This is my last iPhone/smartphone (13 mini).
legit could be your last phone ever, why upgrade?
The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade
21–30 of 411 posts
Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade
#22So they're going to subtract the residual from the price and divide that by some term, just like leasing a car. Doesn't seem like a bad way to get a phone and in the end, they just automatically own the residual instead of buying it from you. It seems like a more predicable way to do the same thing most people are already doing.
I think "most people" have been shifting towards longer than 24-month replacement cycles. Leasing with a fixed end is probably predicted in their financial models to do a better job of getting more people onto a strict 24 month cycle. Nobody will want to actually buy out their lease on a 2-year-old phone, so they'll turn it in and lease another one, so Apple can throw it into the shredder[1] and show an additional sale on their books.
[1] https://www.ifixit.com/News/94386/the-truth-about-apples-fre...
Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade
#23The math for the new program is kinda perplexing, my guess is that they are hoping that most people just will send in the device and upgrade.
If I am reading the FAQ here properly: https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade.
> If you decide to buy the device, the purchase option fee is the list price minus any lease payments you’ve made minus any remaining discounts or trade-in credit. (excluding tax and any damage fees).
Lets look at a couple examples:
iPhone 17 pro max would be $1199 to buy (~1273 with tax) or $34.99 for 24 months totaling $839.76. So would cost 433.33 at the end of the lease to keep it
The cheapest 16" MBP would be 2,999 to buy (3186.44 with tax) or $57.99 for 36 months (or 80.99 for 24 months). 2087.64 or 1943.76. So around ~1k to buy it at the end.
It looks like you can keep making payments for 6 months to lower the buyout price a little bit.
So worst case scenario this is a 3 and a half year interest free loan with a higher payment at the end.
Seems not terrible? As long as you treat it as a loan and not a lease you can end at any point it seems fine and nothing really shady about it. You still have the option to own the device for the original cost.
Other than the loss of the iPhone upgrade program and the yearly upgrades, am I missing something here? I guess the biggest thing is you likely can't just pay it off and be done with it if you had the money.
Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade
#24The iPhone Upgrade Program was a 24-month 0% financing program for iPhones. The replacement Apple Upgrade https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade > is a leasing program that also covers iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches. Instead of automatically owning the device after making all payments, you can choose return/upgrade/buy it at the end of the lease. The new program is backed by Klarna instead of Citizens Bank, uses a…
More tricks to hide rising prices across the board.
Looks like a recession indicator to me.
Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade
#25Replaced by a lease program - https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade Pay $32/mo (so $770 total) to use an iPhone for two years and then give it back to Apple. This is truly the most dystopian timeline.
> This is truly the most dystopian timeline.
Why? Leasing has always been an option that some people and businesses prefer, depending on the circumstances. It’s commonly done with cars. In business situations leasing can be very common because it works well with your cash flow and doesn’t require taking more debt on your books.
You can buy out the item at the end of the lease term. Some people like this optionality because they get to defer the purchase decision into the future and benefit from any new information, like whether or not a new iPhone is worth upgrading to or how the battery is holding up.
Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade
#26Replaced by a lease program - https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade Pay $32/mo (so $770 total) to use an iPhone for two years and then give it back to Apple. This is truly the most dystopian timeline.
> Pay $32/mo (so $770 total) to use an iPhone for two years and then give it back to Apple.
At the end of your device lease term, you have an option to buy out your leased device. With the buy out cost being equal to the device sticker price minus the amount you had already paid on your lease.
This seems pretty fair to me tbh.
Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade
#27Makes sense they discontinued it given that the last 5 iphones have been almost exactly the same
Indeed. I used to be on the upgrade program so I could upgrade every year, but decided to skip the 16 and keep my 15 until the 17 came out.
Even if you are upgrading every single year, it works out roughly the same to just buy every phone outright and then trade in last year's model -- you typically get ~half your purchase price back as trade-in value after a year anyway.
Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade
#28Replaced by a lease program - https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade Pay $32/mo (so $770 total) to use an iPhone for two years and then give it back to Apple. This is truly the most dystopian timeline.
> This is truly the most dystopian timeline. Why? Leasing has always been an option that some people and businesses prefer, depending on the circumstances. It’s commonly done with cars. In business situations leasing can be very common because it works well with your cash flow and doesn’t require taking more debt on your books. You can buy out the item at the end of the lease term. Some people like this optionality b…
The fact that we need to use the financing models of cars for basic consumer electronics is the dystopian part.
Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade
#29The iPhone Upgrade Program was a 24-month 0% financing program for iPhones. The replacement Apple Upgrade https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade > is a leasing program that also covers iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches. Instead of automatically owning the device after making all payments, you can choose return/upgrade/buy it at the end of the lease. The new program is backed by Klarna instead of Citizens Bank, uses a…
More tricks to hide rising prices across the board. Looks like a recession indicator to me.
perhaps even a... great depression indicator? (ref: wvfrm ep. 364)
Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade
#30The iPhone Upgrade Program was a 24-month 0% financing program for iPhones. The replacement Apple Upgrade https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade > is a leasing program that also covers iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches. Instead of automatically owning the device after making all payments, you can choose return/upgrade/buy it at the end of the lease. The new program is backed by Klarna instead of Citizens Bank, uses a…
Yes, this appears to be entirely about raising the price of iPhones without raising the cost of iPhones. Most people don’t buy it out right so they need a way to ease the prices raised by keeping the monthly payments around the same. The difference is you have to return the phone at the end instead of owning it.