Best Phone Carrier for the iPhone

After reviewing all the major cell phone carriers, it's clear that some carriers provide more bang for your buck. We considered price, plan features, and coverage options, and landed on the following carriers:

• Best carrier for iPhone: T-Mobile offers the best overall cell phone plans for iPhone users. You get the fastest speeds, unlimited data, and tons of perks—not to mention its satellite service with Starlink called T-Satellite service baked into its premium plan. 
• Best iPhone carrier for coverage: Visible Wireless is an MVNO that uses Verizon towers, which means it can offer the great nationwide coverage of Verizon for a fraction of the price.
• Best basic carrier for iPhone: Mint Mobile is an MVNO operating over T-Mobile's network that provides top-notch coverage, speeds, and data without making you pay for things you don't need.
• Best budget carrier for iPhone: US Mobile is an MVNO that gives customers the option to jump between T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T networks, offering unlimited-everything plans for as low as $25 monthly.

T-Mobile has the fastest and largest 5G network in the country. The carrier is known for its new five-year guarantee and unlimited cell phone plans starting at $50 per month, which offer unlimited talk, text, and data. This is perfect for iPhone users who want to upload reels, take photos, and stream wherever they go. 

T-Mobile offers post-paid unlimited talk, text, and data plans from $50 monthly. T-Mobile's cheapest plan, the Essentials plan, includes 50GB of high-speed data as well as unlimited hotspot data at 3G speeds. 

T-Mobile isn't the cheapest plan out there, but you can save by adding multiple lines into one family plan. For the T-Mobile Essentials plan, you can get plans for as low $25 per person for four lines. 

While the price of an iPhone is not necessarily cheaper, T-Mobile offers tons of limited-time offers on iPhones. You can get a free iPhone via monthly bill credits. T-Mobile also offers iPhone discounts to seniors aged 55+, military, and first responders with a qualifying plan. 

Visible Wireless may be the best iPhone carrier in terms of price, data, and coverage. It uses Verizon’s far-reaching cellular network for pennies per GB.

Visible offers three cell phone plans where you can bring your own iPhone: A $25-a-month plan where you get unlimited talk and text without a contract (but your phone slows during high-traffic times), a $35-a-month plan that’s identical except that you get uncapped fast data, (so you won't have to worry about data speeds slowing down) and a $45-a-month plan with some extra international perks like 500 minutes in over 85 countries and unlimited texting in over 200 countries.

We’re partial to the second plan. $35 per month for unlimited premium data? Seems too good to be true. Plus, if you’re a new Visible customer, you may be able to get a deal for the first few months of service. Right now, new customers can get $6 off all three Visible plans for 12 months with the coupon code 6OFF12.

As for coverage through Visible, you’ll pay almost nothing to have access to Verizon's great nationwide 5G coverage—Verizon's cheapest mobile plan starts at $65 per single line compared to Visible's cheapest at $19 per month for a single line.

Visible also has deals for some specific Apple phones, like the latest iPhone 17 devices, but we’re not sure they’re the best deals since the phone costs more through Visible than it does on Apple’s website. But Visible does offer the option to pay for the iPhone over time, financing it for as low as 0% APR with Affirm.

If you want a good deal, Mint Mobile is the perfect place to sign up for a new plan with your iPhone.

As you might have heard from the many ads starring Ryan Reynolds, Mint Mobile has always has crazy good deals available to new customers, and folks with iPhones are eligible!

Mint’s plans start at just $15 per line. You can opt for its most basic plan for 5GB or its Unlimited data plan (that as of recently no longer caps around 35 or 40GB and now offers truly unlimited premium data). Plans come with an option for three months to a year of service, and all require an upfront payment.

Mint Mobile's rates are comparable to other MVNOs we’ve seen, so we see no problem in staying with Mint even after your signup discount runs out.

Mint uses T-Mobile’s network, which is good but not as extensive as Verizon’s. You’ll see significant gaps in some parts of the U.S., like in Montana.

Meanwhile, you can get the same plans with an iPhone with Mint Mobile as you do directly from the Apple Store. You can also finance your iPhone through Affirm.

Mint customers who buy a new phone from Mint Mobile can also get a year of unlimited for ONLY $15 per month—which means you get to enjoy your new iPhone and never get slowed down with your unlimited premium data.

US Mobile offers great plans for all phone brands, not just iPhones. However, iPhone users may find that getting a plan for US Mobile is more flexible than going with a mainstream carrier. 

As a US Mobile customer, you can switch between any of the major networks (T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T). US Mobile uses different names for the networks: Dark Star for AT&T, Warp for Verizon, and Light Speed for T-Mobile. You're not stuck once you pick a network ... you can switch at any time.

US Mobile plans cost $8 to $44 monthly, or even lower with coupon codes and promotional prices. Plus, you get a discount when you pay annually.  All plans come with unlimited talk and text, whereas the data cap depends on your plan.

The Unlimited plans pack the most value, with the Unlimited Premium plan offering truly unlimited priority data if you sign up for the Dark Star network. You also get 100GB of high-speed hotspot data. 

US Mobile doesn't have the best deals on new iPhones (or even the newest iPhone models), but you can find discounted pre-owned iPhones and 0% to 36% APR options through Affirm. Sure, the iPhone 17 may be all the rage right now, but with US Mobile, you can currently buy an unlocked iPhone 15 for less than $800.

Our top cell phone carrier recommendation for the iPhone is T-Mobile because it offers the best mix of coverage, premium data, and price. 

All the other carriers mentioned above are also top contenders, so it really depends on what your needs are and what your budget is. Here are some tips to make the best choice for you:

• Unlimited calls
• Unlimited text
• Unlimited data
• Extensive network coverage
• International calling
• International roaming
• Hotspot capabilities

Most cell phone plans are compatible with an iPhone. It’s really a matter of finding the best deal with the features you want more than anything. Not everyone wants or needs features like unlimited premium data or hotspot capabilities, so keep your must-haves in mind when selecting a plan.

If you want to upgrade your iPhone model, some plans have special deals that include a brand-spanking new iPhone. For example, T-Mobile will put the majestic new iPhone 17 Pro in your hands just for trading in an eligible phone and signing up for the Experience Beyond plan (the one with T-Satellite service included). But check the Apple Store before signing up for one of these carrier-specific bargains. You might save more by using Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program than by signing up for a BYOD plan.

And by the way, if you have a newer iPhone model, you may not even need a SIM card to switch providers—an eSIM might be available.

A good cellular plan is also necessary for some iPhone accessories, mainly the Apple Watch. Every device from an Apple Watch series needs either a cell phone plan or Wi-Fi to function properly (receive and send texts and calls, send notifications, etc.).

When choosing our best iPhone carriers, we considered a few things:

• Does the provider allow iPhones?
• How much do the plans cost?
• How much data do the plans include?
• How extensive is the provider’s network coverage?
• Does the provider have an iPhone-specific deal?

While many carriers could be a good fit for this piece, we chose the ones we felt offered the most value to iPhone users.