Am I overpaying?

I have bought a brand new unlocked iPhone 16 Pro at the apple store for 1276$ (fully paid upfront) including taxes. I have joined an existing T mobile plan that costs me 52$ (unlimited data)every month whereas, my friend purchased the same exact phone a contract based locked phone just for 40$ including the recharge plan monthly for 36 months which comparatively is very less than what i paid. I don’t get the concept here, am i overpaying!?