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This subscription/rental cancer is spreading. Corporations makes loads from people paying subscriptions, lock in from ongoing payments that most never cancel. The investors love it. The subscriptions are for them, not for customers who receive just enough crumbs to make them falsely believe they are getting a good deal.
 
Wouldn’t this be similar to the iPhone upgrade program?
No.

The iPhone upgrade program is buying an iPhone with interest-free installments, that divide the full retail price of the phone over x months.

A subscription would essentially be a permanent fee, where you pay x dollars a month to use an iPhone, that you never own and never pay off.

The incentive is that it would be a lower monthly payment than iUP installments. Probably half that or less.

And if your intention to is to upgrade your device every 1-2 years, it would be a no brainer.
 
Hmmmm interesting depending on how expensive the fees would be this might be a good way for Apple to control all these phones being recycled or refurbished then left in people drawers as much and save having to mine for a bunch or natural resources.

Though I imagine those fees won't be cheap and people who use there phone for 3 plus years would still be better off buying a new and keeping as would the environment. But a combination of yearly upgraders essential renting and retuning and long time iphone holders seems like it could be an environmental win? Depends how well things are recycled as well I guess.
 
And as a brand new Apple convert reading this, it only keeps me from purchasing apps or anything that I will lose, if I go back to Android. My biggest argument for joining Apple was to buy a phone and not have to replace it as often as Android. If Apple becomes subscription-based, it will exceed the cost I am willing to budget for it. We came into the fold buying used phones, and intend to keep them 2 years, minimum. The idea of paying $500+ per year on a subscription model ends up costing me 3x what I am willing or need to pay. We will simply return to Android. We are probably the reason why Apple wants to do this. Our house purchased a used SE2, and a used 11 pro, and we find them more than fast enough.
 
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That might work when there's a huge disparity in the monthly payment of renting/subscribing versus owning. But that's usually not the case and is unlikely to be the case here with Apple. Renting something almost always results in a higher net cost to the consumer than buying it does. In your example, a car that goes for that kind of pricing is around $35k new and at three years old in good condition would probably be worth somewhere around $25k, meaning leasing cost you about $7k over owning.

I realize we are talking about pretty insignificant numbers here with products like the iPhone. I was more reacting to overall comments/beliefs that leasing means you have nothing to show for it at lease end which is not correct. You have the "savings" from the lower payments which for pricier items can be many thousands of dollars.

As far as resale value, I realize we are in a bit of a market bubble right now due to chip shortages, supply chain issues, etc. but the resale value of a three year old car is usually not over 71% ($25k / $35k) e.g., the three year residual value on a BMW 228i (what I was losely basing my previous example on) is only 58%.
 
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I totally agree with you, but that wasn't my point. A financially educated person will always be able to calculate and pick out the best offer.

However, a person with a low income has no choice but to accept the leasing offer because they cannot afford the financing. This person will not be able to save the difference either. As a result, the person owns nothing after the lease expires and, in the worst case, has to make an additional payment.

I believe that such leasing offers exist primarily to cater to people on low incomes, although financing would be better for them because they will have something afterwards.

Except with financing, they have to pay more each month. Money that they could be saving or using for other things. Let's bring the numbers down a bit and say financing would be $300/month and leasing would be $133/month. They may not own the car at lease end but would've paid $6,000 less over the term.

I do agree, however, that "low income" people probably shouldn't be getting new cars (via leasing) every three or so years. They'd be better off keeping the same car for a longer time. I wasn't trying to suggest leasing was necessarily cheaper, just that leasing doesn't mean you have nothing to show for it at the end.
 
So what’s next? Maybe someday you’ll need a subscription to use some of the features on the iPhone. You want ProMotion, 8K video recording, iCloud syncing, etc.? You’ll need a subscription. I really hope I’m joking.
 
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Maybe I’m missing the point. Why would I lease a device and own nothing? I can get 0% financing on the Apple Card and Best Buy. I’m paying 12 bucks or so a month for my wife’s Apple Watch 7. And it will be hers after.

Unless the monthly “subscription” is substantially less than financing it? Even then it doesn’t appeal to my sensibilities. I’ve never leased a car. Tons of friends leasing expensive European cars with no equity to show for it. Seems like this would appeal to these types. Having the newest toy, cheaper payments, but never owning a thing. Not for me.

The lessee may not have equity to show for it but they didn't pay nearly as much per month versus the person who financed over the same term. The person who finances is potentially paying a lot extra to realize that equity.

For example, if it costs $900/month to finance a particular car for three years and $400/month to lease the same car for three years, the person financing is paying $18,000 more ($500 x 36) than the lessee over the term of the contract. While it is true that the lessee doesn't have equity in the car, what they do have is $18,000 saved over the three years.
 
