Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 411 posts

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

#261

Post by Dylan16807 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #213
drdexebtjl wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

People must really like the dopamine rush of feeling outraged. Giving people the option to not buy insurance is not evil. It's just a seller giving a buyer options at different price points.

It's not specifically the option to skip insurance, it's the option to finance something so prone to damage without insurance. And yeah, it's bad for that to be an option.

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

#262

Post by Danox »

dyauspitr wrote: post #113
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…

It’s a forcing function for an upgrade. You pay 75% of the cost of the device for each 2 year cycle and many people will keep doing that in perpetuity. Compared to someone that keeps their phone for 6-7 years, the leasee will pay 3x as much over that 6 year period. Apple will also get the phone back and resell the refurbished one for 50% of its original price. Apple will benefit in two ways. They will make 125% of wh…

Absolutely, you pay more people need to take a finance class, or buy shares in Apple, do one or the other or both. Please…

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

#263

Post by edoceo »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #242
edoceo wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From that lens this is a better option for the "buyer" (renter). Cause revolving credit is >10%, sometimes even more than 15%!

15%? Oh, sweet summer child... https://wallethub.com/answers/cc/highest-credit-card-interes...

Oof.

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

#264

Post by mgh2 »

This is genius, I am sure the finance department saw the benefits of the leasing model:

1. New customers: lower barrier to entry, try, or switch into the ecosystem.

2. Loyal customers: Upgrade propensity is increased as friction decreases.

3. Innovators: offers options for those who want to try a model, but might later change their minds for something that better suits them.

All this increases exposure and engagement to the brand, which translates to increasing sales and revenue.

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

#265

Post by Danox »

xp84 wrote: post #5
OrangeDelonge wrote: post #2

Makes sense they discontinued it given that the last 5 iphones have been almost exactly the same

Hey that's not fair, there has been one actually useful "innovation" -- switching to USB-C like the rest of the world has been using for 10 years. Literally nothing has made me feel the slightest craving for a new iPhone since getting my 15 Pro Max.

The rest of the world should switch speed up and use thunderbolt five and tandem oled in return. :)

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

#266

Post by blackqueeriroh »

olyjohn wrote: post #246
ZekeSulastin wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So how much annually do you spend on your hobbies, anyways, if you're going to declare getting a new phone every two years "fucking insanely financially irresponsible" :p Glass houses and all that, right?

I mean... what kind of hobby is owning the latest phone? Especially when the latest phone is barely an upgrade over the previous one.

Do you know what’s cool about hobbies? They don’t have to be reasonable! They don’t have to be financially responsible! They’re hobbies! That’s the whole point!

Listen, whatever you do that’s your hobby I’m certain is also a giant waste of money and very financially irresponsible. And if not, learn how to have fun and stop being so boring.

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

#267

Post by Danox »

jjice wrote: post #98
alonzomorning77 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

apple upgrade forced obsolescence maybe?

FWIW Apple has had some of the best device support lifetimes of any smartphone. Google started guaranteeing their 7 years of updates sometime around the Pixel 6 or so I want to say. This is all a relative scale though. But if we're looking at smartphones specifically, I'd argue Apple has been the least force obsolescence of anyone. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some smaller manufacturer niche cases that surpas…

Apple devices generally have Longevity and resale value in comparison to PCs the only thing of value in a used PC usually is usually just the graphics card although memory may be coming into play these days.

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

#268

Post by blackqueeriroh »

GolfPopper wrote: post #182
Mistletoe wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why on earth are we leasing phones now???

I'm a little confused on why anyone would pay this much for a phone. (Although if you consider it conspicuous consumption that happens to work as a phone, I can believe that.)

I’m certain there are things you pay for that I would look at and go “I’m a little confused on why anyone would pay this much for x. (Although if you consider it conspicuous consumption that happens to work as x, I can believe that.)”

But I wouldn’t, because I actually understand that people are different and like it that way.

Consider: your opinion is worthless when it comes to what I care about in terms of luxuries I enjoy, just as mine is worthless when it comes to what you care about in terms of luxuries you enjoy.

It’s way better when you don’t run around judging other people for liking different things than you.

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

#269

Post by enos_feedler »

mgh2 wrote: post #264

This is genius, I am sure the finance department saw the benefits of the leasing model: 1. New customers : lower barrier to entry, try, or switch into the ecosystem. 2. Loyal customers : Upgrade propensity is increased as friction decreases. 3. Innovators : offers options for those who want to try a model, but might later change their minds for something that better suits them. All this increases exposure and engagem…

I mean this isn’t rocket science. I feel ideas like these are always sitting on the back burner waiting to deploy. The same goes with product features. They know the upside and impact to finances and are just waiting for the right conditions to pull the trigger

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

#270

Post by blackqueeriroh »

apparent wrote: post #193
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…

> 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, while keeping ownership of the asset at the end. Yep, which reduces the need to make new devices notably better than old ones, since you'll always have a steady stream of customers coming off their leases.

Are you seriously arguing that Apple is doing this so they don’t have to keep making devices any better? I just want to be very clear about this.
Post reply on HN