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M5 Studio base pre-ordered using Apple Upgrade lease
- Thread starter 4sallypat
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maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
He can at the end of the lease.
The other option I considered is using my EDU discount ($200) and then putting it on my 0% balance transfer credit card and paying it off within 24 months accelerating the "buyout end".
$105 vs $49 / month - chose the lower cost option and have the option to buy it out at the end which seems unlikely because the newer M8 or M9 will be out...
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
Still a sad state of affairs where the price of this is so high that leasing is an option
As I stated in the other thread, the Studio is an awesome desktop, and I was lucky to snag one last year at a relatively low price. Sad to see that the M5 has been priced our of reach for some people (including me)
IMO Apple Upgrade was put into place in order to entice people to upgrade more often. The M series systems are so good it's difficult to justify a casual upgrade. Factor in the summer price increases and keeping an older M series system makes a lot more sense. Easier to justify an upgrade when you pay by the month and can either a) turn it in for something new or b) buy it at the end of the lease (with the total cost being no more than had you purchased it outright).
Apple Upgrade is an attempt to move hardware into the subscription model.
I just ordered the base model with 36 Gb RAM, 1 Tb SSD, but I am buying it on Apple Card 12 month payments. I got $965 instant trade-in for my '24 Mini M4 Pro, so payments are $153. In a couple years I can do the same again if I want, with a trade-in. I don't like leasing anything.
fathergll
macrumors 68020
100%. Smart move by Apple. It's going to be a boiling frog scenario with prices increases on the hardware over time.
Big question is are most people going to pay this off at the end or simply start a new lease?
In this case Sept 2028 rolls around and OP has option to pay $735 for the machine which is going to be 2-3 generations old or start new lease with the M7 or maybe even a M8 Studio at that time. $735 isn't much money so I can see paying that off easy. Real question is the people who are going high end paying $200 a month and then there is a $2,000+ bill for the buyout. I suspect many of these people are just going to start a new lease on a M7/M8.
Issue is it makes sense in theory to do the upgrade program as you should have your capital allocated in areas to make money so paying it off over time without interest is the best way BUT human nature will compel most to purchase higher end configurations negating this and Apple knows this. It's the same reason vehicle prices are out of control.
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Apple fanboy
macrumors Ivy Bridge
- Option 1: Apple lease with option to own/buyout with lowest monthly for 36 months
- Option 2: 24 month 0% credit card with next lowest monthly.
- Option 3: EDU pricing on Apple Card 0% for 12 months but the monthly is too high for me as I am newly retired and have to work with fixed sources of income.
- Option 4: 401b rep said that I could buy it outright from my investment funds since I have not touched these accounts due to current volatility.
Glad my income combines: lifelong pension, lifelong SS and annuity - to keep me straight and level flight (aviation).🤣
I changed my mind, and reordered the 18/40 version of the Max with 48 Gb RAM. It's another $600 over the base model, and over the course of using it for several years I won't notice the extra expense. I don't really need it for any important reason. Maybe I'll get slightly better frame rates when I use Zwift this winter. I retired from software engineering two years ago, but haven't been writing any code since. Maybe I'll get bored and come up with a personal project to work on (decent cataloging software for my vinyl collection?).
Leasing has always been an option, just not directly from Apple.
Best Buy has provided computer leasing for like 20 years now.
No, I don't like to lease anything. Rather, pay cash or low/no interest loan and be debt free afterwards, but still have what I bought. I leased nice cars in the past, but that doesn't work for me now. Lease is more costly than I'm willing to stomach.
I just bought a new car on a 48-month loan. It has a 10 year bumper to bumper warranty. I bought my new Mac Studio using Apple's 12-month no interest loan. I could pay cash for the latter but why take it out of the market if Apple wants to give me a free loan.
To each their own but, if you're responsible with the money, you're not overextending yourself, and you have a viable investment option to use the money elsewhere, you're foolish to pay it all today over a 36 months with 0% interest option.
Take the lump sum you'd be paying and dump it into savings, money market accounts, stocks, bonds, whatever and, by month 36, that money that you slowly paid them versus all at once will have gained you 3, 6, 10% back and effectively reduced the final cost.
Take the lump sum you'd be paying and dump it into savings, money market accounts, stocks, bonds, whatever and, by month 36, that money that you slowly paid them versus all at once will have gained you 3, 6, 10% back and effectively reduced the final cost.
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gigapocket1
macrumors 68030
enricoclaudio
macrumors 6502a
Leases prices are exactly the same as purchasing the Mac Studio upfront or financing it with Apple Card. No processing fees, no interest and literally Apple is eating the item depreciation. It is so good that I just placed an order for a Mac Studio M5 Max with 2TB SSD and after trading in my M1 Max Mac Studio, I'm going to pay $55.12 for 36 months and after leasing period ends, $1120 if I want to owned it. Total comes down to $3104 which is the same total as if I have paid full upfront.
Yes, agree the no interest rate lease is quite a good deal.
What was your trade in offer from Apple on your M1 Studio?
Mine was $440 which is very low so I going to sell it privately.
enricoclaudio
macrumors 6502a
Wow, that's a much better offer for your config!
I am looking at eBay to resell my M1 Studio and could not believe how much they were selling now.
It's almost as if depreciation for a 4 year old Studio didn't happen, if not appreciated ?
M1 Studio base reselling for almost what I paid for back in 2022 !
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If you have an Apple card and make your lease payments with it, you'll also be getting 3% back on the payments. I have not been able to confirm if at the end of the lease you get 3% back on the buyout if you pay it with Apple Card. If so, you get that 3% plus whatever return you've gotten on the holding of the buyout amount. Which should easily be at least 3.25% to 4.5% APR in a free high-interest savings account. 4% APR over 3 years is about 12.5% return.
The way Apple has set the leasing option up with no interest or fees really makes it a very viable option for a variety of reasons. Even if you're not earning an ROI on the buyout money, if you just plan on upgrading every 2-3 years, it still might be a better option for you. It isn't like leasing a car where they hide a high interest rate and fees in a low payment.
The only potential trap here for people is the trade-in. Because it is only used to buy down the payments and you'll not have a trade-in at the end of the lease, if you decide to lease a new computer at the end of 2 or 3 years, those payments are going to be much higher and maybe even beyond affordable for you for a comparable model... so be smart if you really plan to use this as your "upgrade" plan.
The only other thing we don't know is what apple will be offering for trade-in on one of these computers in 2-3 years. There very well could be a situation where they are offering more than the buyout price and it makes sense to buy it out just to trade it in. Unlikely for the 3 year option I'd think, but maybe viable to save a little money after 2 years... That's a gamble though.
Dirk Pieters
macrumors 6502a
I’ll add that the annual M+1 updates themselves were put into place in order to entice people to upgrade more often. A large percentage of the population wants the latest and greatest for no real other reason than to just have the latest and greatest. Apple caters perfectly to those people.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with a 0% interest lease. Quite the contrary. Especially now that some of the stuff is becoming expensive.
JesterJJZ
macrumors 68030
For the days of towers like MacPro I would agree. But with something like the MacStudio where all your upgrades are external, it doesn't really matter as much.
enricoclaudio
macrumors 6502a
Not a big difference honestly. My payment with trade in are set at $55.12 + Tax. Without trade in would have been $77.24 + Tax.