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Adobe is cheap. 10 quid a month for an app (plus more) that used to cost 800 every two years. I’ll admit, those that want to be the app once and never update are left in the cold. There is an auguement as to why this is bad - but it’s only a matter of years before it become obsolete anyway. For who it’s aimed at and for ´normal’ périple who can’t spend 800 on just Photoshop, it’s a much better deal.

Édit: I quoted the wrong person, apologies.

Freelancers have been pushing back on the price hikes and Adobe has readjusted. I didn’t say it wasn’t affordable but that subscription-only models were distopian. Invariably the monthly cost is raised and freelancers push back and Adobe relents and you rinse and repeat. Corporations want money to flow in consistently because employees must be paid consistently, anything to quell the monetary dry spells.

You have to push back on corporations or they will indefinitely always get “lifestyle creep”.

Affinity Suite wouldn’t have a footing in this space if people didn’t also want an alternative. Just type in “Adobe price increase” on YouTube and you’ll have a video archive of the back and forth in that front with creatives:
 
Watch them turn macOS into a subscription model. payed by month or by year.

Then that $4500 to $7000 Mac mini Studio is suddenly a LOCK IN and an Expensive LOCK IN you cant get out of.
 
It's not that complex. A phone/laptop/etc. is a quickly depreciating asset - no real value in owning one, really - especially as they become deprecated the moment Apple dis-permits an OS upgrade.

Some people like to upgrade frequently, others are happy with a new phone every 2-4 years. Some people buy-outright, most pay on some kind of terms.

End of the day, it's all about the Net Present Value of a dollar. Spend your current dollar where it allows for the most gain on your future dollars. Simple happiness can't be ruled out here, either.

If one has a good enough credit score to finance at 0% APR with a minimum downpayment, go for it. That makes a lot of sense.

If one doesn't, but still needs a phone or laptop, a subscription/lease/rental service could also make a lot of sense. End of day, sure yeah..Apple is going to make more off this service than they would off the outright sale of a single unit. Of course, publicly traded companies love that consistent revenue. Apple's ecosystem generates a sticky consumer (meaning, high retention). This, I imagine, goes an even longer way towards cementing that stickiness.

As long as people find perceived value in it, then what harm does it cause? I look forward to seeing their T&C's being as how I prefer having the latest and greatest tech. For that 'privilege' I more or less rent my phone anyway, after a fashion.
 
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Freelancers have been pushing back on the price hikes and Adobe has readjusted. I didn’t say it wasn’t affordable but that subscription-only models were distopian. Invariably the monthly cost is raised and freelancers push back and Adobe relents and you rinse and repeat. Corporations want money to flow in consistently because employees must be paid consistently, anything to quell the monetary dry spells.

You have to push back on corporations or they will indefinitely always get “lifestyle creep”.

Affinity Suite wouldn’t have a footing in this space if people didn’t also want an alternative. Just type in “Adobe price increase” on YouTube and you’ll have a video archive of the back and forth in that front with creatives:
Cool. Meanwhile adobes plan still works for everyone else. It’s fine if you don’t want it or it doesn’t work for you but Adobe has always been out of reach. Always. Now it is less so when you consider you can pay as you go.
 
Dear God no.

Hopefully we will still be allowed to buy our devices outright.
Agreed. Renting is great for Apple financially but not so much for the renter. This service is aimed at a specific consumer who wants an iPhone but can't afford it and isn't willing to use an inexpensive Android phone or get an "Obama" phone. Success isn't clear but the possibility of losing a purchasing option bothers me more.
 
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imagine not being able to afford such a luxury as you do not have $2 cash on hip all the time, so this is is the only way to afford a mac etc.
Imagine also selling eBay as you suggest and getting stitched up as so man many many people do and you end up with no mac and no money either or at best lot less than $1300.
not a single chargeback here... btw even if you do lose the laptop selling on ebay it's still the exact same thing as paying $2000 over two years for a laptop you don't own as that person suggested lmao
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Cool. Meanwhile adobes plan still works for everyone else. It’s fine if you don’t want it or it doesn’t work for you but Adobe has always been out of reach. Always. Now it is less so when you consider you can pay as you go.

