Slickdeals is community-supported.  We may get paid by brands for deals, including promoted items.
Heads up, this deal has expired. Want to create a deal alert for this item?
expiredenergyx posted Nov 23, 2021 02:43 PM
expiredenergyx posted Nov 23, 2021 02:43 PM

64GB Apple iPhone 12 Mini Prepaid Smartphone for Total Wireless

+ Free Shipping

$299

$599

50% off
Walmart
413 Comments 163,183 Views
Visit Walmart
Good Deal
Save
Share
Deal Details
Walmart has 64GB Apple iPhone 12 Mini Prepaid Smartphone for Total Wireless (Various Colors) on sale for $299. Shipping is free.

Thanks to community member energyx for finding this deal.

Note: This phone is carrier locked to Total Wireless.

Available Colors:
Phone Details:
  • 5.4" Super Retina XDR display
  • Ceramic Shield
  • 5G Compatible
  • A14 Bionic chip
  • Advanced camera system with 12MP Ultra Wide and Wire cameras; Night Mode, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 3, 4K Dolby Vision HDR recording
  • 64GB Internal Storage
  • 12MP True Depth front camera with Night mode, 4K Dolby Vision HDR recording
  • IP68 water resistance
  • Supports MagSafe accessories for faster wireless charging

Editor's Notes

Written by oceanlake
  • About this deal:
    • See the forum thread for additional discussion and advice from Slickdeals members.
    • This price matches a recent Frontpage Deal for this phone on a different service provider.
    • This price is $300 lower (50% savings) than the list price at Apple.com.
  • About this store:

Original Post

Written by energyx
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Walmart has 64GB Apple iPhone 12 Mini Prepaid Smartphone for Total Wireless (Various Colors) on sale for $299. Shipping is free.

Thanks to community member energyx for finding this deal.

Note: This phone is carrier locked to Total Wireless.

Available Colors:
Phone Details:
  • 5.4" Super Retina XDR display
  • Ceramic Shield
  • 5G Compatible
  • A14 Bionic chip
  • Advanced camera system with 12MP Ultra Wide and Wire cameras; Night Mode, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 3, 4K Dolby Vision HDR recording
  • 64GB Internal Storage
  • 12MP True Depth front camera with Night mode, 4K Dolby Vision HDR recording
  • IP68 water resistance
  • Supports MagSafe accessories for faster wireless charging

Editor's Notes

Written by oceanlake
  • About this deal:
    • See the forum thread for additional discussion and advice from Slickdeals members.
    • This price matches a recent Frontpage Deal for this phone on a different service provider.
    • This price is $300 lower (50% savings) than the list price at Apple.com.
  • About this store:

Original Post

Written by energyx

Community Voting

Deal Score
+58
Good Deal
Visit Walmart

Leave a Comment

Unregistered (You)

Top Comments

FormallyKnownAs
585 Posts
141 Reputation
Why not just buy this and trade in to Best Buy for the 13 mini? Upgrading from 12 to 13 costs about $80 (assuming you're not in CA where the tax is much higher) so you're looking at paying under $400 for a new iPhone 13. You could even upgrade to a higher end 13 for a few more $. The BBY deal is probably one of the best ones this year if you have an iPhone 12:

https://slickdeals.net/f/15340573-for-t-mobile-plans-trade-in-apple-iphone-and-save-up-to-975-on-iphone-13s-or-other-brands?src=SiteSearchV2Algo1

Edit: best buy doesn't care if the phone is locked.
jh19107
990 Posts
67 Reputation
+$300 to get it unlocked by Total Wireless if u don't use 12 months of service.
nycjstar
92 Posts
42 Reputation
I have Total Wireless, and plan to keep the device for 12 months anyway. Note that the referral program is generous, and you can essentially go the first 5 months for a total cost of $50 for the service using the referral codes ($25 each of the first 2 months, and the next 3 come free with the code ... this if you don't use much data, or 4 months if using more data) (you can add as you need) ... and it's Verizon towers ...

