Carriers want users locked in on their "promotions." If you get free financing on an unlocked phone, you are less likely to buy a phone from the carrier. This is apple bending over backwards to the carriers (like they do with pretty much everything unfortunately).
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Apple Card Monthly Financing No Longer Available for SIM-Free iPhones
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I mean, I guess if all of the phones sold by Apple will still be unlocked, it won't change much for anyone who uses one of the main US carriers, but it's a bit of an annoyance — I've been buying SIM-free phones for years. And now that they actually ARE SIM-free I don't even see the point of this, but I'm sure there is some reasoning behind this.
It's not necessarily that the carriers have that much pull or Apple is being "strong-armed." It may simply be the result of the latest renegotiation of a sales/marketing agreement between Apple and the major carriers. Maybe the carriers agreed to pay Apple more, promote iPhones more, buy more iPhones for their inventories, etc. if it did this.
With this, the Apple watch terms changing to 12 months, and the loss of T-Mobile as a good cash back option (no more monthly bill payments allowed), the value prop of this card continues to drop. I guess this card will only be useful for buying Apple products - that’s until they do away with 0% financing on Apple products.
There are plenty of other credit cards that offer better benefits than the Apple Card.
There are plenty of other credit cards that offer better benefits than the Apple Card.
I have saved a lot of money using the little prepaid outfits (owned by the big three) that work just as well in my area. This discourages that.
That sucks for people who were relying on it.
I wonder if there had been a large increase in defaults and that is why GS may have pushed for this.
I just stick to 12 months 0% on Amazon and freedom to choose my carriers.
And often the price is discounted… so win win. 👍
I wonder if there had been a large increase in defaults and that is why GS may have pushed for this.
I just stick to 12 months 0% on Amazon and freedom to choose my carriers.
And often the price is discounted… so win win. 👍
Let's not pretend Verizon is, or has been, any better. They used to actively disable capabilities of their phones so they could sell services that charged for the same features.
My family had to switch from Verizon to AT&T because somehow Verizon managed to make their service worse in the areas they used their phones. AT&T continued to work just fine.
Basically, they all are terrible...
My point was more that AT&T charges the same for worse overall coverage.
As for Verizon unlocking, yes, they had to be taken to court, but they haven't misbehaved on that front since.
Man, and this was the year I was going upgrade from my XS Max to a 15 Pro, I was looking forward to payment installements. I use pay-as-you-go T-mobile plan - only costs me $16 a month.
Oh well. Just gotta save up the whole amount instead, I guess.
Oh well. Just gotta save up the whole amount instead, I guess.
Agreed. I do prepaid, and while I can certainly buy one up front, it is nice to have the option to just pay with no interest. Carriers definitely throwing around their weight.
This card is becoming one of the worst ones I have.
I started an “Apple Savings Account” which is an account setup just for buying Apple products. I have $40 transferred to it every paycheck. This is my own way of doing 0% financing.
The carriers are behind eSIM-only iPhones too. Think about US travelers, pretty much forced to use international roaming and paying astronomical fees for doing such. Most of the time it costs more per day than a whole month especially in developing countries. I had to buy an Android for travel along with my iPhone. It sucks. This is the carriers pushing Apple to get ridiculous fees from their own customers.
Sometimes I wonder, am I truly Apple’s customer, the one Apple cares about? Or more likely that no the carrier is the only customer Apple cares about. I don’t care about interest free as much as I do the ability to have an iPhone that is a true world phone. Buying my next iPhone in Asia perhaps Hong Kong where they still sell dual-sim iPhones. The great thing is they also use eSIM. The only knock is losing the UWB mm-wave 5G. That’s almost nonexistent anyways.
It would be nice if Apple actually told the carriers where to go and cared about the end customer instead of the extra few bucks they get from the carrier.
Those financed through AT&T (even if purchased from Apple.com) are locked.
I was able to activate an eSIM in Spain on Vodafone and there are plenty of apps that make it super easy to get a cheap eSIM.
Unfortunately for me, even though I am on Verizon, I cannot order through Apple.com because of the type of account I have with them. Sucks, since I got the Apple Card mostly for the phone financing.
Yeah, this is disappointing and frustrating for us MVNO subscribers.
Nerfing the Apple Card continues. This was a big reason to have it. if the apple financing all goes away I'll have no reason to keep my card.
Yea, that sucks. At the end of the day if this became an issue — I'd just buy the phone right away, but when there's an options for 0% financing — I always welcome it.
Why would it? I don't understand how that thought was formed. How is there any possibility of linking this move to anti-trust?
This doesn't sound legal.
Apple today updated its U.S. Apple Card Monthly Installment plan to require those who use the feature to purchase an iPhone that is linked to AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile. With this change, the Apple Card Monthly Installment plan can no longer be used to purchase a SIM-free iPhone.
All iPhones purchased through the Apple Card Monthly Installment plan are unlocked so carrier switching is available at any point, but at purchase, customers will need to have a plan with a supported carrier. Buying a SIM-free iPhone and linking it to a carrier like Mint Mobile will no longer be possible using installments.
Apple announced these changes in an updated support document back in June, and the monthly installment plan has officially been updated. Prior to now, Apple Card installments could be used to purchase an iPhone online with the option to connect to a carrier at a later date, which allowed customers to buy an iPhone and then link it to any carrier of their choosing.
Apple already required customers using Apple Card installments to choose one of the main three carriers when in stores, and now the online policy matches the in-store policy.
With the Apple Card Monthly Installment plan, Apple Card holders can pay for their devices over a 24-month period with 0% APR and 3% Daily Cash back on payments.
Apple today is also changing the monthly installment term for the Apple Watch, and customers will be required to pay off the device over 12 months instead of 24 months. Apple now uses a 12-month term for Apple Watch, Macs, displays, and iPads, with the 24-month term limited to the iPhone.
Article Link: Apple Card Monthly Financing No Longer Available for SIM-Free iPhones
Agree, I really only used the Apple Card for:
1) Apple services (iCloud+, Apple TV+, AppleCare+, etc.)
2) Gas at Mobil (3%)
3) T-Mobile (up until this month given TM has now switched where you have to use Debit card for Autopay to get the Autopay discount).
In the US, there are far more competitive cards out there which I use for all my other purchases.
So I guess people who use prepaid carriers are SOL then