I have to wonder if this is Apple's way of dealing with the EU's Digital Markets Act — if don't really own the device than the whole allow third party Apps and stores dies because you no longer own the device.
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Apple Developing Hardware Subscription Service for iPhones and Other Devices
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Nonsense. The only people who would do that is someone who has a keep up with the Joneses mentality. Sane people will use their Mac as long at it is useful for what they do. I am using a 2013 iMac and my brother uses a 2007 iMac.
You are unable to throw an Apple ? even toddlers can throw an apple, all those years of holding lightweight Apple devices have come to roost for ya. /s ?
So instead of buying a new for 1k and selling it for 700 a year later (~$300) you pay $660. Nice business decision.
I think this program could be great for 1-2 reasons
If you're someone who always wants the latest stuff (me) then this will probably workout great for those people. *hopefully* they won't force you to have apple care, but I have a feeling they will.
2nd For those people it supposedly will be cheaper than the AUP, so it works out better. As someone who upgrades things often, as long as it financially makes sense I'm game. Or if the monthly payment in the end isnt that different than what I'd spend owning a device that I upgrade every other year/cycle (watch, iPad,MBP AirPods) then maybe I'd do that.
If its not a decent bit cheaper than the AUP or "free" device from a carrier, then it doesn't make sense. All depends on the details, and mostly price.
If you're someone who always wants the latest stuff (me) then this will probably workout great for those people. *hopefully* they won't force you to have apple care, but I have a feeling they will.
2nd For those people it supposedly will be cheaper than the AUP, so it works out better. As someone who upgrades things often, as long as it financially makes sense I'm game. Or if the monthly payment in the end isnt that different than what I'd spend owning a device that I upgrade every other year/cycle (watch, iPad,MBP AirPods) then maybe I'd do that.
If its not a decent bit cheaper than the AUP or "free" device from a carrier, then it doesn't make sense. All depends on the details, and mostly price.
Also, for the buy it and sell it later....I used to do that and it was the best way to go for sure.
These days thats such a sh*t show, its just not worth it anymore. Just full of scammers on ebay if your selling, people who want to rob you in person on top of dealing with people selling on FB, and even Swap has turned into a mess. Last phone I sold was my Xs Max. Took 3 sale attempts before I got a legit buyer. The way they did it, if I had followed Swappas instructions and shipped when they said it was safe to ship, the first 2 times I would have been scammed. By the time I actually sold it on the 3rd attempt, the value of the phone had dropped almost $100 because it was right when a new device was dropping.
Hell, I tried to buy an iPad on Swappa last week and it was a scam with me as a buyer. Sounded almost too good to be true, ignored my instincts and bought it since I knew I was protected with Paypal anyway. Got a tracking number a bit later and I made sure actually to look at the details of it. Sure enough, it was a tracking number that had already been delivered. Called the BS out right and got a refund right then.
These days thats such a sh*t show, its just not worth it anymore. Just full of scammers on ebay if your selling, people who want to rob you in person on top of dealing with people selling on FB, and even Swap has turned into a mess. Last phone I sold was my Xs Max. Took 3 sale attempts before I got a legit buyer. The way they did it, if I had followed Swappas instructions and shipped when they said it was safe to ship, the first 2 times I would have been scammed. By the time I actually sold it on the 3rd attempt, the value of the phone had dropped almost $100 because it was right when a new device was dropping.
Hell, I tried to buy an iPad on Swappa last week and it was a scam with me as a buyer. Sounded almost too good to be true, ignored my instincts and bought it since I knew I was protected with Paypal anyway. Got a tracking number a bit later and I made sure actually to look at the details of it. Sure enough, it was a tracking number that had already been delivered. Called the BS out right and got a refund right then.
Life's too short to deal with this stuff. Rather than take the chance, I'll eat some sales value and trade in a product either directly to Apple or to a third party trade-in service, or in the case of iPhones, use the IUP.
It's interesting that you said mortgage and paid-for car. Let's address them in order:
Mortgage. The way that is setup is that you basically pay for your house forever. Most people get the 30 year option which is what the banks push for because of all of the front-loaded interest. The average homebuyer moves about every 13 years. And while they do get their equity back out in the sense that the value of the home increases, the skyrocketing prices of homes ensures that hardly anyone in the future will be able to pay their house off. I'm one of the fortunate ones who bought their house a few years before the pandemic, and then refinanced to a 15 year at 1.75% during the pandemic. I doubt my kids will ever be able to afford a house someday unless I invest wisely.
Cars. Have you seen the price of even used cars lately? I saw a used two year old Honda Civic going for $38,000. What Zoomer coming out of college is going to be able to afford that? At least a Civid should be able to outlast even a long loan, but so many people are terrible at taking care of their cars and just let them break and get a new one instead of properly maintaining them.
