who led hardware efforts at Apple for the car project. His exit comes just weeks after I reported that Apple is accelerating development of its car and is aiming to showcase a fully autonomous vehicle as early as 2025.

When Kevin Lynch, the Apple Watch software chief, took over the car project, there was a clear hole in terms of hardware leadership. Schwekutsch was supposed to fill that gap. Now that he's out, the company may need to bring in a replacement from the car industry if it wants to achieve its goals.

Post Game Q&A

Q: What are the big highlights we should expect from Apple in 2022? Q: What improvements would you like to see in the Apple Watch's software?
Q: What do you anticipate as the "killer" features for Apple's mixed reality headset?

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