iPhone 8 poll

[Spooner83]

With the price of the iPhone 8 starting at $1k, this will make monthly lease prices go up. We will be paying at least $40 extra on our phone bills if you have a current lease plan on your phone. (sprint iphone forever, at&t next, etc.)

 

[JPack]

I always purchase my devices outright, just like cars. I don't subscribe to the habit of "can't afford it, but still want it."

My wireless bill is $40 for 4GB/unlimited local calling.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

With the price of the iPhone 8 starting at $1k, this will make monthly lease prices go up. We will be paying at least $40 extra on our phone bills if you have a current lease plan on your phone. (sprint iphone forever, at&t next, etc.)

What am I missing?

A (f)lease is the financing of the portion of the price that contains the depreciation, right? I mean, if you lease a $1200 phone for a year, and the projected value of the phone at the end of that year is $600, you'd be paying $50/month (plus interest, taxes, and fees). Does that $140 include cellular service?

 

[ET iPhone Home]

I'm buying the iPhone 8 full price, but in no way willI pay $140 /month for a phone plan. I am sticking to my $45/month ATT pre-pay plan.

 

[joeblow7777]

If I buy it, I intend to buy it outright in order to stay on my current $50 CDN plan. A plan which I intend to keep until my carrier pries it out of my hands.

 

[Gathomblipoob]

If I buy it, I intend to buy it outright in order to stay on my current $50 CDN plan. A plan which I intend to keep until my carrier pries it out of my hands.

Your cold. Dead. Hands.

 

[joeblow7777]

Your cold. Dead. Hands.

I was going to say that, but I thought it sounded a bit extreme.

 

[Gathomblipoob]

I was going to say that, but I thought it sounded a bit extreme.

I've never shied away from extreme.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Will just pay cash.

 

[MsRandall]

I always purchase my devices outright, just like cars. I don't subscribe to the habit of "can't afford it, but still want it."

My wireless bill is $40 for 4GB/unlimited local calling.

If someone finances a phone with 0 interest doesn't mean they "Can't afford" it - many of the trade in previous models promos will be tied to carrier payments

 

[Volgin]

That's a crazy high price for a single line. I pay $55 a month on Cricket. They sell the SE 64GB for $229.

 

[Givmeabrek]

I buy my phones outright. I don't take out loans to buy consumer items. Buy what you can afford.....

 

[noobinator]

$40/month is equal to or less than what some are paying for their iPhones now.

 

[rugmankc]

Don't get it. My 950.00 6s Plus cost me 47.00/mo. Now paid off. How is an 8 at say 1100.00 going to cost me 40.00 more per month? That said my current iPhone is doing fine and don't need to buy a new one.

 

[bigjnyc]

I always purchase my devices outright, just like cars. I don't subscribe to the habit of "can't afford it, but still want it."

My wireless bill is $40 for 4GB/unlimited local calling.

it's an interest free financing program why spend your money up front when you can invest it elsewhere and put your money to work? Some people think that paying up front is smart but it really isn't... I could take that 1k and invest it and multiply it rather than spending it up front on a depreciating asset. Oh and purchasing cars upfront is not smart either... if it flies, floats or drives, lease it!

 

[hinesmj]

Love how this simple poll turned into a "holier than thou" financial advice thread...

 

[noobinator]

Love how this simple poll turned into a "holier than thou" financial advice thread...

lol right

So on that note let me add mine. In my mind agreeing to finance a phone over 2 years for the sole purpose of getting a greater return on the money (1000 up front or 40/month or whatever) is ridiculous. Sure if you take that whopping $1000 and invest it somewhere for 2 years and the investment does awesome you might make $100 on it. Subtract fees, subtract your time and effort into investing it, and you make nada if you value your time at all. Meanwhile I'll spend my $1000 on day one and not think the phone's price, the investment I could have made, or being locked to a carrier.

 

[Volgin]

It's still too expensive to pay for a phone. But if this is how people want to spend their money then God bless them.

