Verizon is pitching the iPhone 18 Pro with a promise that buyers can swap to the newest iPhone every year, and the carrier says no trade-in is needed to get the phone in the first place. Preorders open September 12 at 8am ET, with wide availability starting September 18. The headline plan is Simplicity Pro, which Verizon lists at $80 a month after Auto Pay and switcher discounts, a figure that does not include taxes and fees. Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro on September 9, and the phone's variable aperture camera uses six laser-cut blades with four manual settings in the Camera app.
The annual upgrade comes with a condition: customers have to send the phone back in good working condition to get the next one. Verizon also says it will waive activation and upgrade fees, up to $40 per device, for customers who enroll in Verizon Loyalty, which is open to all postpaid customers on any plan and can be turned on through the My Verizon app. The program pays 3 percent back each month in Verizon Dollars, which the carrier says can be redeemed for up to five times their value with certain brands.
Read more: T-Mobile Offers Free iPhone 17 Pro to New Subscribers Without Trade-In During Prime Day
For buyers who would rather trade in, Verizon is offering up to $1,200 toward a new iPhone when adding a line on an eligible myPlan, or up to $1,020 off when upgrading an existing line. Those credits require a 36-month interest-free payment plan, and the trade-in device has to have been active for at least 60 days. Verizon lists Apple, Google, Motorola and Samsung among the eligible trade-in brands, and the promotional credits arrive monthly across the 36 months. Business customers get their own terms: up to $1,200 off an iPhone 18 Pro Max with an eligible trade-in, a device payment plan and a My Biz Plan, plus $360 in savings for porting a number in.
Verizon is also bundling devices. Buying an iPhone gets an Apple Watch Series 12 and an iPad, though each device needs its own service line and a 36-month payment plan, and a bring-your-own-iPhone line has to stay active for six months. The bundle can be stacked with Simplicity and myPlan. The Apple Watch models in the bundle carry a new Health Sensing System and S11 chip, with a readiness score and higher-frequency heart rate and HRV readings, and watchOS 27 brings Apple Intelligence and Siri to the Watch. AirPods 5 are part of the same lineup, with open-ear active noise cancellation that Verizon says removes up to 50 percent more external noise than the previous generation.
The iPhone 18 Pro itself ships in black, silver, glacier and burgundy, and Verizon says eSIM-only versions of the Pro gain two hours more video playback from a larger battery. Earlier reporting on the launch put eSIM video playback at up to 36 hours for the Pro and up to 45 hours for the Pro Max, with the Pro Max gaining roughly seven hours of playback from a five-minute wired charge. Leaked certification figures had pointed to a 5,567 mAh battery in the Pro Max eSIM version, well above the 5,088 mAh reported for eSIM-only versions of the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Verizon's announcement also nods to the iPhone Duo, the first foldable iPhone, in star white and night sky, though the carrier did not attach a price or a release date to it. The trade-in and bundle offers leave out one detail readers may want: Verizon does not say what the iPhone 18 Pro costs outright, only what the monthly plan and credits come to.
