Did you buy your iPhone outright, or pay monthly?

[Applejuiced]

Interesting. What is not clear is what is actually covered. Most iphone issues are DAMAGE and not BREAKAGE. It looks like damage (dropped phone, water,etc) is only covered for 120 days. Breakage in this case must be if the phone no longer works. Way less likely.

Having that extended warranty is good, but the more probably problem is not covered. Or at least how I am reading it.

Manufacturer defects I believe.
Off course if you cause physical damage they wont cover it passed the first 120 days.
But down the road internal things tend to die and devices stop working without physical damage so this coverage will still kick in if you keep it as long as 3 years.
Even if you just need battery replacement its good to have.

 

[geoff5093]

Why do folks say doing the 24 month plan "locks" them in?

You can opt to pay it off if you want, and move.

Because you have to go through hoops to get it paid off before switching carriers. It's the same as it was in the 2 year contract days, you could leave by paying an ETF too. The difference is it's seen as having to pay a large sum of money to switch carriers, rather than buying it outright when it's brand new and then not having to worry about it again.

I tried the Apple Upgrade Program, but never again. It was a pain in the ass to get it paid off, then having to wait for the payment to reflect on my account, and it took months to get the reimbursement from Apple Care since it goes through Citizens Bank first.

 

[Applejuiced]

Because you have to go through hoops to get it paid off before switching carriers. It's the same as it was in the 2 year contract days, you could leave by paying an ETF too. The difference is it's seen as having to pay a large sum of money to switch carriers, rather than buying it outright when it's brand new and then not having to worry about it again.

I tried the Apple Upgrade Program, but never again. It was a pain in the ass to get it paid off, then having to wait for the payment to reflect on my account, and it took months to get the reimbursement from Apple Care since it goes through Citizens Bank first.

I heard the same thing from many people about the Apple upgrade program.
The bankers at Citizens really get ticked off when you try to pay it off in full and close the account and they try to talk you out of it.
Or make you feel like you have to keep it open and ask you why you participated in such program if you intend to pay it off and such back and forth nonsense.
Its all about sales for Citizens Bank and they dont like closing a credit account. They'll try to get you to open a checking or other credit card account with them.

 

[nostresshere]

... The difference is it's seen as having to pay a large sum of money to switch carriers, rather than buying it outright when it's brand new and then not having to worry about it again....

Of course, if you buy it outright, you have to pay an even larger sum even if you do not switch carriers. LOL

I have stayed with ATT for 15+ years and highly doubt I will switch, so that is not a big deal. I do believe there is a fair chance I will want to upgrade the phone. If I do, there are options other than having to personally sell my phone. I can of course pay it off and sell on my own. I have both options.

 

[geoff5093]

Of course, if you buy it outright, you have to pay an even larger sum even if you do not switch carriers. LOL

I have stayed with ATT for 15+ years and highly doubt I will switch, so that is not a big deal. I do believe there is a fair chance I will want to upgrade the phone. If I do, there are options other than having to personally sell my phone. I can of course pay it off and sell on my own. I have both options.

Right, but paying $800 in September for a brand new iPhone is easier to justify than paying $30 a month for several months then spending $600 to switch carriers with a used iPhone.

 

[valinda]

I buy mine outright from Apple Store. Usually sim free models. For my brothers iPhone se, I did device payment
with Verizon. I paid it off early.

 

[Sketchr]

Bought the Verizon models at Apple store with credit card that gave me 5% cash back. Always pay the credit card in full at the end of month.

 

[jbachandouris]

I chose the Apple Upgrade Program as I didn't really feel like trying to find a buyer for my existing phone to pay for the next one. I had hoped to pay it off early, but it hasn't turned out that way.

 

[nostresshere]

Right, but paying $800 in September for a brand new iPhone is easier to justify than paying $30 a month for several months then spending $600 to switch carriers with a used iPhone.

How much more expensive is one plan vs the other?

 

[iicanada]

i bought my iphone 6s outright then was upgraded for free by apple to ip7+ :') i'm thinking my next upgrade will be the 8S which i'll also buy outright. canada's cell phone plans are very expensive and if you buy it you get much larger discounts on montly plans

 

[nostresshere]

i bought my iphone 6s outright then was upgraded for free by apple to ip7+ :') i'm thinking my next upgrade will be the 8S which i'll also buy outright. canada's cell phone plans are very expensive and if you buy it you get much larger discounts on montly plans

Are you saying that you took your 6s into the apple store and they just handed you at IP7+ because they like you?

FREE?

How in the world does anyone make money doing this?

And,why wouldn't EVERYONE just do that?

