Apple Allowing iPhone Upgrade Program Customers to Get a 'Head Start' on iPhone X Upgrade

[Tech198]

This is like one of those deals isn't it.. "The first 100 customers get free ice-cream" and pushed to the front of the pack..

 

[newyorksole]

Of course you arent getting to use the phone for free. You are paying the your usage and the depreciation. That $999 X will be worth $500-600 (whatever it is) in a year when the new model comes out, not $999 still.

You have the option to buy out the other 50% of the payments; BUT unless you can go sell it for more than that buyout price then why would you want to lose money? Or you can buy it out and use it forever or give it to family etc. You own the phone after you make all 24 payments.

iphones do hold their value so it is typically worth more than 50% after a year where you could buy out the 50% remaining and sell the phone privately, but not a ton of profit. It depends if you want to deal with selling it and all the scammers out there to make $50 or $75.

The problem this year is the 8 is already out so 7/7 Plus average selling prices already took a crap. It's not like prior years where all new devices were out same day and anyone wanting to save money would buy the old that would result in profit selling it the day after getting your new device.

For example, if you had a 7 plus 128gb then after 12 months you still owe about $435. Theyre only selling in the $525 to $540 range on the website Swappa before Paypal fees and shipping (seller pays it from that price). Swappa takes $20 for anything over $500, paypal takes 2.9% plus $.30 (or $16 on $540) and shipping with tracking will run you say $10. That $540 quickly becomes $495, you owe $435. And once people get their Xs the market will be flooded with even more 7 series driving prices down even more.

Here’s my scenario.

Signed up for iPhone Upgrade Program launch day last year and got a 128GB 7 Plus.

At this point I have a balance of $457 on the phone. I want to upgrade to the X. Instead of me trading the phone in, I sold it for $600 by meeting someone from Craigslist and will use that money to pay off the phone, thus making like $150 profit.

I can still do the upgrade since the loan/account is still open. I just sold it privately instead of returning it to Apple.
[doublepost=1508629793][/doublepost]

Do you need to get approved again if you are already part of the program?

Yes. It’s an entirely new credit check.

 

[Ed217]

The IUP deal mostly targets two kinds of folks.

1. Those who want to buy the phone and AP+ on a no interest deal.
2. Those who want to get the latest new phone every year with minimal effort

Those in #1 also get the option to do upgrades after 12 months (or so).

For those in #2, it’s effectively a rental/lease deal that gets you the newest device every 12 months. For those, you can stop and own the last one after 24 months.

I signed up for this deal last year when I got the IP7. At that time I changed carriers and saved more per month than the cost of the Apple monthly fee. For the X model, it adds some $ each month, but still mostly a wash.

There are many ways to analyze the $ details. I’ll skip that part as I like having a new device each year and not worrying about repairs…on the chance I mess up mine (so far I never have, but every other family member has).

It does appear that this year those who joined IUP last year may get a slight calendar advantage in queuing up for the new X model.

 

[stulaw11]

Here’s my scenario.

Signed up for iPhone Upgrade Program launch day last year and got a 128GB 7 Plus.

At this point I have a balance of $457 on the phone. I want to upgrade to the X. Instead of me trading the phone in, I sold it for $600 by meeting someone from Craigslist and will use that money to pay off the phone, thus making like $150 profit.

I can still do the upgrade since the loan/account is still open. I just sold it privately instead of returning it to Apple.
[doublepost=1508629793][/doublepost]

Yes. It’s an entirely new credit check.

Sure if you can find someone stupid enough to pay over the market prices. They're nowhere near $600 most places (maybe $600 if yours had the rest of the Applecare which is $60, but you paid for that anyway in the buyout so it is not extra profit really) and will only go down the day after the X release when the market gets even more flooded with used 7 series.

There was also an extra month this year due to the late release so we all really paid 13 months, not 12.

If you have the ability to sell it today before the market gets saturated with used ones and have some interim phone sure that's an advantage as well as not near everyone will get an X launch day and able to sell their phones before prices start coming down

 

[Dunbar]

It doesn’t seem like a good deal compared to keeping the phone for 24+ months. I just did the math on my 6S+ which I paid $930 for with CA sales tax 25 months ago. I could trade it into Apple for $250 (so no time wasted with Craigslist or eBay.) That means it cost me $27.20 per month. So $48-50 a month in perpetuity doesn’t seem like such a good deal.