I realize we are talking about pretty insignificant numbers here with products like the iPhone. I was more reacting to overall comments/beliefs that leasing means you have nothing to show for it at lease end which is not correct. You have the "savings" from the lower payments which for pricier items can be many thousands of dollars.

As far as resale value, I realize we are in a bit of a market bubble right now due to chip shortages, supply chain issues, etc. but the resale value of a three year old car is usually not over 71% ($25k / $35k) e.g., the three year residual value on a BMW 228i (what I was losely basing my previous example on) is only 58%.
I'm just basing my rough numbers on current figures I could find. Even taking your 58% at face value (though it should be noted that luxury brands tend to lose value faster than others) a $35k car would still be worth $20.3k, still coming out ahead of someone who manages to save every penny on the car payment differential.

It's certainly true somebody could have something in savings to show for it in the end, but realistically people are opting to pay less monthly on rent/lease/subscription precisely because they can't afford to finance or buy, so that theoretical savings in most cases simply isn't going to exist. If folks who sock away the differential can afford to do so, they'd likely choose to finance or buy in the first place, precisely because it's generally the smarter financial move. For those who can't afford it, the smart financial move in such cases is to buy something cheaper or just upgrade less often, but the reason these purchasing schemes make companies money in the first place is because people just have to have the new shiny.
 
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I liked the idea of Apple Upgrade, but you can't do Apple Upgrade if you have a prepaid phone plan. Extremely silly if you ask me. Postpaid phone plans make little sense if you're single, they're grossly overpriced for singles. I assume this subscription plan, if it comes to fruition, will continue this nonsense.
 
And as a brand new Apple convert reading this, it only keeps me from purchasing apps or anything that I will lose, if I go back to Android. My biggest argument for joining Apple was to buy a phone and not have to replace it as often as Android. If Apple becomes subscription-based, it will exceed the cost I am willing to budget for it. We came into the fold buying used phones, and intend to keep them 2 years, minimum. The idea of paying $500+ per year on a subscription model ends up costing me 3x what I am willing or need to pay. We will simply return to Android. We are probably the reason why Apple wants to do this. Our house purchased a used SE2, and a used 11 pro, and we find them more than fast enough.
Nobody is saying you won’t be able to buy your devices.
 
While it is true that the lessee doesn't have equity in the car, what they do have is $18,000 saved over the three years.
The savings is substantially more than that in most states, where you only pay sales tax on the lease payments. If you replace the car with a new leased car you will have avoided paying sales tax on the residual value, which can be thousands of dollars in savings. If Apple does it right with these subscriptions you can similarly avoid taxes.
 
Will it be interest free, allow annual upgrades? Need something to compel us to consider this service. :)
There's no way in hell this is going to be interest free. The whole idea is for Apple to increase its revenue, which means we will end up paying more for our Apple products.
 
A subscription would essentially be a permanent fee, where you pay x dollars a month to use an iPhone, that you never own and never pay off.

The incentive is that it would be a lower monthly payment than iUP installments. Probably half that or less.

And if your intention to is to upgrade your device every 1-2 years, it would be a no brainer.
I'm happily in the IUP and would totally jump on a subscription for the iPhone, assuming the monthly payments are reasonably less than the IUP price. I don't consider myself owning my iPhone now – even though technically I do – since I return it to Apple every 12 months anyways.
 
I'm just basing my rough numbers on current figures I could find. Even taking your 58% at face value (though it should be noted that luxury brands tend to lose value faster than others) a $35k car would still be worth $20.3k, still coming out ahead of someone who manages to save every penny on the car payment differential.

It's certainly true somebody could have something in savings to show for it in the end, but realistically people are opting to pay less monthly on rent/lease/subscription precisely because they can't afford to finance or buy, so that theoretical savings in most cases simply isn't going to exist. If folks who sock away the differential can afford to do so, they'd likely choose to finance or buy in the first place, precisely because it's generally the smarter financial move. For those who can't afford it, the smart financial move in such cases is to buy something cheaper or just upgrade less often, but the reason these purchasing schemes make companies money in the first place is because people just have to have the new shiny.

Hmm, not necessarily. Investing the funds could give you greater returns.

Also, for business owners, I believe the full lease amount can be used as a tax write-off whereas you need to calculate depreciation if you buy outright.
 
The savings is substantially more than that in most states, where you only pay sales tax on the lease payments. If you replace the car with a new leased car you will have avoided paying sales tax on the residual value, which can be thousands of dollars in savings. If Apple does it right with these subscriptions you can similarly avoid taxes.
You're missing some of the rest of the story. The guy who leased now has to pay sales tax on another 3 year lease. The guy who financed pays no additional tax if they simply keep the car for another 3 years. Or if they want a new car, generally the value of the trade-in is deducted from the sales price tax figures. If I by a new car for $40k and trade in one for $25k, I only pay tax on $15k, not $40k.
 
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