 

[saintsfan1970]

Bought it outright from the Apple refurb store.

 

[Applejuiced]

Are you saying that you took your 6s into the apple store and they just handed you at IP7+ because they like you?

FREE?

How in the world does anyone make money doing this?

And,why wouldn't EVERYONE just do that?

My guess is he was having repeat problems with his 6S and Apple probably upgraded him to an iphone 7.
It doesn't happen often cause they tend to give you the same model,color and storage capacity phone when they replace it under warranty.
But sometimes people get lucky

 

[576316]

I've always bought outright and I've had the same cheap SIM-Only deal for years. The only issue is that you find yourself forking out what is a very large amount of money, to ultimately realise you've been duped into buying the same phone again.

I recently quit working full time to become a student, so I won't be upgrading again for a long time. But my partner works full time and she joined the Upgrade Program with the iPhone 7.

 

[TechZeke]

I hate the idea of financing a phone.
Nowadays you see people financing everything. They finance tv's, washers, furniture, they finance wifi routers from their internet provider and many other things like that.

It depends for me. Anything below a couple grand I simply pay cash, since its easy to put away cash for awhile. (Everything in my signature was paid for with cash besides my phone.)

I financed my old 6 through AT&T NEXT, since it's essentially a 0 interest loan. However, the yearly upgrade thing is kind of ridiculous, and I didn't upgrade from 6S last year and don't plan to this year. Would much rather have a fully paid off phone next month.

 

[nostresshere]

I've always bought outright and I've had the same cheap SIM-Only deal for years. The only issue is that you find yourself forking out what is a very large amount of money, to ultimately realise you've been duped into buying the same phone again....

I am not following you here.

Buying the same phone again? Why would you buy the same phone again?

 

[576316]

I am not following you here.

Buying the same phone again? Why would you buy the same phone again?

I'm sorry my joke escaped you, I'll explain. I was suggesting that buying a new iPhone was like buying the same phone again because, in my opinion, each new iPhone is barely different to the old one. We're just suckers.

 

[kilcher]

We buy ours outright. We don't finance anything. Life is just simpler that way.

 

[nostresshere]

I'm sorry my joke escaped you, I'll explain. I was suggesting that buying a new iPhone was like buying the same phone again because, in my opinion, each new iPhone is barely different to the old one. We're just suckers.

Ah. That makes perfect sense.

Lost on many folks here, because they MUST HAVE THE LATEST PHONE. And, please not more than a few hours later than anyone else. LOL!

 

[iicanada]

Are you saying that you took your 6s into the apple store and they just handed you at IP7+ because they like you?

FREE?

How in the world does anyone make money doing this?

And,why wouldn't EVERYONE just do that?

lol, no I had continued issues with my ip6s and ended up calling their head office in america and they offered to upgrade me to the ip7 OR the plus version if i paid the difference which was about 270CAD

i had bought my 6s in january and had to get it replaced 5 times i believe through applecare and they ended up swapping me out after i made a fuss and told them i was sick of coming into the apple store almost every month

it took a lot of calls to their office in pennsylvania (i think? maybe philadelphia??) and the whole process took over 2 months but i guess it was a gesture of goodwill, it was exactly like a routine applecare CRU swapout but i was given a 7+ instead of my 6S

sorry for the novel

 

[pika2000]

If Apple roll out their upgrade program worldwide, I would jump on it in a heartbeat. It sucks paying full price on iPhones outside the US due to taxes/tariffs imposed by other countries, making iPhones even more expensive.

 

[The Catalyst]

Bought two iPhone 7 plus outright from the Apple store. Was cancelling service with sprint (moving to another provider) and both our phones were pretty ancient.

Now I have the joy of teaching a parent how to use an apple product, god help me.

 

[rui no onna]

Bought two iPhone 7 plus outright from the Apple store. Was cancelling service with sprint (moving to another provider) and both our phones were pretty ancient.

Now I have the joy of teaching a parent how to use an apple product, god help me.

From experience, way easier than teaching them how to use Android.

 

[TechZeke]

Bought two iPhone 7 plus outright from the Apple store. Was cancelling service with sprint (moving to another provider) and both our phones were pretty ancient.

Now I have the joy of teaching a parent how to use an apple product, god help me.

From experience, way easier than teaching them how to use Android.

My 83 year old Grandmother is using a newer iPhone than me.

 

[brian3uk]

I typically buy mine outright, but this year I did the T-mobile trade in offer for a free 7. I like that it was basically free but T-mobiles website at 3am on release day was an absolute nightmare. This year I'm torn with what to do, I guess it really depends on how desirable the new phone will be.