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I’m waiting for them to get into the extended home warranty business.

They already are in the extended device warranty business

It's always struck me as shady BS that a battery or screen replacement "costs more" if you didn't buy their extended warranty (AC+) at or near the time of purchase.
 
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What a stupid idea. A credit card essentially gives people an interest free way to pay over 4 weeks, so what’s the point of this? Who at Apple thought this was an idea even worth pursuing?
 
Another way to put the consumer in more debt, thinking they can just finance something over subsidized weekly/monthly payments.

Either you have the funds or you don’t. I pay all my ‘tech’ devices in cash.

So do I. The difference is that I'm always spending someone else's money aka, using a credit card.

So if I want to buy the next iPhone, I can pay its upfront cost now, which will come out of my account (debit card).

Or, I can use a credit card, spend the bank's money, and pay them back at a contracted date (usually 20-50 days after purchase, interest free). This gives me cashback, added protection against fraud, and more benefits depending on the card.

To add to that, I can also split that payment so now I owe the bank X installments over a period of time, all without interest.
 
This was A) only a matter of time as it was B) always the plan.
Apple are masters of cutting out all middle men/women - for better or worse. Personally, its one of the [many] reasons I've chosen to invest in their ecosystem all along. Yep, fully aware (and easily accept) this system is not for everyone. But there's good news: we all have options! And I know it's a novel concept, for some, but everyone can choose what works best for them. Hooray! 😜
 
Using your credit responsibly always boosts your credit score. As long as you are keeping your total credit usage for the card under 30% when it gets reported to the 3 bureaus, your score will be positively affected. 10% is ideal. Never ever go over 30%. It's a game the credit bureaus play and it's annoying.
I have credit cards and my score is excellent from using them correctly. But do you know that these micro loans (from PayPal, affirm, and now Apple) are reported to credit bureaus?
 
What a stupid idea. A credit card essentially gives people an interest free way to pay over 4 weeks, so what’s the point of this? Who at Apple thought this was an idea even worth pursuing?
It isn't a stupid idea. Sometimes you need something right now until payday. I use this feature with PayPal all the time. It is immensely convenient. PayPal lets you buy something now and break it up into 4 interest free payments.


I have credit cards and my score is excellent from using them correctly. But do you know that these micro loans (from PayPal, affirm, and now Apple) are reported to credit bureaus?
Yes, they are all reported to the credit bureaus. The important thing is to pay everything on time. 35% of your total credit score is on-time payments/payment history. My credit score can fluctuate, but I always have pull because I've never missed a payment in my life.
 
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Would anyone know where to find bonds relating do that debt ? And other short-time consumer lenders ?
 
So I'm guessing it works like this....

To the merchant it just looks like a MasterCard purchase and they pay their fees for accepting credit purchases.

To Goldman Sachs it's run a lot like the AppleCard. They pay some amount to Apple; I'm going to guess 2% of the transaction because that's what gets returned to customers as AppleCash now.

Apple lends their money, but pockets 2% on what is effectively a 3 week loan. The weighted average of the 4 payments over 6 weeks is effectively the same as lending all of the money for 3 weeks.

(365/21) * 2% = 34.8% annual rate of return on Apple's money.

From that they have to manage defaults, but they also get the potential to collect late fees, etc. for missed payments. They probably share fees with Goldman and/or MasterCard.

I can see how it's an attractive business model, but still seems slimy for Apple to put their name on.
What’s slimy is that banks/Apple can offer you 3% cash back because of folks paying 18% interest; these people are the least able to pay them back, which keeps them in a perpetual state of debt.

Unfortunately, too many Americans lack financial education and self-discipline so no matter how much they make, they tend to be in debt. A recent poll showed that 1/3 of people who make $250k+ live paycheck to paycheck.
 
I assume GS is distancing itself from the lending / approval side because of what happened with the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. GS was fined $5 Billion in 2016.

