Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Developing Hardware Subscription Service for iPhones and Other Devices

satchmo said:
I thought it was.

It may not be liked, but among professionals, it’s just part of doing business.
Click to expand...
That's the difference between having to tolerate it, and actually wanting it. Adobe CC is not popular: no one actually wants it. They just have to tolerate it.
Well when I say no one, of course, this is the internet. I could say 'no one wants to be spanked by a garden rake wrapped in barbed wire' and someone will come forward and say 'well actually...'
 
MajorFubar said:
I'd probably be up for this. Reminds me of the days in the UK when we used to rent TVs and videos. No one cared we didn't actually own them, when new technology came out we got it.
Click to expand...
With duty, VAT and who knows what else the average Brit is a shell of a former being ?
 
MajorFubar said:
That's the difference between having to tolerate it, and actually wanting it. Adobe CC is not popular: no one actually wants it. They just have to tolerate it.
Well when I say no one, of course, this is the internet. I could say 'no one wants to be spanked by a garden rake wrapped in barbed wire' and someone will come forward and say 'well actually...'
Click to expand...
Kinky ?
 
  • Haha
Reactions: gardencitynick and MajorFubar
andrewxgx said:
you'll own nothing and you'll be happy
Click to expand...

Well you never really own your smartphones anyway. It's a ticking time bomb waiting to be obsolete anytime, once the device getting too old, it won't get any proper support and updates, it'd be too slow, and more apps being incompatible over time to the point it becomes a paperweight.

So, while you can keep that old phone in the house, it won't mean much anyway. I mean can you really use (or sell) iPhone 4s properly in 2022? Yeah...
 
shplock said:
Wrong, as there is a HUGE world of difference between paying monthly or paying outright.
Do you have the money to buy an house outright or do you pay a monthly mortgage/rental fee?

Not everyone has thousands of dollars etc in their pockets all the time.
Click to expand...
The difference is that buying a house means buying an asset that will only appreciate in price over time. Buying a phone means buying a liability that will depreciate (and rapidly at that) over time. Moreover iPhone is a luxury. It's generally a bad financial decision to buy into luxury liabilities. Let alone rent or buy them on credit. People that can afford such items outright at least can justify it. But if the only way for someone to afford luxury liabilities is to rent or take them on credit, they're making a bad financial decision. For themselves and the people around them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Morod and nebojsak
roland.g said:
Volvo has had car "subscriptions" for a year or two now.

www.volvocars.com

Volvo Car USA | Luxury SUVs, Sedans, and Wagons | Official Volvo Website

Welcome to Volvo Car USA. Explore our range of new and pre-owned luxury vehicles. Discover our fully electric, plug-in hybrid, and gas (mild hybrid) cars. Build your new car today.
www.volvocars.com www.volvocars.com
Click to expand...
Yep, and it is the rebranded way of saying that you are leasing a car...

Same idea, same purpose, same conditions, different marketing.
People are used to "subscriptions" because they come with the 'low' commitment/obligation tag while "leasing" has an actual commitment you typically sign (and I expect similar for a leasing of a device, just with some other words).
 
code-m said:
Didn’t Apple claim in its keynote address during the iPhone 12 launch that it prefers its customers to keep their phones longer as it’s environmentally friendly and that’s how Apple designs it’s hardware and software to be usable for years.
Click to expand...
Sure, I trust Apple words as much as I can throw them. Anything for them they can spin it to sound like “environmentally friendly”, despite their hardware is generally very usable for years to come, depending on personal use cases.

The detail will matter a lot about this subscription service, and I suspect businesses benefit them more than personal users. Maybe wind up becoming a new hardware lease/management thing for businesses.
 
iSayuSay said:
Well you never really own your smartphones anyway. It's a ticking time bomb waiting to be obsolete anytime, once the device getting too old, it won't get any proper support and updates, it'd be too slow, and more apps being incompatible over time to the point it becomes a paperweight.

So, while you can keep that old phone in the house, it won't mean much anyway. I mean can you really use (or sell) iPhone 4s properly in 2022? Yeah...
Click to expand...
But you are still the legal owner, and that's the point.
 