414 Comments

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Nov 25, 2021 07:51 AM
9 Posts
Joined Aug 2017
IOBoundAndDownNov 25, 2021 07:51 AM
9 Posts
Quote from FormallyKnownAs :
Why not just buy this and trade in to Best Buy for the 13 mini? Upgrading from 12 to 13 costs about $80 (assuming you're not in CA where the tax is much higher) so you're looking at paying under $400 for a new iPhone 13. You could even upgrade to a higher end 13 for a few more $. The BBY deal is probably one of the best ones this year if you have an iPhone 12:

https://slickdeals.net/f/15340573-for-t-mobile-plans-trade-in-apple-iphone-and-save-up-to-975-on-iphone-13s-or-other-brands?src=SiteSearchV2Algo1

Edit: best buy doesn't care if the phone is locked.
Great idea but the link you shared suggests it doesn't work with prepaid phones!?!

"Offer valid for in-store trade-in of a qualifying Apple smartphone in good working condition only; customer must own trade-in device and must not apply to prepaid phones; condition, documentation and accessories may affect direct value of trade-in; cracked or lack of power phones are not accepted"
1
Nov 25, 2021 08:17 AM
35 Posts
Joined Jun 2021
Proto6Nov 25, 2021 08:17 AM
35 Posts
Wanna thank everybody here who has chimed in regarding the BBY trade-in opportunity.

I'm planning to do the trade-in. I'm currently on a ATT plan which I can cancel at any time, amd IMO is too expensive considering I rarely use talk or text, 80% of usage is wifi.

I read the thread twice, but still got questions for the pros here:

> trade-in related questions:

(1) do I need to activate or do anything on the iPhone 12 mini (from Walmart) before doing the physical trade-in at BBY or can I just bring in the still packaged phone ?

(2) since I'm not a T-Mobile customer currently and it appears one must add a TMO postpaid plan for this promo, what is the cheapest postpaid plan that qualifies and when is the earliest I can cancel the postpaid plan ? (I assume they prorate after cancelation)

(3) when the T-Mobile Twitter folks unlock the iPhone 13, is it then immediately FULLY unlocked ? meaning: can I use any domestic or international SIM card on the iPhone 13 ?

> other questions

(4) which iPhone 13 version would you recommend ? I compared the specs of the 4x different models, but wondering if there are any other pros/cons/gotchas to any of these models ?

(5) Would anyone here prefer the Samsung S21 over the iPhone 13 ? (the camera seems to be a major difference)

(6) Besides this trade-in, I'm also planning to switch to a MVNO provider (after trade-in and after iPhone 13 has been unlocked), for the first time. As I see from the comments here, there are quite a few MVNO providers. Was looking at Mint but wondering if actual users had advice on which of these providers is best in regards to service, speech quality, inet speed, etc... are there any differences (other than price) to the major carriers (ATT, TMO, VRZ, etc) ?

Thanks, it's been fascinating reading your replies here !
2
Nov 25, 2021 08:19 AM
93 Posts
Joined Jun 2014
prestoopnikNov 25, 2021 08:19 AM
93 Posts
Quote from jman985 :
Same. Are you looking online where it says "Pickup Unavailable" ?
Yeah. I checked in multiple areas and even States where I will be traveling within the next few days. I do wonder if it is possible to buy this, start the Best Buy promo, and wait until it gets delivered to go into Best Buy and complete the transaction. As far as I know, the trade in must be done in the store. I just wonder if it is worth all the hassle considering they may not accept the trade since it is a pre-paid (although I've read users have had success and no one has been turned down). I already have an iphone 11 so in the perfect world, I will trade in my iphone 11 for a giftcard, and apply that gift card towards the final price after this promo and end up actually making money in the end. Again, this is all assuming everything goes according to plan.
Nov 25, 2021 12:33 PM
1,159 Posts
Joined Oct 2010
p_goodsalesNov 25, 2021 12:33 PM
1,159 Posts
I'm on Cricket Wireless. Can I use this to trade-in (ordered, will get on Nov 30) and get iP 13 using Best Buy deal for T-Mobile customers? I'm confused if I need to sign up with T-Mobile and cancel later or is it not needed to activate. Please suggest.
1
Nov 25, 2021 12:46 PM
380 Posts
Joined Nov 2015
Fun2sNov 25, 2021 12:46 PM
380 Posts
Quote from p_goodsales :
I'm on Cricket Wireless. Can I use this to trade-in (ordered, will get on Nov 30) and get iP 13 using Best Buy deal for T-Mobile customers? I'm confused if I need to sign up with T-Mobile and cancel later or is it not needed to activate. Please suggest.
Best Buy deal is for T-Mobile customers as you have mentioned so you need a T-Mobile account.
Nov 25, 2021 01:36 PM
1,266 Posts
Joined Jan 2009
atx11Nov 25, 2021 01:36 PM
1,266 Posts
Quote from FormallyKnownAs :
Why not just buy this and trade in to Best Buy for the 13 mini? Upgrading from 12 to 13 costs about $80 (assuming you're not in CA where the tax is much higher) so you're looking at paying under $400 for a new iPhone 13. You could even upgrade to a higher end 13 for a few more $. The BBY deal is probably one of the best ones this year if you have an iPhone 12:

