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The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

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Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

#131

Post by engineer_22 »

nerdjon wrote: post #23

The 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 fe…

Are there any “gotchas” of leasing vs owning the device? Do your rights to the data change? Does your responsibility to maintain the fit and function of the device change? How does lease vs buy benefit the consumer?

Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

#132

Post by paxys »

tw600040 wrote: post #130
paxys wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 A lot of people aren’t going to have that $433 at the end of the lease to purchase the device outright, and so will have to roll it into another 2-year monthly payment, and another one after that. So the goal of the program is the same as every other similar one…

Someone who won't have that $433 has no business even thinking about a 1200$ phone in the first place

Have you met…America?

Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

#133

Post by PunchyHamster »

tw600040 wrote: post #130
paxys wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 A lot of people aren’t going to have that $433 at the end of the lease to purchase the device outright, and so will have to roll it into another 2-year monthly payment, and another one after that. So the goal of the program is the same as every other similar one…

Someone who won't have that $433 has no business even thinking about a 1200$ phone in the first place

wait till you see what people do with car payments

Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

#134

Post by pishpash »

paxys wrote: post #28
Aurornis wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

You already do it for music and TV shows. That's not cheap either.

Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

#135

Post by nerdjon »

dgellow wrote: post #74
nerdjon wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That I could see, I guess the question comes down to how often to people upgrade. That comes down to discipline. Is a 3 year upgrade cycle for a MacBook Pro unreasonable? Would you get a lower spec machine since you were not trying to maximize the life of the machine? I know I always tend to overspec my machine to keep it for as long as possible. My M3 MBP with 36GB of ram (looks like it was about 2500 3 years ago) w…

> Is a 3 year upgrade cycle for a MacBook Pro unreasonable? For a personal machine? Yes that’s something I see as unreasonable, MacBook Pros have a very long lifespan. M1 laptop are still pretty awesome machines. For a business an upgrade every 3 years could make sense

I mean we are talking about the "Pro" machine. I think there is likely an argument to be made that if you are not doing a task that would genuinely improve with more powerful hardware do you actually need the Pro machine and you could instead go with a MacBook Air that you keep for far longer since your doing basic tasks. I do think there is still some ideas of the pro vs the Air that we are still stuck with from the Intel days.

Is that threshold for using a Pro machine 3 years, I don't know probably not for most people. My M3 Pro from almost 3 years ago is still running beautifully. I could make the argument that more power would benefit what I do with this machine without a doubt, is it worth the upgrade? I don't know, but I would be lying if I have not been thinking about it.

But I also think about the mentality I had when I bought this machine, and the mentality I had when I was looking at possible upgrades just a few weeks ago. Possibly paying more to overspec the machine compared to my current use case assuming that I want to continue to use it in 3 to 4 years.

I don't know if that calculation is necessary as cut as dry.

Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

#136

Post by thisislife2 »

jjice wrote: post #104

This is probably just a personal lifestyle thing, but I'd rather have a cheaper, not as good thing that I own outright rather than lease (not own) a nicer, better thing. Cars, phones, computers, whatever it is. I don't like the idea of not owning the stuff I use every day, if I could just own something not as good instead.

I have come to the realisation that it just makes more sense to buy repairable / upgradeable electronics / computers and cars, used. You save a lot of money that way, and the second-sales market has also become more organised so you don't really waste time too in the process.

Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

#138

Post by paxys »

ToucanLoucan wrote: post #111
Aurornis wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I take it you’ve never purchased an Apple refurbished product? They’re in excellent condition. They do not look like 2-year used and abused trade ins. If trade-ins are going back to the refurb inventory (which I don’t know if they do) then it’s only after extensive actual refurbishment and new parts. They’re not putting it back into a box, listing it for sale, and pocketing the difference.

It's still obviously making them money. How much, who's to say, likely highly variable depending on the condition of the phone. But if it didn't make them money they wouldn't do it, they're not a charity. I'd imagine even a phone they can't fix to sell still has some value, even as scrap to them especially as the costs of every damn material that goes into any electronic device continue to soar. And that all being sa…

The internals in that phone are probably worth more today used than brand new 2 years ago.

Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

#139

Post by user00005 »

Well, Apple did just hit a 5 trillion market cap with a PE ratio of 41.

With hardware prices increasing, selling financially challenged people on 'cheap' monthly payments seem like one way to keep the stock price pumped at these levels.

I guess they are one of the good trillion corporations though?

https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/article/apple-tops-5-tr...

Re: The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

#140

Post by dzonga »

tw600040 wrote: post #130
paxys wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 A lot of people aren’t going to have that $433 at the end of the lease to purchase the device outright, and so will have to roll it into another 2-year monthly payment, and another one after that. So the goal of the program is the same as every other similar one…

Someone who won't have that $433 has no business even thinking about a 1200$ phone in the first place

you overestimate the financial health of most Americans.

most people live on credit cards as bridge finance between paychecks. when I mean most people - I mean 50% of the population.

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