Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

[The-Real-Deal82]

I would have been curious to see what the monthly cost would have been, just to get a sense of how much it costs to rent an iPhone you'll never own. With the Upgrade Program being quite steep, this would have needed to be about half that cost. Always good for customers to have options though.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

There is no practical difference between this and the iPhone Upgrade Program, when the user elects to upgrade every year. Don't understand why this was ever 'researched' in the first place.

This was a subscription so by its concept means it can be cancelled at any time, unlike the Upgrade Program that is a fixed term model. It would likely have been a lot cheaper too, otherwise it would indeed have been pointless.

 

[Big_D]

For sure. Every time a friend ignores my advice to avoid leases, they fret and worry about putting miles on their leased car. I swear, they have it worse than EV owners have range-anxiety!

For the limited mileage they often let you drive, you might as well not bother with a car in the first place. I was at my local dealership for repairs and the salesman spoke to me about a new car (current car is 10 years old). I told him, I'd like an electric, but it just doesn't make sense, financially, as I hardly drive any more (I ride an ebike to work, the car is used for shopping at the weekend & the odd trip to visit family). He mentioned that I could do a mini-leasing, for a couple of hundred Euros a month...

I could get taxis to take the shopping back from the supermarket for less and rent a car a couple of times a year for longer trips and it would still work out cheaper than leasing or buying a new car...

I can just imagine the software warning on a subscription iPhone: "You have reached the 2 hour podcast limit for this month, please consider our Premium Plan, if you want to continue listening."

 

[Ameer_1]

I don't think I've used AI yet on my 16 Pro.

 

[Big_D]

I don't think I've used AI yet on my 16 Pro.

Apple Intelligence hasn't been rolled out to my iPhone 16 Pro yet - I think it is due to be rolled out around March/April next year, so I haven't used it yet either.

 

[dkh587]

This doesn't sound "sustainable". Why would we encourage people to upgrade so quick, while also trying to be more environementally friendly?

Shouldn't the goal be to make sure these devices are more sustainable long-term, to where we wouldn't need to upgrade every year because the newest, shiny object is on the scene?

Maybe, just maybe, we can try something different...

 

[dandy1117]

It's a forum 🤷‍♂️

The reporting was that this was meant to be a consumer-facing offering, not for businesses/enterprises. As a technology manager, do you fully understand it?

I'm unclear about the exact nature of your question. As I mentioned, no one can completely grasp the unreleased product, myself included. However, the discussions on the forums appear to be predominantly negative, driven by incomplete information. If my assumption that this could be a business product is correct, then it might be viewed under a different lens.

Additionally, we should clarify the distinction between what constitutes "reporting" and what is merely "speculative rumor."

 

[Flight Plan]

For the limited mileage they often let you drive, you might as well not bother with a car in the first place. I was at my local dealership for repairs and the salesman spoke to me about a new car (current car is 10 years old). I told him, I'd like an electric, but it just doesn't make sense, financially, as I hardly drive any more (I ride an ebike to work, the car is used for shopping at the weekend & the odd trip to visit family). He mentioned that I could do a mini-leasing, for a couple of hundred Euros a month...

The biggest hit with EVs is when the batteries need to be replaced. When my Prius was 12 years old, I started getting various warnings about the hybrid battery system.

Rather than be stuck halfway between Atlanta and Nashville one day, I decided to go ahead and replace the battery pack. After all, I was already on my 3rd or 4th 12-volt battery, so a full battery pack swap was likely overdue.

$3500. And that was just for a hundred pound NiMH battery, not the hideously expensive (and flammable) LiIon battery in a Tesla. By the time you need to replace the battery in a Tesla, the cost of the new battery is going to be more than the value of the car, considering its age and wear/tear.

I drove my Prius for another 5 years, so the $3,500 battery swap was worth it. But by the time it was a 17-year-old Prius; worth only $1,000 to $3,000.

I could get taxis to take the shopping back from the supermarket for less and rent a car a couple of times a year for longer trips and it would still work out cheaper than leasing or buying a new car...

New communities are more and more often being designed to be within a walk or bike ride from home to work or shopping.

I can just imagine the software warning on a subscription iPhone: "You have reached the 2 hour podcast limit for this month, please consider our Premium Plan, if you want to continue listening."

I would probably switch back to Android. I've been an iPhone owner since the iPhone 5. I may be a somewhat "sticky" customer, (haha!) but I can be pushed too far.

 

[Big_D]

New communities are more and more often being designed to be within a walk or bike ride from home to work or shopping.

The town where I live is over 1250 years old, the flat I live in was build in before the First World War. Not only new communities are being built like that, before everybody had access to public transport, let alone their own horse or carriage, let alone a car, communities were close knit and most services were available within walking distance.

Some of those small town still exist.

To be honest, when I was in the UK, I was brought up in a village and a small town, where everything was within walking distance. School was only about 3 miles away, so we walked most days. I lived in a large city for about 6 months and I hated it. I much prefer smaller, close knit communities, where it isn't too crowded and you have access to everything you need on your doorstep.

But, I digress, that isn't what this thread is about...

I would probably switch back to Android. I've been an iPhone owner since the iPhone 5. I may be a somewhat "sticky" customer, (haha!) but I can be pushed too far.

My iPhone 3GS was my third smartphone (I had had 2 Windows Mobile smartphones before it). At the time, I didn't like the walled garden and switched to Windows Phone, then Android, but switched back with the iPhone 13 Pro. I liked the more open parts of Android, but I'm privacy conscious and was spending more and more time de-Googling my Android devices.

Apple isn't perfect, but they are a lot better at getting the basic installation to be relatively tracking free, so it is one of the major reasons I use it - I don't delude myself that it is perfect, but at least I don't have to invest a couple of hours removing tracking services when setting up a new device...

 

[Shirasaki]

People would just stop using iPhones and use something else. Look at BMW's subscription to use seat heat. People told them to F off and they dropped it.

Would they? Heat seat is not necessity but a smartphone kind of is. Sure we have boatloads of android but I really doubt existing apple users will just “stop using iPhones” if all they can do is rent from apple and can never own them.