 

[joeblow7777]

I always purchase my devices outright, just like cars. I don't subscribe to the habit of "can't afford it, but still want it."

My wireless bill is $40 for 4GB/unlimited local calling.

Just curious, but do you subscribe to the same philosophy when buying a house? (Assuming that you have, or intend to purchase one). buying a home outright with no mortgage is not realistic for most people.

 

[Dave245]

I'm in the UK so things are a little different, but I will be buying the iPhone 8 outright and then putting my current sim only inside and using that.

 

[rui no onna]

So on that note let me add mine. In my mind agreeing to finance a phone over 2 years for the sole purpose of getting a greater return on the money (1000 up front or 40/month or whatever) is ridiculous. Sure if you take that whopping $1000 and invest it somewhere for 2 years and the investment does awesome you might make $100 on it. Subtract fees, subtract your time and effort into investing it, and you make nada if you value your time at all. Meanwhile I'll spend my $1000 on day one and not think the phone's price, the investment I could have made, or being locked to a carrier.

In fairness, investing can be quite easy. One can simply add the money to a low expense ratio mutual fund (or maybe buy AAPL shares), set capital gains and dividends to reinvest, and be done with it. Probably takes less than 5 minutes.

I reckon deciding what configuration of iPhone to buy probably takes more time for some folks on this forum.

Caveat, investing does carry risk so it's possible for shares to lose their value, too.

 

[JPack]

it's an interest free financing program why spend your money up front when you can invest it elsewhere and put your money to work? Some people think that paying up front is smart but it really isn't... I could take that 1k and invest it and multiply it rather than spending it up front on a depreciating asset. Oh and purchasing cars upfront is not smart either... if it flies, floats or drives, lease it!

It may be interest free in the narrow sense, but you're limited in the ability to switch carriers to take advantage of better pricing.
[doublepost=1501013129][/doublepost]

Just curious, but do you subscribe to the same philosophy when buying a house? (Assuming that you have, or intend to purchase one). buying a home outright with no mortgage is not realistic for most people.

Where I live, detached homes cost two orders of magnitude greater than a new Honda Civic.

ROI is of course available for almost any sum of money. For $1k is it really worth it? What about financing $500 or $100? My threshold is about $10k. At that point, I can use the money to invest in improving my rental properties to get an appreciable increase in ROI. If someone has to finance a $1k purchase, I would like to ask if they really need that $1k phone to begin with.

 

[Coconut_one]

No thanks here in the UK Contracts are expensive with low data usage.
Sim plan is the way to go I'm currently paying
iPhone 6 £9 4Gb Data sim with unlimited text and minutes
iPhone 6 Plus £9 4Gb Data sim with unlimited text and minutes
Samsung Galaxy S8 £18 30Gb Data sim with unlimited text and minutes
three device's cost me £36 each month that around 48 dollars each month.

I will save up for the iphone 8 outright and slap on my £9 sim.

 

[rui no onna]

It may be interest free in the narrow sense, but you're limited in the ability to switch carriers to take advantage of better pricing.

Not really. Pay off the remaining balance and you're good to go. Total amount is the same either way. On the newer plans with EIP, there are no other fees for cancelling your account.

Recently unlocked an iPhone from AT&T (for international trip) and it only took like 30 minutes to process from when I requested the unlock (online form). Verizon is already unlocked from the get go.

 

[joeblow7777]

It may be interest free in the narrow sense, but you're limited in the ability to switch carriers to take advantage of better pricing.
[doublepost=1501013129][/doublepost]

Where I live, detached homes cost two orders of magnitude greater than a new Honda Civic.

I don't understand how that's possible. Where I live a Honda Civic is maybe $16-20 thousand and average house prices are getting close to $1 million!
(Canadian dollars)

*Edit*
Sorry, I misread! I somehow thought that you said that the Civic costs more! That made zero sense to me.