The real problems arise at some time in the not too distant future where your entire life is beholden to a computer in your pocket over which you have little or no control but can‘t participate in polite society without. Identification, licenses, passports and health credentials are all rapidly moving to digital platforms from which you’ll likely have no escape. In many places in the world you are already denied entry unless you can show proof of covid injections, for example. The writing is on the wall and stuff like this all contributes to the slow boiling of the frog. People laugh at comments such as this, and that’s fine, but they’ll be crying into the their state-issued iPhone 20 in a few short years. Mark my words.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SilverWalker, nebojsak and ian87w
code-m said:
Didn’t Apple claim in its keynote address during the iPhone 12 launch that it prefers its customers to keep their phones longer as it’s environmentally friendly and that’s how Apple designs it’s hardware and software to be usable for years.
Click to expand...
Of course. Marketing doesn’t have to translate directly to business actions ?
 
Jim Lahey said:
The real problems arise at some time in the not too distant future where your entire life is beholden to a computer in your pocket over which you have little or no control but can‘t participate in polite society without. Identification, licenses, passports and health credentials are all rapidly moving to digital platforms from which you’ll likely have no escape. In many places in the world you are already denied entry unless you can show proof of covid injections, for example. The writing is on the wall and stuff like this all contributes to the slow boiling of the frog. People laugh at comments such as this, and that’s fine, but they’ll be crying into the their state-issued iPhone 20 in a few short years. Mark my words.
Click to expand...
Well, looking at iPhone prices in my country, if the government wanted to subsidize it, I’m all ears ?
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Jim Lahey
Not looking forward to this. I like to own things and use them as long as possible.

(Not owning the apartment I live in, because it's too expensive to buy here...).
 
I hope Apple can push this concept soon although it will cost but can gain more marketshare and most importantly make iphone products circulair. Less waste, better re-use, even re-engineer new products with components from ‘older’ iPhones etc. One small step into the circulair economy. Apple go!
 
mva68 said:
I hope Apple can push this concept soon although it will cost but can gain more marketshare and most importantly make iphone products circulair. Less waste, better re-use, even re-engineer new products with components from ‘older’ iPhones etc. One small step into the circulair economy. Apple go!
Click to expand...
You might be in the minority.
 
philip456 said:
>> ... would bring in more revenue for Apple.

Which means it's more expensive then buying, so probably not a good idea.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. Could mean more consumers who are unable to join the ecosystem with the current options available to them.
 
MRrainer said:
Not looking forward to this. I like to own things and use them as long as possible.

(Not owning the apartment I live in, because it's too expensive to buy here...).
Click to expand...
It'd be an option, not a replacement. Like you can lease a car or buy it outright.
 
  • Like
Reactions: xxray
I would do this and make sure it’s in line with the release of the latest iPad. I love my iPad 😎
Or even so, I’d likely get Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad and either an iMac or a Apple Studio setup. Each one has its use in my household.
With an upgrade every one or two years it would make it a lot easier.
 
now i see it said:
Adobe Creative Cloud is a big hit.

Not.
Click to expand...
It actually is and the user base is growing. The price for pro use, ie those of us who make our living use Adobe CC, is very small. Adobe CC is not aimed at home or hobby users as the price is prohibitive for that I believe, but not for professionals. Profits from a single job easily covers and surpasses the monthly fee. Adobe CC has also made life much easier for those who work collaboratively as now everyone (almost) is always on the same version, no more headaches of being a version or 2 behind, or up to date but the client is behind and needs to work on native files, it all just works together and those issues are completely gone. This is HUGE as it was a real problem and hassle.

That said I am not a fan of subscription services for consumer use, there are enough of those as it is and this is just another way to become indebted to Apple. I envision a future of indentured servants working at Apple plants, these people who could not make their payments and now need to work it off for eternity. Of course that is fiction, but it certainly feels that way when regular life has subscription purchases attached to everything.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mrsebsin
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back