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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

#301

Post by apparent »

blackqueeriroh wrote: post #282
apparent wrote: post #197

Interestingly, Apple is apparently going to be able to nerf the devices if the customer misses a series of payments. [1] Presumably this ability means that Klarna has a lower risk of nonpayment, and is willing to accept a smaller cut of the total price from Apple. 1: https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/21/ios-27-code-suggests-apple-co...

I’m confused where it says they will be able to nerf them. Reads to me like there’s code that could be that, but it’s not certain.

> If the contract is no longer in good standing, Apple’s system services can place the iPhone in “Restricted Mode,” which blocks access to most apps until the payment or contract issue is resolved, while keeping a small set of apps available.

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

#302

Post by sakjur »

esikich wrote: post #241
Zambyte wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Selling my car that I fully owned in favor of a nice bicycle and an e-scooter was one of my best financial decisions in the last few years. I don't have to deal with insurance, parking (if parking is free by you, it shouldn't be), maintenance (I work on them myself, I just pay for cheap parts), and fuel is effectively free. That's all on top of the car payment for people who haven't paid off their car.

You do understand that unless you live in a relatively warm metropolis this is literally not an option right?

There are real infrastructural reasons it's harder to do in North America compared to Europe, but that's not it.

Biking is relatively popular and definitely feasible within ten km or so from most city or town cores here in Scandinavia, not just the metropolises.

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

#303

Post by sneak »

horsawlarway wrote: post #215
0x457 wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don't understand this mindset. I get that people who are going to upgrade to the latest flagship phone every 18-24 months will probably do better with this, but realistically... those people are fucking insanely financially irresponsible (and if you can afford it - no shade, I guess, its your money - lord knows I burn lots of cash on hobby projects of my own, although I tend to buy things that are actually projects…

> I get that people who are going to upgrade to the latest flagship phone every 18-24 months will probably do better with this, but realistically... those people are fucking insanely financially irresponsible

This is not remotely true. I buy each and every flagship iPhone every year on or near release day for cash. I have done so every release since the first iPhone came out.

Each September or October my old phone goes into a desk drawer forever, or is wiped and gifted to a partner or close friend. I do not recover any of the costs at the end of the 12 months.

In total, it is way less than $200 per month. That’s not “fucking insanely financially irresponsible” by any stretch of the imagination. $2k per year is a trivial amount of money for the most-often-used computer in my entire life. It pays for itself in the first few weeks of the year.

Separately, I spend another 10-20k per year on computer software and services, because it assists my business in making many times that in revenue. Hell, even my hobby AWS S3 account is like $35/mo and that’s like the same as the lease payment for the flagship iPhone Pro under this program.

Upgrading each year brings real performance benefits, despite your claim that phones don’t materially improve each generation. Whether or not that is worth replacing it before it breaks or not is a separate conversation, but let’s not pretend that upgrading annually is exactly equivalent to lighting $2k on fire. Anyone who participates regularly in US “bar culture”, for example, is spending more each month on drinks than I spend to carry the latest flagship iPhone, and nobody is claiming that eating out three times a month or going to the bar with your buddies every Friday night is “fucking insanely financially irresponsible”. Tech is so cheap now that it’s a trivial amount of money in the grand scheme of things.

(You’ll probably flip when you hear I replace my $7k work laptop every 12-24 months, too.)

Furthermore, I’m not even an extreme outlier. I know people who regularly buy the flagship iPhone for their entire family, in cash, every year. It’s a bit spendy if you’re not using it for business (but who isn’t, in 2026, where every single thing you do is an app) but it’s still simply not that much money in real terms when you consider it’s well under $2k/year/device. Hell, a nice lunch for two people at a decent restaurant even without alcohol is pushing $100 in most cities.

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

#304

Post by sneak »

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’ve always been told when computer shopping to “buy the fastest cpu and the most ram you can afford”. This goes doubly for revenue-generating devices.

My iPhone is the computer I use most every day, by a WIDE margin.

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

#305

Post by sneak »

olyjohn wrote: post #250
esikich wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do understand that unless you live in a relatively warm metropolis this is literally not an option right?

The Netherlands would like to have a talk with you.

Tell me you’ve never slipped on ice riding a bike in Europe in the winter without telling me you’ve never slipped on ice riding a bike in Europe in the winter.

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

#306

Post by tzs »

drdexebtjl wrote: post #176
Someone wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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)

Mugging is not a good example. If the phone is stolen that would typically be covered under the personal property coverage included on most homeowners or renters insurance.

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

#307

Post by Grombobulous »

blackqueeriroh wrote: post #279
Grombobulous wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly what I mean. If you're the person who has leased this phone, you make all your payments and get to the end and your bill to keep the phone forever is going to seem kind of high. Obviously, that's logical. In your lease, you have only paid the price of depreciation. Just like with cars leasing is the most expensive way to own them, but I guess there's a certain buyer who doesn't want old stuff.

You all really do not understand. Many people will gladly pay the $433 at the end because they’ve been able to get a new job and make more money in the interim.

I think that a big chunk of those lessees will be deciding between coming up with $433 in cash or give the phone back and continue with the same payment and they’ll choose the latter.

But then again maybe the person doing the lease knows this already and just wants a new phone frequently.

My worry is that a lot of people will see a lower payment and not realize that they’re getting the phone at the end of the term.

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

#308

Post by al_borland »

sneak wrote: post #304
GolfPopper wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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’ve always been told when computer shopping to “buy the fastest cpu and the most ram you can afford”. This goes doubly for revenue-generating devices. My iPhone is the computer I use most every day, by a WIDE margin.

I’m not sure this is the best advice anymore. So many people’s needs don’t demand much of a computer.

My last personal computer purchase was an M1 Pro MBP 4 years ago. I could have maxed it out and my life would be the same, but instead I bought on the low end… or somewhere in the middle if we look at Apple’s lineup as a whole.

It’s now 4 years later. This is the longest I’ve probably ever kept a laptop. It’s still running fine, I’m not hurting for more power, and will like wait another 1-3 years before an upgrade… maybe more, we’ll see.

The laptop is a glorified Chromebook for me. I do edit some photos from time to time, encode some video, and code a bit. But 95% of the time, I’m just looking at webpages. Maxing the thing out would have been a massive waste of money.

My work laptop is also a MBP of a similar generation. It’s not up to me when it’s upgraded, but it also wasn’t maxed out, and it’s still fine. VS Code and Outlook aren’t going to run fast enough to matter with a M5 Mac and 128GB or RAM. The bottleneck isn’t my laptop, it’s bureaucracy.

For some, having top end specs will matter, but that is a shrinking percentage of the overall market.

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

#309

Post by kube-system »

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…

> The median US household has a net worth of $200,000.

Which is primarily the market value of the home they live in. They can’t pay a bill with it.

The median American household has $8000 of liquid cash in all of their cash accounts combined.

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

#310

Post by alsetmusic »

swat535 wrote: post #63
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 don't see the point for consumers. Perhaps a minority will buy a new model every year but many people keep their devices for years to come. Companies that require frequent hardware refreshes would benefit from this, though Apple already had has programs for those.

Assisted a an internal-client with a 12 yo Dell all-in-one yesterday. I recognized his voice, as this was the third or fourth time. Knowing the landscape ahead of assisting him allowed me to be a super-star. He already seemed to like me, but I cleared a lot of BS by telling him what was possible from memory of the setup. Learning how bad it was was a different conversation, less fun.
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