Apple’s US checkout for iPhone 18 Pro offers four buttons for connectivity: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and one Apple labels “Connect on your own later.” That fourth button is the unlocked path, and Apple’s own disclosure ties it directly to price: “Connectivity discounts are reflected in the advertised price of select iPhone models, and are available to customers who connect with select carriers at the time of purchase.”
In practice, tapping that fourth button adds $100 to the 256GB price of either model, a gap Apple discloses in principle but never states as a number on either page.
Key facts
| Item | What Apple publishes |
|---|---|
| Checkout connectivity choices | AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Connect on your own later |
| Result of choosing a carrier | $1,199 (Pro) / $1,299 (Pro Max) at 256GB |
| Result of Connect on your own later | $1,299 (Pro) / $1,399 (Pro Max) at 256GB |
| Financing that still requires a carrier button | Apple Card Monthly Installments and the Apple Upgrade lease |
| Where this split does not exist | UK, where 256GB lists at one price, £1,199, regardless of connectivity |
What ‘connect on your own later’ actually buys
The label describes exactly what it sounds like: a phone with no carrier attached at the moment of purchase, left for the buyer to activate afterward with any carrier that supports eSIM. Apple’s specs page confirms the model itself does not change: iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max ship with “Dual eSIM (two active eSIMs)” and do not support a physical SIM, whichever connectivity button is pressed.
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The $100 gap, in Apple’s own numbers
| Model | With a carrier selected | Connect on your own later |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone 18 Pro, 256GB | $1,199 | $1,299 |
| iPhone 18 Pro Max, 256GB | $1,299 | $1,399 |
Apple’s press release quotes the left-hand figure as the phone’s starting price. The individual configuration URL for an unlocked 256GB model resolves to the right-hand figure. Neither page states the difference as its own line item; it exists only as the outcome of the connectivity choice at checkout.
The financing wrinkle behind the same button
Choosing to finance does not avoid this decision, it moves it. Apple’s own financing footnote states that Apple Card Monthly Installments “requires” selecting AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon at checkout, and separately that a phone bought this way “is always unlocked, so they can switch carriers at any time, subject to their carrier’s terms.” The Apple Upgrade lease carries the identical requirement: “Requires selection of an eligible carrier.” A buyer who wants financing cannot press “Connect on your own later,” even though the phone that arrives is unlocked either way.
Where the fourth button does not exist at all
Apple UK’s store lists iPhone 18 Pro at £1,199 for 256GB with no separate connectivity screen changing that number. The $100 US gap is specific to how Apple structures its own domestic carrier subsidies, not a global pricing pattern. India’s store page follows the UK pattern too: a single ₹1,64,900 figure for 256GB, with no fourth button splitting a carrier price from an unlocked one.
Apple’s own trade-in offer sits on the same page as the four connectivity buttons but does not depend on which one is pressed. Trading in an iPhone 13 or later still gets a US buyer “$175 to $885 in credit instantly,” whether the phone that follows is attached to AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, or left to “connect on your own later.”
What Apple has not said
Apple has not published the $100 figure as a stated number on any page, has not said whether the gap exists at storage tiers above 256GB, and has not said whether choosing “Connect on your own later” changes anything about the hardware beyond price. It has also not published a timeline for when a card is charged once that button is pressed.
As of today, September 12, the four-button choice is the only connectivity mechanic Apple has documented for this pre-order. iPhone 18 Pro reaches stores Friday, September 18.