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iPhone X all the fuss about iPhone prices...

razmonster

razmonster

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 22, 2017
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how many people are ACTUALLY paying full retail for an iPhone?

last year i got the X 256 with $0 down and taxes charged next bill.
$56/month and in 10 months it's half paid off which makes upgrade eligibility...

i order the Xs Max 512 as an upgrade with $0 down and taxes charged to next bill...

so I've only "paid" for half of the X, $560, and a year from now I've only will have paid $720 for the Xs Max when it's time to upgrade again

I know everyone has different carriers with different upgrade options but realistically how many people are for real paying the entire price?

unless you are buying SIM FREE or you use prepaid carriers... there's not a reason you can't be upgrading yearly with little to no additional cost. if you are i feel like you're doing something wrong...
 
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Yea I don't get it. It's same payments as last year. Except for the max. And wasn't iPhone 8 and iPhone 7 priced the same when they were released for the base mode
 
Well yeah I ordered the max 256GB and although it’s £150 more sim free it’s £6 more a month for me...so to me that’s nothing that I would miss
 
razmonster said:
how many people are ACTUALLY paying full retail for an iPhone?

last year i got the X 256 with $0 down and taxes charged next bill.
$56/month and in 10 months it's half paid off which makes upgrade eligibility...

i order the Xs Max 512 as an upgrade with $0 down and taxes charged to next bill...

so I've only "paid" for half of the X, $560, and a year from now I've only will have paid $720 for the Xs Max when it's time to upgrade again

I know everyone has different carriers with different upgrade options but realistically how many people are for real paying the entire price?

unless you are buying SIM FREE or you use prepaid carriers... there's not a reason you can't be upgrading yearly with little to no additional cost. if you are i feel like you're doing something wrong...
Click to expand...
Arent you really paying $672 a year plus tax on the full amount to rent a phone? Maybe I’m missing something.
 
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First, the price of the XS is the same as last years X so some of the complaints are just a repeat of last year. Perhaps given some rumours said a price cut that’s affecting it.

In the UK I see the main issue is the networks.

For a long time you could get an iPhone with a reasonable tarrif for a price not much different to the cost of buying from Apple and getting a SIM only deal.

Today the tariffs are costing around £2000 for 2 years with minimal differences between a low usage, medium usage and high usage allowance.

Here’s a screenshot from EE as an example.
49da44ee92988f27f99577fa3b8c152e.jpg


The one thing I noted that is good is the 128GB XR seems a good deal at only £50 more than the base model. If only there was a 128 XS for only £50 more!
 
razmonster said:
how many people are ACTUALLY paying full retail for an iPhone?

last year i got the X 256 with $0 down and taxes charged next bill.
$56/month and in 10 months it's half paid off which makes upgrade eligibility...

i order the Xs Max 512 as an upgrade with $0 down and taxes charged to next bill...

so I've only "paid" for half of the X, $560, and a year from now I've only will have paid $720 for the Xs Max when it's time to upgrade again

I know everyone has different carriers with different upgrade options but realistically how many people are for real paying the entire price?

unless you are buying SIM FREE or you use prepaid carriers... there's not a reason you can't be upgrading yearly with little to no additional cost. if you are i feel like you're doing something wrong...
Click to expand...
Your math is off.

Some people don't like renting / leasing an iPhone. Many prefer to own said item. There are more factors involved than the carrier program price or IAUP pricing.
 
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But you never own the phone, I don’t like that. I also usually sell the phones since I own them and end up paying less for the next one I end up getting.should I decide to keep one, I can.
 
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I pay for my phone outright so I could use it with cheap prepaid phone plan. This saves me more money than “leasing” from the carrier.
 
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razmonster said:
how many people are ACTUALLY paying full retail for an iPhone?

last year i got the X 256 with $0 down and taxes charged next bill.
$56/month and in 10 months it's half paid off which makes upgrade eligibility...

i order the Xs Max 512 as an upgrade with $0 down and taxes charged to next bill...

so I've only "paid" for half of the X, $560, and a year from now I've only will have paid $720 for the Xs Max when it's time to upgrade again

I know everyone has different carriers with different upgrade options but realistically how many people are for real paying the entire price?

unless you are buying SIM FREE or you use prepaid carriers... there's not a reason you can't be upgrading yearly with little to no additional cost. if you are i feel like you're doing something wrong...
Click to expand...
You are comparing your rental cost to other people's buying cost. That's like me comparing my car payments to a lease and complaining that I pay more. I get to keep mine and sell it later if I want to. A person who buys their phone can sell it and recoup money that way. Or, god forbid, keep it for a few years. So yeah, anyone buying is paying full retail, you are not buying it.
 
