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MattXDA

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 18, 2014
478
471
UK
Will the iPhone X be the fastest depreciating iPhone ever?

When Apple bring out a new iPhone next year, with TouchID and refined facial recognition, surely the X will be worth a fraction of its purchase price on resale?

I’m thinking that the iPhone 8 Plus would be the most economical upgrade to a 7 Plus this year, then purchase the refined X next year.

Anyone have any contrasting thoughts? The X is still very tempting purely for the form factor change.
 
Upgrading from a 7+ to a 8+ seems a sideways step to me the improvements are very minimal between them, unless you really want wireless charging and gimmicky photography effects?
 
Will the iPhone X be the fastest depreciating iPhone ever?

I don't think so as next year models will most likely all have the iPhone X form factor. The X marks the transition to the new design. So just as they still sell 6s and the 7/7+, the iPhone X will still be part of the lineup next year, along with the refined, newer models. I'm on a 2 year plan with my 7+ I'm not in a hurry. Yes it's expensive, but I like the iPhone X...
 
Upgrading from a 7+ to a 8+ seems a sideways step to me the improvements are very minimal between them, unless you really want wireless charging and gimmicky photography effects?

Pretty much everyone I know/have read about online who upgraded from 7/+ to 8/+ has LOVED the upgrade and doesn't regret it.
 
Well, there's always the original iPhone and then 3G, or 3GS and 4, and various other examples.
 
There will ALWAYS be a resale market for iPhones, but I totally agree the X may be hammered more than usual for a couple of reasons:

1) the premium price
2) the new X2 (iPhone Twelve?)

Even still, I'd bet it'll hold 50-60% of it's value fairly easily, simply because the iPhone is the "cool" phone to own, and the X will still be the second coolest model even after the X2 is released.
 
It will depreciate at the same rate as recent phones have: 50-60% in first year. The difference is 50% of $600 is less that 50% of 1200 so it will hurt more.

But most will fianace and will not notice because the price of the phone is baked into the monthly bill and they will just surrender the phone in a year or two not actually sell it.
 
The base iPhone x is $999.

I suspect at least a 40 percent drop in value in 12 months.

So I can pick it up for around $600 easy in September 2018 give or take.

Right now I can pick up an iPhone 7 plus 128 for around $500-550 pretty easy after 12 months. Msrp was around $869 in September 2016 for 7 plus 128gb

The jphone 7 $649 32gb I can pick up close to $400 now. 128gb around $450 iPhone 7 4.7 inch.
 
Will the iPhone X be the fastest depreciating iPhone ever?

When Apple bring out a new iPhone next year, with TouchID and refined facial recognition, surely the X will be worth a fraction of its purchase price on resale?

I’m thinking that the iPhone 8 Plus would be the most economical upgrade to a 7 Plus this year, then purchase the refined X next year.

Anyone have any contrasting thoughts? The X is still very tempting purely for the form factor change.

It depends. Initially, its depreciation will be definitely slower then other iPhones due to demand. After a year, it will most likely stabilize and will be on par with other iPhones. The only way that I believe that it will depreciate at higher rate after a year is if hardware inside it is not good enough to handle new features (higher resolution and/or Face ID). But that is remain to be seen.
 
If they release a new phone like the X, but with TouchID, it is going to depreciate for certain. It seems like most are banking on it not coming back:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-back-in-a-successor-to-the-iphone-x.2067055/

If they just release a plus size, then I don't think anyone will care much, or a 'faster' facial recognition, which I don't think is that big of a deal. The smart thing to do would be to keep the X ahead and make very minor updates, while updating the rest of the line to have more of what the X has.

Maybe create an X+ so that people who want a bigger X can have it, that's about it. Even with TouchID and FaceID, the X has the best cameras overall.
 
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