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Apple Developing Hardware Subscription Service for iPhones and Other Devices

One possible other reason to not want a "subscription iPhone" (at least if it were "the only option" - no outright buying) is what it might do to the progress on innovation/new features.

When you have folks locked into things with subscriptions, and particularly if there's no real viable or good alternative, it's pretty easy to get lazy and just enjoy collecting rents.
 
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robertcoogan said:
I find it hard to believe that this would go across the range of iPhones. If it did, it would kill it for me. I just am so tired of subscriptions. I would probably make the jump to Android at that point.
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for all the people that pay a monthly installment either to apple or to the cell phone company, this program would *feel* exactly the same.
 
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turbineseaplane said:
One possible other reason to not want a "subscription iPhone" (at least if it were "the only option" - no outright buying) is what it might do to the progress on innovation/new features.

When you have folks locked into things with subscriptions, and particularly if there's no real viable or good alternative, it's pretty easy to get lazy and just enjoy collecting rents.
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not really., if apple doesn't offer attractive stuff to keep people paying fees, people will simply return the device at the end of the lease contract and jump to the competition.
 
turbineseaplane said:
@Shirasaki

All I know is that I'm not going to be "subscribing" to my phone or my computer hardware
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turbineseaplane said:
Those are all content services, not hardware rental that displaces ownership of devices
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So don't then.

But dont be so dramatical about it. Companies have been renting hardware for decades. It's hardly a new thing. You have been able to rent Macs for decades, just not from Apple. I really fail to see the differences and to be honest am laughing about the faux uproar.
 
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andrewxgx said:
you'll own nothing and you'll be happy
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Funny - I posted the same on another site's comment area regarding the hardware subscription service and they removed and replaced the article 15 minutes later. My post was only one of three.
 
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Jim Lahey said:
There is no uproar. Faux or otherwise. People are freely exchanging ideas and opinions. Seems like you’re just projecting your own uproar at people who hold views you don’t agree with.
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people have been renting stuff for years, its not an opinion or a view. its a fact.
 
MrGunny94 said:
I'd actually get this for a MacBook Pro... Imagine paying 80-90$ a month and getting a new device every two years....
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Generally people don't trade their Macs in every 2 years - that is more a PC thing. The average person uses their computer until it doesn't do what they need it to do. There are people who are perfectly happy to use Macs that are a decade old or older - I use a 2013 iMac and my brother a 2007 iMac.
 
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emulator said:
So instead of buying a new for 1k and selling it for 700 a year later (~$300) you pay $660. Nice business decision.
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Right now, 256GB iphone 13 pro costs $1100 plus tax, so $1200. Selling an iPhone 12 pro gets back at most $550 via the Apple site. So... same price. I just don't have to pay the $1100 up front every year. There's no world where a year-old iphone is selling for $700, when you can buy a new iphone 12 for $699 on the Apple site.
 
turbineseaplane said:
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)
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Or, here is a thought, it is a way to shut down the side loading of other App stores because you don't own your phone. If this had happened anytime else I would agree with you but with the EU's DMA if you don't own the phone then by law (even EU law) you can't do jack that violates the rental agreement....and part of that agreement is no side loading.
 
gbc204 said:
Right now, 256GB iphone 13 pro costs $1100 plus tax, so $1200. Selling an iPhone 12 pro gets back at most $550 via the Apple site. So... same price. I just don't have to pay the $1100 up front every year. There's no world where a year-old iphone is selling for $700, when you can buy a new iphone 12 for $699 on the Apple site.
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The flaw there is inflation. Even at pre pandemic rates that $1100 would be worth less, but with the (in US) 7.9% in just a year are effectively paid $1,186.90 when getting the new phone.
 
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andrewxgx said:
you'll own nothing and you'll be happy
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Exactly. People have no idea what is happening right in front of their eyes. Once everything is digitized, including all money, and everything is provided "as a service" whatever entity (government) controls those services controls us.
 
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circatee said:
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...
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For most of those services you listed, you'd have to subscribe to those services to watch those certain shows anyway, right?

I wonder how many of those services most cable users also subscribe to?
 
Maybe this subscription program isn't in addition to the IUP, but rather in place of.
 
vipergts2207 said:
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.
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Anyone who makes payments on homes or cars, doesn’t own it. These phones are no different.
Stop making payments and see what happens. Until the final payment is made, you are not the owner.
 
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scottforte850 said:
Anyone who makes payments on homes or cars, doesn’t own it. These phones are no different.
Stop making payments and see what happens. Until the final payment is made, you are not the owner.
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You missed the point — you eventually pay off the home or car and even with most Rent-a-centers you can 'buy' what you are renting. This sounds more like a cable subscription where you don't 'own' the box or dish but get to use it for as long as you pay the subscription.
 
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scottforte850 said:
Anyone who makes payments on homes or cars, doesn’t own it. These phones are no different.
Stop making payments and see what happens. Until the final payment is made, you are not the owner.
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I think the bigger point is found historically. Maximara is correct, "subscription" is not a "loan". A loan is something you pay off, a subscription stops once you stop paying; you own nothing and in most cases can't even access simple data you stored on said subscription (yes there are some that allow access)...

However historically back in the world of land lines, we complained loudly about a $35 a month phone bill... Today people rush to keep purchasing the latest phone that now far exceeds the cost of a computer (average, off the self variety)... Even higher end computers, the phone is over 1/2 the cost of the computer. Most have to take payments currently and eventually own those, however subscription means you pay monthly of it, stop making payments and your computer becomes a boat anchor and your phone becomes a brick....
 
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scottforte850 said:
Anyone who makes payments on homes or cars, doesn’t own it. These phones are no different.
Stop making payments and see what happens. Until the final payment is made, you are not the owner.
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You don’t understand how ownership works apparently. I do own my home, hence why I was able to use it as collateral to secure the mortgage in the first place. You cannot use something as collateral that you do not own. If I stop making payments, the home will be foreclosed on and sold. When it’s sold the bank will satisfy the remainder of the mortgage and send me the remaining proceeds from the sale. If the bank owned the home rather than me, they would just keep all of the money from the sale. That’s exactly the point behind collateral, take something you own and offer it as compensation should you fail to fulfill an obligation. And at the end of 30 years I don’t have anymore payments unlike with a subscription where you pay in perpetuity as long as you want the service.
 
Here in Australia, you can already buy a phone from Apple on a payment plan.

I don't understand how this is different? unless you don't get to keep it after 24/36 months.

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frownface said:
Here in Australia, you can already buy a phone from Apple on a payment plan.

I don't understand how this is different? unless you don't get to keep it after 24/36 months.
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Correct, this is basically a rent-to-own service. When you stop paying, they take your toys away.
Everyone's going mad about this like it's some kind of new idea. In my country (UK) until the late 1980s loads of people didn't even own their own TV or video recorder, they rented them on a monthly plan from the ironically-named Radio Rentals (because by then you could no longer rent radios) or from other similar outlets. One great benefit was as new technology came along like colour TV, infrared remote controls, Teletext and NICAM stereo, you could quickly opt-in without having to sell your old gear which would have depreciated massively. The negative thing was you didn't actually own the gear, but none of us actually cared.
 
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