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Interesting, seems I was wrong on both of those points. Never knew you could get a refund on AppleCare. And I was just assuming the monthly cost was the price divided by 20, not the price plus AppleCare+.

Still, the point does still stand that the price difference isn't that huge.

Yeah it's definitely going to be a good option for people, if not me (mainly due to inclusion of AppleCare+).
 
As a related sidenote they're really pushing AppleCare now. Probably trying to make it look more attractive and "encourage" people into the upgrade programme.

I broke my screen on Tuesday (horrid timing as usual) and as of Wednesday 18:00BST that repair would have cost me £126 for a new screen or £256 as an out of warranty "replace with refurb". As soon as the keynote was over that all changed and those prices became £146 and £306. Big rises for non-AppleCare repairs. Conversely AppleCare repairs have come down. £25 for a new screen and, from what I can tell, £79 to get a refurb for a borked phone.

Seems they're just finding more and more ways to squeeze us for cash. It's how it feels anyway.
 
Also, do you get priority of stock if you do the upgrade program?

I'm ordering tomorrow at 8:01 so will guarantee delivery for next Friday, I can see people on the upgrade program having to wait to go into an Apple Store, return their old phone to be checked, and whilst all this is going on, the stock has gone and you'll have to wait X weeks for deliveries to come in.

I'd rather own the phone outright and sell last years model for £450-£500 to put towards new one.

I buy direct from Apple each year just so I don't have a £35+ coming out each month for my mobile tariff.

Can see it suiting some people, however.
 
I think you can do something similar to this through Apple. Instead of going for the upgrade programme there is an option to spread payments without AppleCare although apple website does seem to say it has to be over 20 months but it is still interest free. Am thinking of trading in my iPhone 6 for £235 and putting this towards cost of new 7 (£599) then spreading the balance over 20 months if they allow me to do this. I can then upgrade after 20 months instead of my current 24 months. Okay it is not allowing a yearly upgrade but better than my current deal with Carphone Warehouse.

I'm probably wrong but with Barclays Partner Finance it's possible to settle the loan with a credit/debit card (so long as it isn't a Barclaycard/American Express).

Assuming it's permitted under the Terms and Conditions of the Upgrade Programme you'd be able to settle the loan quicker if you so wished.
 
I think people really aren't looking at this in the right way.

It is almost exclusively designed for people who are going to upgrade each year, HOWEVER there isn't a penalty if you decide not to, due to the 0% interest.

For those saying why not just buy outright and then sell it for the next one, it's mainly the removal of hassle.

Look at it this way:

Upgrade Programme -
£49 Upfront + £33.45 x 11 = £416

Buying Outright -
£600 upfront + £120 AppleCare+ - £300 sale price in one year = £420

That's the realistic cost of owning the phone for one year. Obviously you don't have to buy the AppleCare+ but it's included in the programme, so it's an unfair comparison without.

If it turns out the value after a year is much higher but you still want to sell, you can just pay off the remaining value of the programme and sell it like you would the one purchased outright. Perhaps the next iPhone doesn't take your fancy so you just continue paying it off over 12 months.

To be honest I don't really see a downside of the plan, and I can afford to buy the phone outright, just the ease of upgrading is appealing.

Assuming you've taken care of the device, you can get way more than £300 for it. Plus, as it's already been mentioned, you can also get a partial refund on the AppleCare+. I think the following would be a more fair comparison:

Upgrade Programme -
£49 Upfront + £33.45 x 11 = £416

Buying Outright -
£599 upfront + £119 AppleCare+ - £400 sale price in one year - £59.5 AppleCare Refund = £338.5

(You can probably get more than £400 but it may take some effort.)

You can save a bit over £80 by purchasing it outright, and that's nice, but it comes with other advantages as well. The phone is yours from the very point you purchase it, whereas if you buy it via the Apple Upgrade Program you need to wait for 20 months for that to happen; and note that you don't have the option not to continue paying after the 12th payment since you're locked into a contract. You can either not upgrade and continue the payments until the phone has been paid in full, or you can upgrade (and by doing so, you'd also be re-starting the whole 20 month contract again).

The way I see it this program is just a way for Apple to get a guaranteed stream of income out of the user in exchange for removing the hassle of having to sell the phone after a year; but that small advantage has a price as well, as I mentioned above, since you could get more out of your used phone.
 
On the list of things that you'll need to bring, it says to bring your current phone.