 

[stulaw11]

It doesn’t seem like a good deal compared to keeping the phone for 24+ months. I just did the math on my 6S+ which I paid $930 for with CA sales tax 25 months ago. I could trade it into Apple for $250 (so no time wasted with Craigslist or eBay.) That means it cost me $27.20 per month. So $48-50 a month in perpetuity doesn’t seem like such a good deal.

None of your math equals $27.20/month. None of the payment plans for a 6S Plus were under $30/month (as 24 times $30 is only $720 and the 16gb was $750)

You paid the tax up front and the (presumably) $850 for a 64gb over 24 months, or $35.42/month

You cannot count the extra month as this year's release cycle is atypical and everyone on payments made 1 extra payment.

And you cannot count what you sold it for into the cost to own, unless you factor what you could maybe sell the X for into the $48-50/month equation. And a $999 phone in 24 months wont be only $250 like a $850 one

 

[Dunbar]

None of your math equals $27.20/month. None of the payment plans for a 6S Plus were under $30/month (as 24 times $30 is only $720 and the 16gb was $750)

I bought the phone outright for $930 with tax. I just looked at the receipt. I could trade it into Apple for $250. Actually I just checked and Verizon will give me $290. If you don’t know how to subtract the two numbers and divide by 25 than I don’t know what to tell you.

You cannot count the extra month as this year's release cycle is atypical and everyone on payments made 1 extra payment

The soonest I can get the iPhone X is 11/3 so that’s one extra month to average the deprecition over. Same with 7/7+ owners on IUP. They’re going to be paying for one extra month to get the X.

And you cannot count what you sold it for into the cost to own, unless you factor what you could maybe sell the X for into the $48-50/month equation.

Phones don’t depreciate to zero in two years. Making that assumption in your math is foolish.

 

[Populism]

If you need a loan to get a phone, maybe you shouldn't be getting it in the first place. I know I sound like an elitist or something, but still....

Lots of people are quoting you, giving insight as to how idiotic they think your post is.

Just want to say yes, you are right. Whether it's a no interest loan or a whatever, if you need a loan to get this particular phone, GROW THE F UP AND STICK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, BECAUSE YOU ALREADY HAVE A PERFECTLY WORKING PHONE DON'T YOU?

Deepest apologies to anyone triggered by the the all caps/try-living-within-your-means comment.

 

[mmm1345]

Lots of people are quoting you, giving insight as to how idiotic they think your post is.

Just want to say yes, you are right. Whether it's a no interest loan or a whatever, if you need a loan to get this particular phone, GROW THE F UP AND STICK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, BECAUSE YOU ALREADY HAVE A PERFECTLY WORKING PHONE DON'T YOU?

Deepest apologies to anyone triggered by the the all caps/try-living-within-your-means comment.

Your post makes no sense. You say my post is idiotic then you scream that you agree? Um...ok?

 

[stulaw11]

I bought the phone outright for $930 with tax. I just looked at the receipt. I could trade it into Apple for $250. Actually I just checked and Verizon will give me $290. If you don’t know how to subtract the two numbers and divide by 25 than I don’t know what to tell you.



The soonest I can get the iPhone X is 11/3 so that’s one extra month to average the deprecition over. Same with 7/7+ owners on IUP. They’re going to be paying for one extra month to get the X.



Phones don’t depreciate to zero in two years. Making that assumption in your math is foolish.

What aren't you getting?

$930-250 and divide by 25 (ok whatever for 24 or 25).

First, $999 plus tax and divide by 24 is NOT $48-50/month as you claim; even if you factor tax 9.4% it seems you had, its $45.44/month.

Second you are MISSING the price you would hypothetically sell the X for in 2 years (the $250 above). As you said its not $0. So $45.44/month is not the whole story by your operating cost calculation.

Try more like $1093.02 (using your tax rate which appears to be just over 9.4%) MINUS what you get trade in, try more like $400 as the phone costs $150 more new than $850 phone they're giving you $250 for, and then divide by 24 (or 25 whatever floats your boat).

Nowhere near $48-50 per month to own it using your formula for cost to own; more like $29 using 24 months,$27.72 using 25. Is the $2/month net operating cost going to break you?

 

[Populism]

Your post makes no sense. You say my post is idiotic then you scream that you agree? Um...ok?

Friend - I said how idiot other people are saying your post is. I agree with your post. Your post is not idiotic.

I am agreeing with you.

I think I am.

 

[Millionaire2K]

Why does your score fluctuate so much month to month? That's really odd.

