If you’re looking to buy an iPhone 7 for full price, then you may want to stick to the Apple Store route. That’s because Best Buy is charging $50 more for the iPhone 7 and $100 more for the iPhone 7 Plus. With the iPhone 7 readily available at local Apple Stores and online, even in the once elusive Jet Black variety, it makes little sense to pay such a premium for an unlocked iPhone at full price.
To be fair, Best Buy has been engaging in such practices for several new iPhone launches now, and why not? It’s simple supply and demand. But the supply, for at least the regular-sized iPhone 7, has substantially increased, so there’s no reason to pay anything above MSRP to score one.
If however, you’re willing to go the installment route via Best Buy, then you can avoid the extra $50 – $100 cost. That’s because the installment plan is coming straight from the carriers, not from Best Buy.
As far as the iPhone 7 Plus goes, that one is still proving to be hard to find, including at Best Buy. But if you do happen to stumble upon one at Best Buy, be prepared to pay $100 over MSRP. The retailer has a general price match policy in effect, but it has a history of denying price matches for new iPhone hardware.
My recommendation, unless you just absolutely have to have a new iPhone right now, is to stick to the Apple Store or carrier route. You can use the handy iStockNow website to find real-time iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus stock at your local Apple Store, and carriers are receiving regular new shipments as well.
