Is it cheaper to rent an iphone pro than buy it?

[smorrissey]

Hello community,

I just had a discussion with my brother and i want to know if he's right, he bought an iphone 13 pro when it was released and bought a rent plan too, each 2 years hes gonna change iphone for "free", even better he defends that is even cheaper to rent than buy (he saves 470 buck because of deductible but he doesnt mention how much cost to manage and use a credit card). It doesnt matter for him cause now everything is for rent specialy the iphones which battery degrades in one year like its happening right now.

As far as i knew renting will always be more expensive than buy (in one pay).

I don't own a credit card (im not interested on have one either) so i don't have the experience or the maths to know how much you really pay for a rented iphone pro at the end (let say you are punctual with your payments like he is).

Any comments are welcome thx.

(and sorry for my english im a little rusty).

 

[AZhappyjack]

One could make a valid argument either way, given Apple's zero-interest installment plan. Part of the calculation has to include your long-term intent, as well.

If you have the cash in hand to pay full price for the phone, you are potentially losing out on whatever saving account interest you can earn on that money. One could argue that it's better to use Apple's money rather than your own.

However, if you don't have the cash in hand, and want to buy, you will have to use a credit card to pay for the phone. Card interest rates range between 0.00% and upwards of 18-20% (or more) depending on what your card issue charges based on your credit worthiness.

Again, two ways to go with the frequency of updating your phone. If you want to buy new and then keep it until Apple flags it "obsolete", you could amortize the cost over about a 5 or 6 year period... much cheaper than "renting". But if you always want the latest and greatest, then "renting" may be a better option - you will always have a payment, but you will also always have a new(er) phone.

The Apple plan charges your sales tax (or the equivalent in rest of the world) upfront, and most of the time, their offers include the full cost of the phone and AppleCare+ amortized over 24 months.

 

[Farrgazer]

@dwfaust already made a good post. I’ll just add to it.

The short answer is “it depends.”

The long answer is that it depends on the following:

- what country you live in
- the credit card you use
- if you sign up for a similar plan with a telco rather than a credit card, the telco’s terms and conditions
- your phone usage pattern

Speaking based on my home country, credit cards can provide various perks that are tied to your card usage. For example, depending on what card you use, there might be a cashback rate tied to your spending. And you get that cashback in the form of points that you can use towards something else.

Or the credit card may provide straight discounts for certain usages.

In theory, a discount means money less spent, and you can use that money towards something else. Same with cashback. You get points to use for other goods or services. At the end of the day, you get more out of the money you pull out of your bank account compared to when you just hand over cash or use a debit card.

The flip side is that all those discounts and cashback are tied to specific terms and conditions. For example, you can get perks when shopping in one shop, but you get nothing if you shop somewhere else. You need to keep track of all that in order to maximize savings, and that can be tiring.

I personally am in the buy-once-use-forever camp. I don’t have the brain space to keep track of all the terms I’ve mentioned above. And I don’t see the point in frequent updates because I don’t tax my phone to the point I see slowdowns.