Not odd, I just know what I'm doing to keep that score flying up.

 

[Dunbar]

Nowhere near $48-50 per month to own it using your formula for cost to own; more like $29. Is the $2/month net operating cost going to break you?

I was pointing out that paying $48-50/month to get a new phone every year doesn’t seem like such a good deal vs. buying outright and upgrading every 24 months. By my math I paid half that amount per month to own the (flagship at the time) 6S+ for two years. I’m guessing the X is going to cost me about $5 more per month over 24 months.

 

[Kaibelf]

You do realize every time a credit inquiry hits, it makes you less credit-worthey. It lowers your score for 3 years. Causing higher insurance premiums, higher loan and credit card interest rates, etc. If that's worth you having "no interest" for a year, so be it. You pay one way or another. I guess for me dropping $1k on a phone isn't a big deal, I'd never think about applying for a loan to buy it.

Not everyone has credit that is that volatile. In fact unless your payment pattern is janky or your debt ratio is ridiculous there’s a credit benefit to having this kind of revolving loan.

 

[slippery-pete]

I would bet people will have a minute or less before it goes out of stock.

more like 3 seconds. Better have fast fingers

 

[stulaw11]

If you go read my original post I was pointing out that paying $48-50 to get a new phone every year doesn’t seem like such a good deal vs. buying outright and upgrading every 24 months. By my math I paid half that amount per month to own the (flagship at the time) 6S+ for two years. I’m guessing the X is going to cost me about $5 more per month over 24 months.

You dont say? Obviously keeping anything longer rather than trading up yearly and to a 18% higher MSRP product is more cost effective. Applies to anything in life.

And you can still pay off the phone after 12 months and sell it privately rather than give it back, if the phone is worth more in the open market than 50% of the cost; which iphones typically are.

Say you paid $999 for the X (plus tax up front) and have $499.50 in payments left (paid 12 months have 12 left). If you can find someone to buy it for say $650 (no crazy at all for a $1000 phone as 7 Pluses are holding about 65% of their value in current prices; cost $850 and selling for $550 average) you pay off the remaining payments to your carrier and make $150.

So over 12 months you paid $499.50 in payments, plus tax (on the full phone price, in your case $94.02) but made $150 profit on the last 12 months of payment.

So in 12 months you only spent $443.52 There you only spent $36.96/month AND getting a new phone each year. There certainly is in fact a way to do it with a tiny bit of work selling your own phone

Id rather have a new iphone each year I run my business on rather than a crappuccino or greasy fast food meal once a month which is that few dollar difference monthly.

 

[Dunbar]

I run my business on rather than a crappuccino or greasy fast food meal once a month which is that few dollar difference monthly.

I’m not saying it’s any more expensive. Just less flexible than buying outright and trading it in (or selling) when you want to upgrade (whether that is 12 or 24+ months.) I get why Apple has the program. It essentially guarantees those people will buy a new phone each year. But I don’t consider an extra $20-25 a month a trivial expense to have get the newest iPhone every year. I don’t think most people realize how much more expensive it is to upgrade every year (especially when it’s hidden in 12 monthly installments...)

 

[dshoemaker93]

My apologies if this question has already been answered--if so, I couldn't find it. Will *new* IUP signups be available on 10/23? Or is the 10/23 "head start" only for those *already* enrolled in IUP?

 

[Nikhil72]

That is exactly what it does. I did this for 1UP with my iPhone 8. You fill out all the loan info and your carrier information and click... then you get an email that everything is approved and you are ready to order on the announced order date. Then when the orders open up, you just go to your cart and with one click you are done.

View attachment 726553 View attachment 726554

So I presume this also saves the IUP customer from a carrier check during preorders too? Effectively they become cleared without having to go through the two bottlenecks of 1) carrier approval and 2) loan/financial approval when it gets to crunchtime 10/27?
[doublepost=1508644665][/doublepost]

My apologies if this question has already been answered--if so, I couldn't find it. Will *new* IUP signups be available on 10/23? Or is the 10/23 "head start" only for those *already* enrolled in IUP?

New applicants can’t go until 10/27

 

[Jeaz]

If you need a loan to get a phone, maybe you shouldn't be getting it in the first place. I know I sound like an elitist or something, but still....

I’d say you’ve missed the point about the program, as it’s more iPhone as a Service than a loan.
By this time next year you will have paid roughly 50% of the device and can then swap your iPhone to the current free of charge (as long as the iPhone isn’t more expensive, then the fee increases).

