TL;DR: The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro are free right now with T-Mobile. Here’s how to qualify for this limited-time offer.

All we seem to hear about these days are price increases. Apple just bumped up the price of its iPad and Mac lineups, RAM prices are about to rise nearly 50 percent, and smartphone price hikes are on the way.

It’s a grim picture. So imagine our delight when we see that you can still score an Apple iPhone 17 for free with T-Mobile.

T-Mobile has dropped a fresh batch of free iPhone deals to beat the price increases:

• Apple iPhone 17 — free when you trade in your eligible phone on an Experience More or Experience Beyond plan.

• Apple iPhone 17 Pro — free when you switch to T-Mobile and bring your number on an Experience More or Experience Beyond plan (no trade-in needed).

Of course, T-Mobile isn’t simply handing over these latest handsets as a favor. Instead, the retail cost of your new phone is offset by 24 consecutive monthly bill credits. Your monthly statement will show a standard charge for financing the phone, which is immediately balanced out by an equal credit to bring that charge to zero.

What’s happening here is you are signing up for a 24-month commitment with the network. If you decide to cancel your service, switch to another carrier, or upgrade to the iPhone 18 before those 24 months are up, the remaining unpaid balance on the phone’s retail value will become due immediately.

You will also need to cover the standard upfront taxes and a one-time $35 activation fee. But that’s a small price to pay to lock in the iPhone 17 before Apple’s prices bump up again.

Score the latest iPhones for free with T-Mobile.

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 7 seconds ago

Sony still owns the movie rights to Spider-Man, which is why they tried (and failed) to build a whole cinematic universe around his villains. The studio hasn’t released any live-action films with Spidey in them, preferring to loan the character over to Marvel Studios so he can headline movies like Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Outside of live-action, though, Sony created Into the Spider-Verse, which is still the best Spider-Man film ever made. That movie kicked off a franchise focused on an entirely different Spider-Man: Miles Morales, whose comic book incarnation has proven to be insanely popular.

Given how much fans love him in the comics and in the Spider-Verse films, it’s only a matter of time before Miles Morales pops up in the MCU. Now, it’s looking like he might end up there even sooner thanks to one of Marvel’s biggest stars. In a recent interview, Spider-Man: Brand New Day star Tom Holland has expressed a strong interest in bringing Miles into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He also wants to mentor whatever young actor gets hired to play the role, guiding him into this popular franchise the same way that Robert Downey Jr. once guided him.

Spider-Man No More

Ahead of Brand New Day’s July 31 release, Tom Holland recently offered an interview to Hobby Consolas. While discussing his upcoming film, the actor described his desire to bring another spider into Marvel’s growing web of movies. “I think at this point in time, we’re being really open-minded about what the future looks like,” Holland said. “I know that I have aspirations to bring Miles Morales into the universe, however that works out. We’ve got a lot of work to do to bring that to life. But yeah, I feel really strongly about it.”

Holland didn’t elaborate on why he feels so strongly about the matter. He may just sincerely be a major fan of Miles Morales and want to see the character thrive. Of course, there’s a chance that Holland is just looking for his own replacement. Back in 2021, he told GQ that, “If I’m playing Spider-Man after I’m 30, I’ve done something wrong.” Now, the actor is 30, and he may want a younger star to effectively take his place. That could happen sooner than you might think; next year’s Avengers: Secret Wars will reboot the MCU, which would be the perfect time to introduce Miles Morales along with newer heroes like the X-Men.

Holland may or may not still be in the MCU when Morales shows up; after all, his Spider-Man could be recast or even written out of these movies altogether. If he is still around, though, it sounds like Holland wants to have the same relationship with the new actor that Robert Downey Jr. had with him, both onscreen and off. “I feel incredibly grateful for the way I was introduced into this world and that I was shepherded by [Robert Downey Jr],” he said. “I would love to kind of return that favor to the next generation of people that get the luxury of making these movies.

Does that mean we’re likely to see Holland’s Peter Parker mentor Miles Morales onscreen? That all depends on what’s happening behind the scenes. Given Holland’s previous comments about playing an aging Spider-Man, he might be happy to tap out after the events of Avengers: Secret Wars. But Spider-Man: Brand New Day is on track to earn well over a billion dollars at the box office. If so, Marvel may offer Holland the kind of contract he just can’t refuse. Should that happen, we can look forward to a future team-up with Hugh Jackman; after all, why not make a film with two superhero actors who will play the same part until they are 90?    

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 7 seconds ago

Many casual Star Trek fans think that Vulcans don’t feel any emotions. That’s actually not true at all: in reality, these aliens experience the same tempest of emotional torment as human beings. They simply choose to suppress these emotions, ordering their lives around logic instead of passion. Nonetheless, those feelings are always there, just waiting to bubble to the surface. This was clear as early as the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “The Naked Time.” In this story, a trippy space virus makes everyone act drunk; for example, Sulu goes topless and starts carrying a sword around. Spock, meanwhile, has an emotional breakdown, crying over his inability to express how he feels. 

It’s arguably the most emotional scene in Star Trek history, all thanks to the one character that almost never expresses emotions. However, in a truly shocking twist, this emotional scene almost didn’t appear in the episode. Originally, this was just going to be a joke scene where somebody painted a mustache on Spock. The only reason it was changed is that Leonard Nimoy spoke up, demanding a deeper scene for his character. The result is an unforgettable moment with the franchise’s most (to use his preferred terminology) fascinating character!

Spock Loses His Cool

The plot of “The Naked Time” is that members of the Starship Enterprise keep getting infected with this weird virus. It basically simulates the effects of intoxication, causing the crew to act out in wildly unpredictable ways. The most memorable is Sulu showing off his hot moves and hotter pecs as he drunkenly slashes his sword throughout the ship. Oh, and Kirk babbles like a wife guy, only he’s married to the Enterprise. In the midst of all this, Spock has a more unconventional reaction: an emotional breakdown. When Kirk finds him, the Vulcan is crying and lamenting everything from his friendship with the captain to his relationship with his mother.

With Kirk’s help, Spock snaps out of it and helps to save the day. Still, the scene is a powerful example that still waters run quite deep with this pointy-eared alien. Sure, he may act cool and logical and badmouth everyone else’s emotional reactions, but Spock has feelings just as intense (if not more so) than his human colleagues. In Leonard Nimoy’s autobiography, I Am Spock, he revealed that “The Naked Time” writer John D. F. Black originally wrote a goofy scene where someone paints a mustache on Spock. The actor didn’t like this scene, preferring something that preserved Spock’s dignity.

He Knows Why The Caged ‘Stache Cries

According to Nimoy, when he went to speak with Black, the writer blew him off because he was already working on a different script. So, the actor went over the writer’s head and spoke to franchise creator Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry agreed with Nimoy and asked Black to write a new scene. When the writer asked what Nimoy wanted, the actor replied, “It’s about emotion versus logic, love versus mathematics, grief versus pi-r-squared.” While beautiful, this description is fairly vague. Fortunately, it was enough for Black, who went on to write the most emotional scene in Star Trek history. 

There was just one problem: given the tight production schedule of this Star Trek: The Original Series episode, there was only time for one take. Fortunately, Leonard Nimoy only needed one take to bring this scene to wrenching, heartbreaking life. It was a scene that forever changed our understanding of the character and the franchise as a whole, one that made us consider the relationship between our own emotions and our sense of humanity. Now, though, you know the hilarious secret behind Trek’s most emotional scene: it only exists because Nimoy didn’t want Spock to have a wacky little mustache, even for just one scene!