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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

#171

Post by slater »

Mistletoe wrote: post #169
Aurornis wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A lot of people aren’t going to have that $433 at the end of the lease to purchase the device outright I think you're looking at this too much from the perspective of someone who wants to own the phone, not as someone who wants to consider a lease. Leases are not a new invention. A lot of people, including very financially savvy and well off people, choose to lease rather than buy depending on the circumstances. It…

Why on earth are we leasing phones now???

money number must go up?

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

#172

Post by MagicMoonlight »

thewebguyd wrote: post #46
drnick1 wrote: post #41

This kind of business model is just another manifestation of "you'll own nothing and be happy." Unless you are happy with Apple or Google literally owning your phone and everything in it, the solution is to buy a Pixel, with cash, unlock the bootloader, and flash GrapheneOS.

Except in this case, you can still choose to own it at the end of the lease. The total lease price (if you buy it at the end) is the exact same as the retail price, there's no interest and no extra fees.

[dead]

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

#173

Post by ksec »

paxys wrote: post #65
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…

> 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…

>they want to turn a one-time device purchase into a perpetual monthly revenue stream,

Precisely what they should have done for service revenue instead of milking App Store for the past 10 years. They should also have bundled Apple Care as part of it.

It would also allow them to hike up their price for iPhone. For example I wouldn't be surprised if the upcoming iPhone Fold and next year's iPhone 20 / XX start at $1499 to $1999.

My question is how will this roll out world wide, is this going to be like Apple Credit Card, Apple Cash and other things that is US only? Who is actually paying for the interest free loan. Somewhere along the line someone has got to give.

This is all good direction that is happening in the past 12 months, MacBook Neo, Apple Upgrade. Hopefully they will also fix the software part. macOS doesn't need annual upgrade. Perhaps neither do iOS. And the last thing would be about the App Store. But I guess that will take a lot longer.

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

#174

Post by layer8 »

dgellow wrote: post #77
fckgw wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They still have a 12mo lease term if you want to upgrade yearly.

Wait, do people actually upgrade yearly? I always thought it was hyperbolic

Around 20% apparently do: https://c9ac71a8282e1fecd95e-f07dbcddcacf0d4c572ea7178ee6902...

From: https://www.sellcell.com/blog/how-often-do-people-upgrade-th...

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

#175

Post by nekooooo »

HeWhoLurksLate wrote: post #147
Aurornis wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know those financially irresponsible people don’t need this program, right? They would have used a credit card to buy it with much worse terms You seem tilted at Apple for offering a financing option, but your real gripe is apparently with some people who have poor financial decision making skills. Those people could (and probably would) do a lot worse with traditional options like a credit card. Can we at least…

> They would have used a credit card to buy it with much worse terms average credit card interest rate: 18-25% APR [0][1] average klarna effective interest rate:25-33% APR [2] getting what are effectively individual lines of credit per-burrito or iphone is crazy work and I wouldn't recommend it most of the time. Save some money up, people! [0] https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/research/current... [1] https:…

it's a 0% loan with a buyout at the end for 2 years though. not 33% APR.

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

#176

Post by drdexebtjl »

Someone wrote: post #52
acmnrs wrote: post #14

The 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…

> and no longer includes AppleCare+ by default. On the one hand that gives users an option. On the other hand, that is a way to hide a price increase. Also, those doing this are almost obliged to take AppleCare, as ( https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade ): “What do I do if my device gets lost or is stolen? If you have AppleCare+ Theft and Loss for your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, you can file a claim at mysuppo…

That’s evil.

So if the target demographic, the person that does not have money to buy an iPhone outright, is mugged, they need to essentially buy the iPhone outright or they start racking up interest and fees.

(I don’t care if they say the target demographic is “people who upgrade every 2 years” instead. If that were really the case, you don’t need financing, just a buy-back program)

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

#177

Post by sixtiethutopia »

crazygringo wrote: post #165
socalgal2 wrote: post #61

I'm not sure I understand all the hate in this thread. I had a friend who bought a new Mac every year, selling his old Mac. His calculation was that it was about the same price as keeping one Mac and upgrading every 5 years. I'd consider leasing a Mac through this program. I priced one out, with the options I chose it's $8149, lease for $177 (6372 for 3yrs, 8496 for 4yrs). Yes, at the end of those 3 years I don't hav…

> I had a friend who bought a new Mac every year, selling his old Mac. I considered that at one point, and it would have made sense based on prices alone, but it didn't work at all once I factored in having to pay sales tax on a brand-new Mac each year, and the cut eBay takes on a sale, and the fact that the eBay buyer also has to pay sales tax. If I lived in a state with no sales tax, and could rely on selling local…

> Still bugs me that states charge sales tax even on used items. It just seems wrong.

Yes VAT is a better system.

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

#178

Post by layer8 »

JBAnderson5 wrote: post #129
jghn wrote: post #108

Technically my current iPhone is part of the upgrade program, but I paid if off years ago. Why haven't I upgraded? Because there's no mini and all they make are phablets now.

Will they ever come out with a new mini? If they don’t, is it possible to buy a new 13 mini anymore? Or just replace the battery?

New ones don’t seem to be available any more, you probably need to go refurbished. Last year some third-party sellers still had new units available. Replacing the battery is always an option.

It doesn’t look like Apple will be going back to something smaller than the 17e. Unless you count the upcoming foldable, which while shorter than the mini, however is also wider, thicker and heavier.

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

#179

Post by dzonga »

Aurornis wrote: post #161
dzonga wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The median US household has a net worth of $200,000. Even a 50th percentile US household is very wealthy by global standards. Credit card statistics are heavily manipulated because it's easy to make them sound terrible. I don't know which factoid specifically you're referring to, but the studies about "X percent of Americans couldn't handle an emergency expense without putting it on a credit card" often use tricks li…

averages strike again.

Median wealth in the U.S just around $100k - see Wikipedia & other databases.

how many people own houses ? & for those people that own houses - average equity in those houses is less than 45%.

ain't no factoid - but lived reality of most people. maybe on the coasts where techies and finance bros live - but the rest of america is facing a bleak financial reality.

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

#180

Post by 0x457 »

Mistletoe wrote: post #169
Aurornis wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A lot of people aren’t going to have that $433 at the end of the lease to purchase the device outright I think you're looking at this too much from the perspective of someone who wants to own the phone, not as someone who wants to consider a lease. Leases are not a new invention. A lot of people, including very financially savvy and well off people, choose to lease rather than buy depending on the circumstances. It…

Why on earth are we leasing phones now???

Well, lets do math:

- from this thread: 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

If you upgrade your phone every 1-2 years then what you pay for the phone is something like "full cost - optimistic trade-in value". I see no reason not to do if you know you going to upgrade.

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