The IUP isn’t available where I live, but I’d be on it for sure if it was. We have an operator that offers a similar service but can’t use them for other reasons.

 

[sevimli]

I bet that TMO customers still have to go into the store to make this work....

any update on this? I hate tmo!

 

[santaliqueur]

If you need a loan to get a phone, maybe you shouldn't be getting it in the first place. I know I sound like an elitist or something, but still....

Don't elitists usually know MORE than average people and then talk down to them? If you are missing a critical piece of information (0% interest), you are automatically not elitist. You don't even understand the basics of the transaction.

 

[deanthedev]

Lots of people are quoting you, giving insight as to how idiotic they think your post is.

Just want to say yes, you are right. Whether it's a no interest loan or a whatever, if you need a loan to get this particular phone, GROW THE F UP AND STICK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, BECAUSE YOU ALREADY HAVE A PERFECTLY WORKING PHONE DON'T YOU?

Deepest apologies to anyone triggered by the the all caps/try-living-within-your-means comment.

Can I hire you as my money manager?

Let’s see, pay $1,000 for the iPhone X or get a zero interest loan and invest that $1,000 instead? Unfortunately this program isn’t available up here. But if it was I’d take advantage of it for sure.

Years ago I bought my wife a new car. We had saved up enough cash to afford something for $25K. I qualified for 0.9% financing. So I financed the car instead and made a large contribution to my RRSPs that year. My total interest on the loan was a little over $600. My marginal tax rate was 40% that year, so my $25K contribution netted me a reduction in income taxes of $10,000.

Using your logic I should have paid cash for the car. I would have saved a measly $600 in interest and missed out on reducing my income taxes by $10,000. Now some might say I could simply take the monthly car payments and deposit them into my RRSP account over a period of several years instead of doing the lump sum. The problem with that is I made more money than usual that year, and the fact I’m going to wind down my working hours as I ease into retirement. So my tax rate will be lowered which means my contributions will save me far less than my lump sum did.

Bottom line? Anytime you can borrow money at 0% (or a very low rate) it’s usually a good idea to take advantage of it. That is, if you actually do something with the cash you were going to spend.

 

[jsmith189]

Lots of people are quoting you, giving insight as to how idiotic they think your post is.

Just want to say yes, you are right. Whether it's a no interest loan or a whatever, if you need a loan to get this particular phone, GROW THE F UP AND STICK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, BECAUSE YOU ALREADY HAVE A PERFECTLY WORKING PHONE DON'T YOU?

Deepest apologies to anyone triggered by the the all caps/try-living-within-your-means comment.

How about you just mind your finances and let other people mind theirs.

 

[MH01]

Upgrade program should have perks.
[doublepost=1508666396][/doublepost]

Can I hire you as my money manager?

Let’s see, pay $1,000 for the iPhone X or get a zero interest loan and invest that $1,000 instead? Unfortunately this program isn’t available up here. But if it was I’d take advantage of it for sure.

Years ago I bought my wife a new car. We had saved up enough cash to afford something for $25K. I qualified for 0.9% financing. So I financed the car instead and made a large contribution to my RRSPs that year. My total interest on the loan was a little over $600. My marginal tax rate was 40% that year, so my $25K contribution netted me a reduction in income taxes of $10,000.

Using your logic I should have paid cash for the car. I would have saved a measly $600 in interest and missed out on reducing my income taxes by $10,000. Now some might say I could simply take the monthly car payments and deposit them into my RRSP account over a period of several years instead of doing the lump sum. The problem with that is I made more money than usual that year, and the fact I’m going to wind down my working hours as I ease into retirement. So my tax rate will be lowered which means my contributions will save me far less than my lump sum did.

Bottom line? Anytime you can borrow money at 0% (or a very low rate) it’s usually a good idea to take advantage of it. That is, if you actually do something with the cash you were going to spend.

Sound logic if you have a full time job and are within means to make repayments.

Also sound logic if a person is financially responsible .

Problem is that with these Zero interest loans soon people get themselves into a situation where they cannot make repayments (multiple loans)

Best advice in my books is always use cash, you have it or you don't, it's the ultimate safety, getting into loans is a risk, you cannot predict your financial situation 3, 6 or 12 months in the future.

Look back to when you were young , zero interest loans were a very very bad idea , cause if you missed the repayments you got yourself into real trouble , with many having unethical interest rates.

All loans if you replay them as Intended are fine. The huge problem is when you don't..... the risk is too high !