Deguello said:
Arent you really paying $672 a year plus tax on the full amount to rent a phone? Maybe I’m missing something.
Click to expand...

im not renting I'm purchasing but i choose to upgrade every year. while it's similar to renting, i am able to keep the device if i want to. I'm never going to keep the same phone for 2-3yrs.

the longest I've waited was skipping the 6s going from 6 to 7 and that's only because i was between carriers and using prepaid

even if you pay a phone off...you're more than likely going to be making monthly payments again on your new device so why not just keep it moving?

AT&T does 24 month and a 30 month installment plans....heck by the time you pay either of those off you're PROBABLY going to want a new phone anyway
 
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Koobs said:
If you're making payments for the rest of your life, are you really feeling like you got a deal?
Click to expand...
Plus they get no money back because they can't resell the phone. I can. Even if I only keep phone for 1 year. I pay $1400, and sell it for $800 next year. That phone cost me $600, while renting phone cost OP $720. I made $120.
 
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razmonster said:
im not renting I'm purchasing but i choose to upgrade every year. while it's similar to renting, i am able to keep the device if i want to. I'm never going to keep the same phone for 2-3yrs.

the longest I've waited was skipping the 6s going from 6 to 7 and that's only because i was between carriers and using prepaid

even if you pay a phone off...you're more than likely going to be making monthly payments again on your new device so why not just keep it moving?

AT&T does 24 month and a 30 month installment plans....heck by the time you pay either of those off you're PROBABLY going to want a new phone anyway
Click to expand...
You aren't purchasing the phone if you have to turn it in, in order to upgrade. As long as you are under the lease / rental contract, you don't own the phone.
 
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Mac'nCheese said:
You are comparing your rental cost to other people's buying cost. That's like me comparing my car payments to a lease and complaining that I pay more. I get to keep mine and sell it later if I want to. A person who buys their phone can sell it and recoup money that way. Or, god forbid, keep it for a few years. So yeah, anyone buying is paying full retail, you are not buying it.
Click to expand...

i buy my phones i don't lease them. if i decide i want to pay it off early i am able to do that. technology in cars doesn't move as fast as it does in mobile devices so i don't consider that a valid comparison
 
razmonster said:
im not renting I'm purchasing but i choose to upgrade every year. while it's similar to renting, i am able to keep the device if i want to. I'm never going to keep the same phone for 2-3yrs.

the longest I've waited was skipping the 6s going from 6 to 7 and that's only because i was between carriers and using prepaid

even if you pay a phone off...you're more than likely going to be making monthly payments again on your new device so why not just keep it moving?

AT&T does 24 month and a 30 month installment plans....heck by the time you pay either of those off you're PROBABLY going to want a new phone anyway
Click to expand...
As a practical matter, you’re renting the phone. You don’t ever have a phone without a payment. Additionally, every time beyond the first in which you pay sales tax and someone who bought outright doesn’t is a relative dead weight loss that you’ll never get back.

I bought a 6+ outright and kept it for four years. I didn’t have monthly payments again.
 
razmonster said:
i buy my phones i don't lease them. if i decide i want to pay it off early i am able to do that. technology in cars doesn't move as fast as it does in mobile devices so i don't consider that a valid comparison
Click to expand...
Sorry I'm confused, you buy it for those payments, and then what happens to the phone after a year? Do you have to give it back or do you get to keep it?
 
razmonster said:
i buy my phones i don't lease them. if i decide i want to pay it off early i am able to do that. technology in cars doesn't move as fast as it does in mobile devices so i don't consider that a valid comparison
Click to expand...
What you describe in your opening post is not a purchase. You are confused about the difference between purchase and rental / leasing (with the option to own).
 
BasicGreatGuy said:
You aren't purchasing the phone if you have to turn it in, in order to upgrade. As long as you are under the lease / rental contract, you don't own the phone.
Click to expand...

i don't have to turn it in. i can pay off the balance and keep it.... but I'm not paying interest so i don't see the benefit in that
 
Hear me out, the full iPhone prices are steep to pay for the first time. However, once you invest in that, the prices aren't so bad. First of all, iPhones are lasting longer. Second, iPhone resale values are so high, even if you decide to sell it and get a new one, you're not going to lose that much money or be paying that much more money than you would've if iPhone prices were lower.
 
razmonster said:
i don't have to turn it in. i can pay off the balance and keep it.... but I'm not paying interest so i don't see the benefit in that
Click to expand...
What you have is a carrier lease agreement with the option to own, provided you make all the payments. If you want to upgrade, you have to have paid at least 50% of your lease to purchase (turn the phone back in) before being able to start a new lease agreement. You aren't actually purchasing your phones, from what you stated.
 
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