Oh yeah, GS also took $10B from 2008 government bailout - TARP. “Too Big to Fail”
 
Apple is indeed a very different company to what it was just over 10 years ago. I wonder what Steve would make of this, if he were alive right now. Or indeed if this is a direction he would allow the company to take? Discuss.
 
All my credit cards got shutdown. I have $5 in checking.

I really don’t feel like doing the walk of shame. 🤞Apple Pay Later, please please approve my Uber ride home
 
Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't open a new lending company while the economy is starting to falter. Apple should have let banks continue to take the risk.
 
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People here on the forums laughed at me a few months ago when I said Apple is gonna build a community with Apple branded homes. It’s gonna be an exclusive and they will do significant background check to determine if you can live in a Apple community.
Would they exclude me due to the bulk of my trash being beer cans?
 
Surely this Apple Pay later is only for Apple Card holders? I can’t imagine them wanting to deploy this for everyone who uses Apple Pay regardless of their bank provider.
its for the new service they announced. they announced a BUY it now pay later service with apple pay
 
I use Klarma for purchases over $500 that are non-apple products.
We have a separate account just for Apple stuff.
So, I will probably use this from time to time.
 
Surely this Apple Pay later is only for Apple Card holders? I can’t imagine them wanting to deploy this for everyone who uses Apple Pay regardless of their bank provider.
I would presume so, at least early on. You are in theory "credit worthy" if you have the Apple Card. Start there and expand out?
 
This is just the beginning. Eventually Apple will go into weapons and construction, and then establish its own nation.
All part of the ecosystem. Pretty sure the macs, iPhones, iPads, Watch will bode well with continuity for buildOS, jetOS, tankOS, nukeOS. Same iCloud account for all!

I can’t remember who said this but if you can’t afford to buy it twice you can’t afford it.
I see that some people didn’t like it, but I’ll definitely take this in mind from now on.

It’s a next step to the “if you can’t pay cash then you can’t afford it”. I pretty much prefer this even more minimalist version. If could afford a Corvette cash, but barely, buying a Toyota at half the price is a way more sensible decision... that’s the one I really could afford.

That said, I have learned the hard way and try to live way beneath my means… I could afford ten times my monthly housing but I don’t search for that. Same with cars and everything else.
 
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All part of the ecosystem. Pretty sure the macs, iPhones, iPads, Watch will bode well with continuity for buildOS, jetOS, tankOS, nukeOS. Same iCloud account for all!


I see that some people didn’t like it, but I’ll definitely take this in mind from now on.

It’s a next step to the “if you can’t pay cash then you can’t afford it”. I pretty much prefer this even more minimalist version. If could afford a Corvette cash, but barely, buying a Toyota at half the price is a way more sensible decision... that’s the one I really could afford.

That said, I have learned the hard way and try to live way beneath my means… I could afford ten times my monthly housing but I don’t search for that. Same with cars and everything else.
It's okay to treat yourself once in a while, but yeah. If you make a habit of buying things you can barely afford, you are going to be miserable ... especially with the global economy being the way it is.
 
It isn't a stupid idea. Sometimes you need something right now until payday. I use this feature with PayPal all the time. It is immensely convenient. PayPal lets you buy something now and break it up into 4 interest free payments.
It actually sounds less convenient than using a credit card which gives you 30 days to pay them back, and if you do, you pay no interest.
 
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Ok good I was wondering of a use case where this new feature would be a plus. But for the life of me can't see any other way otherwise as to how spreading payments out to 6 weeks can be a good thing for any one with the exception of Apple themselves.
Another extremely limited use example: My company gave me a certain amount of money the last few years for home office and home gym/health purchases. The stuff I wanted exceeded the stipend, so I used Affirm to split up the purchases so I was able charge half of it in December, the other have in January of the next year when the stipend renewed. Like I said, it's an extremely limited use, but then again, i personally think any pay-over-time option SHOULD be limited use. But it's nice to have the option now.
 
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