https://slickdeals.net/f/15340573-for-t-mobile-plans-trade-in-apple-iphone-and-save-up-to-975-on-iphone-13s-or-other-brands?src=SiteSearchV2Algo1

Edit: best buy doesn't care if the phone is locked.
I think this term disqualifies it:

"customer must own trade-in device and must not apply to prepaid phones;"

this is a prepaid phone.
3
Nov 25, 2021 02:11 PM
585 Posts
Joined Apr 2006
FormallyKnownAsNov 25, 2021 02:11 PM
585 Posts
Quote from atx11 :
I think this term disqualifies it:

"customer must own trade-in device and must not apply to prepaid phones;"

this is a prepaid phone.
The only way they can tell its prepaid is if your current carrier is one. On the best buy site, when you select the upgrade button, you're prompted to select your carrier and you have to verify through a text message. You can't do that unless you're on a postpaid account.

Alternatively you could sign up for a new account through best buy, unlock the phone after you receive it and then cancel the postpaid account. I have t-mobile and with them, the trick is to message T-force through Twitter, tell them you have a fully paid device purchased from best buy, and they'll unlock it with 4 days as opposed to the normal 40 day requirement.

The thread from above has a ton of details on it.
2

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Nov 25, 2021 02:20 PM
1,266 Posts
Joined Jan 2009
atx11Nov 25, 2021 02:20 PM
1,266 Posts
Quote from FormallyKnownAs :
The only way they can tell its prepaid is if your current carrier is one. On the best buy site, when you select the upgrade button, you're prompted to select your carrier and you have to verify through a text message. You can't do that unless you're on a postpaid account.
You're saying Best Buy verifies that your phone is a postpaid through SMS, which doesn't make sense. I have both prepaid and postpaid accounts so I can easily give my postpaid number for that SMS. I think they'll actually verify the phone by turning it ON-- and when they see Total Wireless, they'll know its prepaid and disqualify it.
1
Nov 25, 2021 02:30 PM
1 Posts
Joined Nov 2021
ShawnAsapNov 25, 2021 02:30 PM
1 Posts
Rsim doesn't work on TracFone carriers. Never has and never will.
4
Nov 25, 2021 02:35 PM
585 Posts
Joined Apr 2006
FormallyKnownAsNov 25, 2021 02:35 PM
585 Posts
Quote from atx11 :
You're saying Best Buy verifies that your phone is a postpaid through SMS, which doesn't make sense. I have both prepaid and postpaid accounts so I can easily give my postpaid number for that SMS. I think they'll actually verify the phone by turning it ON-- and when they see Total Wireless, they'll know its prepaid and disqualify it.
No that's not how it works. On the website, you provide your number and the best buy system connects though the backend to t-mobile and validates your account type. You then get a text to verify you're the account owner (cant do this as an authorized user). Once that's complete your order is finalized online.

The only thing they do in the store is a physical inspection and validate the imei matches. I've done this 4 times and it's been the same process each time.
Nov 25, 2021 02:55 PM
24 Posts
Joined Sep 2020
MemorablePanther257Nov 25, 2021 02:55 PM
24 Posts
Quote from FormallyKnownAs :
No that's not how it works. On the website, you provide your number and the best buy system connects though the backend to t-mobile and validates your account type. You then get a text to verify you're the account owner (cant do this as an authorized user). Once that's complete your order is finalized online.