It still works for "everyone else"... there's no in-group out-group here. Are we not allowed to have a complex view on this subject? It's not all black and white, but you're ascribing meaning to things I didn't say.

Let me quote your original statement below:
Adobe is cheap. 10 quid a month for an app (plus more) that used to cost 800 every two years. I’ll admit, those that want to be the app once and never update are left in the cold. There is an auguement as to why this is bad - but it’s only a matter of years before it become obsolete anyway. For who it’s aimed at and for ´normal’ périple who can’t spend 800 on just Photoshop, it’s a much better deal.

Édit: I quoted the wrong person, apologies.
 
you'll own nothing and you'll be happy

And you will be completely subject to the whims of whomever is running whatever company this is (AAPL in this case) offering this. You kind of are now, but even more so: did you take your device to the wrong location where wrong-think was occurring? We will terminate your lease immediately.
 
I'm doing something similarly with my personally owned Apple devices in Germany with a service called "grover". Monthly fee, Apple-Care-ish service included, and I can return my devices after a minimum subscription period .... or keep them after having paid the full cost plus basically what two years of Apple care would have cost me. It's cheaper than traditional financing, you always have the opt-out if you don't like your device after a year or so - and you don't have the hassle of having to resell it afterwards.

I guess they make their money with people returning their device after a year or so and then re-renting it, and they still don't score a loss on people like me keeping their devices. Personally I wouldn't use such a service if I couldn't keep the device in the end or if renting such a device for at least 3 years wouldn't come out considerably less expensive than buying it. And even 3 years is kinda cutting it close here since most phones and computers I owned and used for longer.

Apple's biggest incentives for doing this would probably be to a) have this market for themselves instead of letting third party providers make the cash and b) better control the flow of used Apple device, more specifically: offering them up as refurbished themselves - or better yet: re-rent them.
 
Seriously, this whole concept of owning nothing and making payments on everything you “own” in perpetuity is nuts. I’ll keep my mortgage and my paid-for car thank you. Same goes for my electronics. I’m not a Rent-a-Center customer and don’t intend to be a customer for this either.
Rent: Music. TV shows. Movies. Cars. Houses/apartments. Phones. Computers. Audio books. Furniture.

You might be able to own your underwear when all is said and done.
 
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And you will be completely subject to the whims of whomever is running whatever company this is (AAPL in this case) offering this. You kind of are now, but even more so: did you take your device to the wrong location where wrong-think was occurring? We will terminate your lease immediately.
That's a very 1984 kind of view that shockingly isn't as unrealistic as I would have liked to think, considering the events that recently transpired in Canada.
 
That's a very 1984 kind of view that shockingly isn't as unrealistic as I would have liked to think, considering the events that recently transpired in Canada.

I agree. I don't like to be 1984 or Brave New Worldish, but when the goal seems to be to keep people in a state of perpetual debt and serfdom, it should be pointed out.

It is kind of like the Medieval serfs who were perpetually working the land and keeping a bit while having to tithe a large percent to the land owning lords and so who were never able to save enough to be free of the hamster wheel.

Obviously this is voluntary right now, but the goal seems to be to own nothing and always be having to pay to use whatever it is. There is a reason that Wall Street likes it: recurring revenue that is larger than single purchases every few years. People will spend more because X per month seems a lot less psychologically that 50 X every 3 years.
 
Think of it more like a car lease, you pay over say 24months and then turn it in for a new one. Or pay a residual and buy it out for cash. The payment would likely not be applied. This is not rent to own. It's a lease model.
Right, but they want people to essentially get the latest phone each year and most people don’t want to ding their credit once a year. It needs to piggyback onto an existing credit relationship for it to work. And perfect opportunity to cross sell the Apple Card service.
 