I assume this is just for them to help you move data across (I'd prefer to do this myself) but you still get to take your old phone home? They don't take it as a trade in etc? I'm selling mine privately so obviously want to keep my existing iPhone.
 
...and note that you don't have the option not to continue paying after the 12th payment since you're locked into a contract. You can either not upgrade and continue the payments until the phone has been paid in full, or you can upgrade (and by doing so, you'd also be re-starting the whole 20 month contract again).

You can settle the loan at any time and the phone is yours. I'm planning on taking the program out, and at month 12, I'll settle it up and sell the phone. I'm guessing you won't be able to get a rebate on unused Applecare+ doing it this way (not sure how that'll work with the upgrade program), but you'd still get a better price than just taking it back to Apple.

On the list of things that you'll need to bring, it says to bring your current phone.

I assume this is just for them to help you move data across (I'd prefer to do this myself) but you still get to take your old phone home? They don't take it as a trade in etc? I'm selling mine privately so obviously want to keep my existing iPhone.

This is for people who are already on the upgrade program, and want to upgrade to the latest handset.
 
I'm thinking of doing this (even though I hate monthly outgoings with a vengeance).

I'm wondering if I could start the program (circa £50 per month) and then give Barclays the £430 from the sale of my 6S+ to reduce those payments?

I'd presumably do the same next year, or would I have to give back the 7 Plus to Apple as my trade in?
 
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I'm thinking of doing this (even though I hate monthly outgoing a with a vengeance).

I'm wondering if I could start the program (circa £50 per month) and then give Barclays the £430 from the sale of my 6S+ to reduce those payments?

I'd presumably do the same next year, or would I have to give back the 7 Plus to Apple as my trade in?

I doubt it unless that £430 makes up the remainder of the contract.
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But that's fine :) it's interest free and I'd rather have that DD than having to worry about a credit card balance

You also have to hand in the old iphone back so you won't have anything to show for your £600 that you paid for in year one.

If you're prepared to rent an iphone for every 12 months then that's fine.
 
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I'm wondering if I could start the program (circa £50 per month) and then give Barclays the £430 from the sale of my 6S+ to reduce those payments?
You'd certainly be able to make the £430 as an additional payment (this is a credit agreement after all so they'd legally have to accept additional payments or early settlement), however I'm not sure whether they'd reduce the payments or choose to shorten the agreement. It all depends on the wording of the credit agreement itself.
 
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Yeah I'm the same, I'd like to pay more upfront and have less to pay a month
I spoke to 02 and they said that you can't pay a deposit other than stated but you can pay more (and not all) of the plan for your handset off at anytime which brings your monthly payments down.
 
AppleCare is pretty much worthless in year 1 due to the warranty, so I'm struggling to see how this is a good deal other than the obvious monthly payment model. Much cheaper to buy the phone and then sell in 12 months from what I can see.
 
Any idea if you can get 2 phones on the upgrade program under the same name? Thinking of getting one for my Wife as well, but i doubt she would pass the credit check as she has only been a UK resident for 18 months
 
Going for 32gb+ in black

Will be using the apple interest free 20 month payment plan but without apple care and the upgrade option.

The plan being to sell the phone after 12 months, clear the debt and start again next year with the next iphone :)
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As a related sidenote they're really pushing AppleCare now. Probably trying to make it look more attractive and "encourage" people into the upgrade programme.

I broke my screen on Tuesday (horrid timing as usual) and as of Wednesday 18:00BST that repair would have cost me £126 for a new screen or £256 as an out of warranty "replace with refurb". As soon as the keynote was over that all changed and those prices became £146 and £306. Big rises for non-AppleCare repairs. Conversely AppleCare repairs have come down. £25 for a new screen and, from what I can tell, £79 to get a refurb for a borked phone.

Seems they're just finding more and more ways to squeeze us for cash. It's how it feels anyway.

Fuming about this as i have booked to take my 6+ in today to get the screen fixed! It was £107 when i made the appointment.
 
Assuming you've taken care of the device, you can get way more than £300 for it. Plus, as it's already been mentioned, you can also get a partial refund on the AppleCare+. I think the following would be a more fair comparison:

Upgrade Programme -
£49 Upfront + £33.45 x 11 = £416

Buying Outright -
£599 upfront + £119 AppleCare+ - £400 sale price in one year - £59.5 AppleCare Refund = £338.5

(You can probably get more than £400 but it may take some effort.)

