$699 for a 128GB iPhone 16? I think you can score a better deal – here’s how

Apple is now only selling the discounted iPhone 16 in a 128GB option
The iPhone 16 Plus still has the 256GB model
But I don’t think either is a good deal…

Following the launch of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, and the iPhone Air, Apple has discontinued the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max – and it’s discounted the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. There’s a catch to this discount, though: you can only get the former in its base 128GB storage option.

The discontinuation of the older Pro Phones was basically pre-ordained, as Apple always does that when it launches new phones. As was the price drop of the standard and Plus iPhone 16 models.

But with the iPhone 16 dropping to $699 / £699 / AU$1,249 from a starting price of $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, and the Plus getting a new staring piece of $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 down from $899 / £899 / AU$1,599, you might consider the discounts to be a tad underwhelming.

Comparatively the new iPhone 17 starts at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 and offers a host of upgrades, such as a 120Hz ProMotion display and a new Fusion camera system, for not a lot more.

Add in that your only option for the iPhone 16 directly from Apple is the 128GB model, and it doesn’t look like a super-compelling purchase. This is one of the reasons why prior to the September 9 Apple event, I advised people not to buy a new iPhone until we saw what the iPhone 17 has to offer.

While I think 128GB of onboard storage isn’t overly miserly if you’re savvy with your photo management and what apps you download, when one takes into account the upgrades the iPhone 17 offers and its starting storage capacity of 256GB, I don’t think last-generation’s phone has much appeal.

Go elsewhere for a bargain

There’s a flipside to this story, which is that third-party retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Argos, Currys and Walmart will very likely have iPhone 16 Pro models in stock that they’ll want to shift either before the new iPhones launch on September 19, or ahead of the holiday season.

So I’d suggest you go looking at those retailers if you want to score a Pro iPhone for less, or check out our guide on the best iPhone deals.

Equally, if you can wait for a handful of weeks, we’ll soon enter a period where retailers start to discount their products ahead of Black Friday, which is less of a day and more a week-long-plus time of discounts on tech and more.

And Cyber Monday which follows Black Friday is sure to have some appealing technology bargains, and I’d be very confident in iPhone 16 Pro models being among them, assuming stocks last.