Electronics. These have a limited lifespan. Phone batteries seem to crap the bed after 4-5 years (my wife knows this from experience with old iPhones and while you can take them to the store to fix them most people don't bother), but a lot of people upgrade every 2-3 years on plans where they're already paying monthly anyway. When it comes to computers, that can vary a lot based on your use-case. But with the prices of Macs getting up there and many companies now saying you have to bring your own device, many people can't afford to go out and buy a mid-spec $3000 MacBook Pro for their new graphic design job (or what have you).
So the whole system is moving towards this model. You were lucky because you got in early like I did but many younger people are coming out into this world and they can't afford crap and they need to afford it. So companies are moving towards this model where they own us top to bottom. Everything is going up in price. I was just reading today about how mobile home parks are being bought up across the country by big business and they're jacking up the rentals for plots by 50%. And they get away with it because the people in these parks can't afford the $5000 it costs to move their home to a cheaper plot elsewhere, which may just get bought out next.
Welcome to the corporatocracy. Sponsored by every major American company. Every economic downturn in the cycle going back to the 1920s they get stronger, buying up everything for pennies on the dollar, and the rest of us struggle more. I grew up lower middle class. I was upper middle class until the pandemic and inflation spikes. Now I'm pretty much squarely in the middle class. The previous lower middle class is essentially wiped out at this point.
So yeah, this is all just to say that there are multiple wide-ranging factors playing into this current situation, and this has been a long time coming and is accelerating out of control at the moment. The entire system has been rigged to get to this point, and this is where capitalism falls on it's face and fails us. Problem is, I wish I knew what to replace it with that is better.
Yes Black Rock and companies like this need to be taken out. They’re the ones buying up all the rentals and a lot of houses that are for sale doing exactly what you posted about.
I agree with you, generally. The whole system is becoming more and more owned and controlled by wealthy and corporate interests. The question is will people ever get tired enough to fight back or will they just accept having every last bit of value being sucked out of them. It’s possible for change, folks just have to have the will to tell politicians and corporations, no we’re done with you accumulating all the wealth for yourself at the expense of everyday citizens.
We have an iPhone 8 and iPhone 11 Pro Max, both bought new. There is no way a subscription hardware program is less expensive for people like ourselves. We have not seen anything compelling enough to warrant an upgrade. 512 GB on the iPhone 11 Pro Max was the last compelling thing for me to upgrade as I have a lot of lossless music on my iPhone.
I thought something like this would have happened by now too. They probably want a multi-MVNO experience for the best coverage everywhere?
I'm even apprehensive about using any 3rd party service. Read plenty of stuff on here where if you traded your MBP or whatever into apple online, it went to a 3rd party service who would say your device was damaged and give you less money. If you went in the store, it was done through Apple and you were fine.
Just remember..
Apple wouldn't ever bother with something new like this unless it was going to be a massive financial benefit to them.
Their new "offerings" are almost always just a new way to make more money.
Any benefits to consumer are usually a happy coincidence (if there even are any)
Apple wouldn't ever bother with something new like this unless it was going to be a massive financial benefit to them.
Their new "offerings" are almost always just a new way to make more money.
Any benefits to consumer are usually a happy coincidence (if there even are any)
A happy side effect of this, that I've noticed, is that there can be some great deals out there as a buyer
How is this not a thing? I guess it would cost too much, but I dream of a world where I can have access to more than one cellular data plan at a time. I've had ATT for almost 30 years and ATT and VZW have been the only 2 cell companies worth having. Although lately I feel like ATTs coverage has really gotten worse. In my town of 120k people, at the busiest intersection in town on a Saturday once, it was like I was in a stadium of 100k people and my phone became unusable until I got a 1/4 mile or so down the road. Was in Austin a couple days ago, the phone was unusable the entire trip and I was outside 90% of the time I was awake. Several other issues here and there that are frustrating. Toggling 5G on/off trying to help rarely does. I've turned 5G off on the phone because I feel the network is worse. That's all on the top tier package ATT offers too.
Anyway sorry for the rant, I'd love for apple to spend some of their stupid amount of cash to develop the best cellular network possible.
Adobe switched to this model. I don’t use Adobe software anymore. Could my future be in Android and Windows?
The sad part is, I’m also a windows user, just happen to also benefit from Mac platform, and Android sucks to use internationally unless international means “US and Canada” lol.
Given Windows also has Windows 365 (cloud based system), maybe Linux would be the last line for us at the end, assuming they don’t also go full on subscription.
A multitude of companies are following the subscription model.
Let's think of TV services. There are so many choices. We 'cut the cord', about a year ago. But, honestly, just to watch certain shows, one has to subscribe to certain services. Example, Showtime, Hulu, Netflix, Discovery+, Disney+, Paramount+, the list goes on...
Let's think of TV services. There are so many choices. We 'cut the cord', about a year ago. But, honestly, just to watch certain shows, one has to subscribe to certain services. Example, Showtime, Hulu, Netflix, Discovery+, Disney+, Paramount+, the list goes on...
Those are all content services, not hardware rental that displaces ownership of devices
No, no, I understand that. I was merely trying to point out that companies are heading to the path of subscription services overall...