The only thing they do in the store is a physical inspection and validate the imei matches. I've done this 4 times and it's been the same process each time.
Do they ask for a curent T-mobile sim card or personal ID to activate the phone when you go to the store ? I can borrow my friendds' T-mo account but don't want to bother her about her sim card/id.
Nov 25, 2021 03:00 PM
585 Posts
Joined Apr 2006
FormallyKnownAsNov 25, 2021 03:00 PM
585 Posts
Quote from MemorablePanther257 :
Do they ask for a curent T-mobile sim card or personal ID to activate the phone when you go to the store ? I can borrow my friendds' T-mo account but don't want to bother her about her sim card/id.
They ask for a drivers license but no Sim. In fact they give you a new one. The wierd thing is they scan the Sim so I assumed it was also moving my line to the new sim but that didn't happen in any of my 4 purchases. The new Sim seems unactived.

Note-in the best buy thread, people have mentioned some stores will try to open the box and active the device but tell them this is a Xmas gift and not to open it. Never happened to me but just a warning.

Edit - I don't think you'll be able to borrow a friend's t-mobile account since your not an authorized user. She'll have to come with you to the store as she also needs to provide the last 4 numbers of her SSN for verification. Your best bet maybe to get a post paid account for a few days.

Edit 2- if you get a new t-mobile account don't forget to stay on long enough to get the phone unlocked
Last edited by FormallyKnownAs November 25, 2021 at 07:10 AM.
Nov 25, 2021 03:30 PM
313 Posts
Joined May 2013
dragonbossNov 25, 2021 03:30 PM
313 Posts
Quote from drunken cow :
I don't mind carrier lock, so I plan to purchase this Straight Talk iPhone, go into ATT, use it as a trade in, currently 1000 trade in value, and use it toward an iPhone 13 Pro 1 TB. I'm going to be prorated for the next 3 years but I'll pay the difference up front and not have to worry about paying the difference monthly. Yes I'm locked to ATT, but I don't plan to move carriers or need it to be unlocked. Not sure if this may help anyone or if anyone see any holes in this.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that i bought two IPhones 13 pro at Walmart a couple of days ago.

Smart. I am thinking either doing this one for $1,000, or buying two S10e at $180 each on various sites for $800 off.

Question, vs some previous deals, this one does not require a purchase of any plan with Straight Talk?
Nov 25, 2021 04:05 PM
469 Posts
Joined Dec 2016
jman985Nov 25, 2021 04:05 PM
469 Posts
Quote from prestoopnik :
Yeah. I checked in multiple areas and even States where I will be traveling within the next few days. I do wonder if it is possible to buy this, start the Best Buy promo, and wait until it gets delivered to go into Best Buy and complete the transaction. As far as I know, the trade in must be done in the store. I just wonder if it is worth all the hassle considering they may not accept the trade since it is a pre-paid (although I've read users have had success and no one has been turned down). I already have an iphone 11 so in the perfect world, I will trade in my iphone 11 for a giftcard, and apply that gift card towards the final price after this promo and end up actually making money in the end. Again, this is all assuming everything goes according to plan.
same, I don't think Walmart are doing in-store pickup for this item right now. I think most stores have them in-stock, but they will be on sale beginning Black Friday at 5 a.m.

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Nov 25, 2021 04:55 PM
24 Posts
Joined Sep 2020
MemorablePanther257Nov 25, 2021 04:55 PM
24 Posts
Quote from FormallyKnownAs :
They ask for a drivers license but no Sim. In fact they give you a new one. The wierd thing is they scan the Sim so I assumed it was also moving my line to the new sim but that didn't happen in any of my 4 purchases. The new Sim seems unactived.

Note-in the best buy thread, people have mentioned some stores will try to open the box and active the device but tell them this is a Xmas gift and not to open it. Never happened to me but just a warning.

Edit - I don't think you'll be able to borrow a friend's t-mobile account since your not an authorized user. She'll have to come with you to the store as she also needs to provide the last 4 numbers of her SSN for verification. Your best bet maybe to get a post paid account for a few days.

Edit 2- if you get a new t-mobile account don't forget to stay on long enough to get the phone unlocked
thanks for the thoroughly answers/ edit, one last question though: the iphone 12 mini is locked to total wireless/straight talk, but the t-mobile deals drop downs doesn't have that, is it ok if i just choose locked to verizon. thanks
1

Leave a Comment

Unregistered (You)

Popular Deals

Trending Deals