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It occurred to me a few days ago that Apple could presumably offer some kind of recurring upgrade program for its Mac, iPad, or even wearable devices, similar to what‘s currently offered for iPhone.

I thought of it after realizing that the broader Apple Silicon transition makes it much easier for Apple to plan around consistent timing for future releases. Will it happen? I don’t know…people don’t upgrade their laptops, desktops, or iPads as often as they upgrade their phones, but Apple clearly is moving toward more of a subscription or service model around their growing ecosystem. I’m sure it would make sense for a lot of power users who want the latest devices.
Think it’s almost a no-brainer that they will expand iUP. It’s too good for business. Wearables seems the next obvious option as those too could fall into a yearly upgrade cycle. And the monthly cost of a wearable, over a one year cycle, would be stupid cheap. And stupid popular - more so than iPhone. For tablets, I think there’s be less of an interest in a yearly cycle. Maybe every 2-years. Laptops maybe every 3 yrs?

Either way, I’m pretty confident expanding their upgrade program will rocket then to $4T and beyond.
 
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Tim, if you want this to work it has to be cost effective and convenient for the consumer. Apple also has to have stock on hand so there is no one month delay in providing product. Also, with no track record, as it is a new program, how do we know there aren't going to be a massive startup issues? other than that I like this idea...
 
no thanks.

i'd rather just pay upfront and in full. i don't even buy my phone as part of a contract. i paid £1150 for my 12 pro max and own it completely from the day of launch. while that's a lot of money it's cheaper than buying a contract. my sim plan is £10/month so i've spent £160 so far and if i keep my phone another 8 months i'm only paying another £80. £1390 is still cheaper than if I had gone with a 24 month contract.

i don't even want to think about what Apple will be charging to give out new iPhones every year. also i don't want my credit checked every year.

there's also no reason to have a new phone every year. i bought my phone with the intention of keeping it for at least 4 years or until it breaks or isn't good enough. sure the 13 is better and the 14 will be even better but my 12 is perfectly fine. i look after it with a screen protector and case. the battery is at 97% after 16 months and if it degrades i can ask Apple to replace the battery. if people want to waste money on a new phone every year then i am not going to tell them what to do with their money but i think it's incredibly irresponsible to be buying a new phone each year. if you are doing that then make sure you're selling it back to apple for a discount, selling it to a second hand store, or donating it. if it's broke then sell it on ebay for parts. we need to reduce how much electronic waste we create.
 
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That's the sticking point. What does Apple consider to be a reasonable monthly fee? Also, is Apple going to commit to more regular release schedules for iPads and Macs?

I rotate iPad purchases between 10-11" and 12.9" and use each for about 3-4 years after which, they might get handed down to family and used for another 2-3 years or so. The iPads usually still have ~$100 trade-in value after all that. The monthly subscription cost would have to be less than my amortized monthly cost for 3-4 years for me to consider such a program.
Absolutely: What is Apple’s “reasonable” charge?

Looking at iPhone upgrade, “reasonable” would be the monthly charge of a full retail iPhone divided by 24, with AppleCare thrown in for free. (Pretty sure that’s the breakdown)

iPhone for two years is about the same ownership and sell, but yeah 3-4 years is better for ownership and sell vs. rent.

I paid full retail for iPhone. (Plus tax) $729/24= $30 (I’m rounding)
I have Apple Music for $99 a year: 99/12=$8.25
I don’t have Apple care
I have free 5gb storage

If I sold iPhone in a year I might get… what, let’s say $350?
350/24=$14.50

$38.25 (from above added together) - 14.50 (from sale) = $23.75

If Apple rented me a new $729 iPhone with Apple care, and Apple Music, and heck throw in 50gb of storage, and not have to worry about selling the phone on my own? for $29…. I’d jump on that.

But since it’s Apple and they don’t want to make things easy to buy ?
I’d expect a $29 charge for only iPhone, Apple care, and 50gb of storage.

And it would have to have a charger. No deal without a charger ?

(This assuming 2 year cycle)
 
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