You can save a bit over £80 by purchasing it outright, and that's nice, but it comes with other advantages as well. The phone is yours from the very point you purchase it, whereas if you buy it via the Apple Upgrade Program you need to wait for 20 months for that to happen; and note that you don't have the option not to continue paying after the 12th payment since you're locked into a contract. You can either not upgrade and continue the payments until the phone has been paid in full, or you can upgrade (and by doing so, you'd also be re-starting the whole 20 month contract again).

The way I see it this program is just a way for Apple to get a guaranteed stream of income out of the user in exchange for removing the hassle of having to sell the phone after a year; but that small advantage has a price as well, as I mentioned above, since you could get more out of your used phone.

Yeah yours is a little closer to accurate, but like I said to get the ease of sale you'd need to price it lower, where with the upgrade program you can just walk in and trade up. Having just quickly checked the phone recycle companies, you're getting around £350-£450 depending on size for a Plus, which is what you need to compare the Apple program too I guess, as it's for ease of use.

As has been mentioned you can pay it off in full at any time with no downsides.

Not sure why people keep going on about the phone being rented, having to hand it in when upgrading etc, you really thought this would be a way to get an iPhone for about half the cost? It's exactly the same system as if you sell it before buying the new one. If you don't want to trade the phone in, just keep paying the payments for 9 months, or call up and pay out right.

Apple seemed to have worked very hard to make this as attractive and catch free as possible. If you don't fancy the upgrade, no problem it's only cost you £50 extra. Are iPhone values significantly higher than the trade in value? Just pay it off in full and sell it privately.

It will be interesting however to see how strict Apple will be come next Friday when people in the US try to upgrade, I'm wondering how many will be charged that AC+ excess to 'repair' the damaged phone they have brought in.

A quick comparison of if you'd bought a 6S+ 128Gb vs Upgrade Program for a year on a 7+ 128Gb (Chosen because their prices at new were similar, despite not being matching models)

6S+ -
£789 Purchase + £119 AC+ - £451 Envirofone - £59 AC+ Refund = £408

7+ -
£49 Upfront + £44.45*11 = £537.95

Difference - £129.95

Considering I can afford to buy it outright, or put it on a 0% card, and I wouldn't buy AC+ which makes the gap even bigger, I've talked myself out of the program.

That Envirofone price might not have yet adjusted for the 7 launch, so I'm not sure how long you'd have to be without the current phone before the new one arrives, I've never done it, but it seems pretty strong at the moment.

I think this is as close of a comparison as we can get currently, I suppose you could work it off US prices so you could have the cost of a year of the 6S on upgrade, but I think we've been brexit'd a bit on the prices for the 7 looking at them compared to 6S launch.

If the above turned out to be true, you could just pay for the phone outright and sell it privately I suppose. You'd always be £49 worse off though, if you can refund the AC+ once it's paid off.
 
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I'm still not sure I understand how this program works.

Am I right in thinking that next year we will hand our iPhone 7s in and just start again on a new contract (so no tangible part ex "value")?
 
I'm still not sure I understand how this program works.

Am I right in thinking that next year we will hand our iPhone 7s in and just start again on a new contract (so no tangible part ex "value")?

Yes, like I've said above you've effectively 'sold' them the iPhone when you hand it in, for whatever your payment is x9. When you trade it in they pay off the remaining balance so you can start a new 20 month contract.

So in the example I gave above, it would cost £537.95 to own a 7+ 128Gb for a year on the Apple plan, or roughly £408 if you bought it outright and then sold it on.
 
Remember after the 11 months (upgrade time), if you found the resale value was better than you expected, you could pay off the remainder of the loan and be free to sell the phone to whoever you wish?

Then either start a new upgrade plan or buy outright.
 
Remember after the 11 months (upgrade time), if you found the resale value was better than you expected, you could pay off the remainder of the loan and be free to sell the phone to whoever you wish?

Then either start a new upgrade plan or buy outright.

Exactly, you'd at the very least be £49 worse off from what I can see though, due to the upfront cost. And possibly another £60 if for some reason you can't refund the AC+
 
These figures don't make much sense to me.

Selling an iPhone 6+ using no hassle Envirophone (with 5% voucher code) gives me £60 more than Apple are offering me for a trade-in & therefore a half-price iPhone 7. As I need 2 phones (1 for work, 1 for personal) I simply sell 1 phone every year for upgrade. I can do this with 2 phones for the price Apple are quoting for 1. Granted I don't get AppleCare but with the premiums they charge for accidental damage, who really cares?
 
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