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MP 7,1 Leasing a 7,1 + XDR vs buying outright. Pros and cons?

vel0city

vel0city

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 23, 2017
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Is anyone else considering leasing a 7,1 rather than buying outright? I've never done this before, but given the high price of the 7,1 I'm thinking about it.

This is the company I'm looking at, based in the UK: https://www.hardsoftcomputers.co.uk/imac-pro/

They have a holding page for the 7,1 and Pro Display XDR but no pricing as yet: https://www.hardsoftcomputers.co.uk/apple-macs/apple-desktops/apple-mac-pro/

I'm interested in the Flexi Lease option: https://www.hardsoftcomputers.co.uk.../which-solution-is-right-for-you/flexi-lease/

Anyone else thinking of leasing? Good or bad idea?
 
vel0city said:
Is anyone else considering leasing a 7,1 rather than buying outright? I've never done this before, but given the high price of the 7,1 I'm thinking about it.

This is the company I'm looking at, based in the UK: https://www.hardsoftcomputers.co.uk/imac-pro/

They have a holding page for the 7,1 and Pro Display XDR but no pricing as yet: https://www.hardsoftcomputers.co.uk/apple-macs/apple-desktops/apple-mac-pro/

I'm interested in the Flexi Lease option: https://www.hardsoftcomputers.co.uk.../which-solution-is-right-for-you/flexi-lease/

Anyone else thinking of leasing? Good or bad idea?
Click to expand...

There are so many pros and cons to this I would suggest you call these guys and talk through the options.


The key questions is "Is this right for me?"

Based on the Imac pro page leasing is £42 per week plus vat for 3 years = £42 x52x3 plus 20%VAT = £7862 Total plus whatever they charge to end the contract.

ALternatively look on Moneysavingexpert.com, find a credit card with 2years + interest free credit on new purchases and work out if that works out cheaper for you.

Base price of Imac pro is £4900 including VAT divide by 24 months 0% Interest rate = £204 per month roughly £51 per week including VAT

If you are a business and can recliam VAT and claim the lease against income then go down the leasing route

If you are a one man band freelancer the cheapst option is buy it on 0% credit card and also buy apple care so you have 3 years warranty.

Also when you come to purchase use a site like topcashback you can get 2.2% refund from the apple reurb store Example: on a £4K purchase you get £88 back to spend on other things!

Discalimer: I'm just a guy on the internet so don't take financial advice from me without double checking everything.

I just wanted to add that I started off with a 0% Post office credit card a few years ago to buy a load of Canon camera equipment. My balance was £3.5K. I paid it of slowly then when the 0% period ended I did a balance transfer to Barclaycard for another 24 months 0% credit and now finally i did another balance transfer to a NatWest 0% Card for another 20 months. Effectively I have had nearly 6 years 0% interest free credit just by moving the debt from bank to bank. All completly legal and above board.

In your case the only question is is your credit score good enough to get a credit card with a high enough spending limit in the first place.
 
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Krakman advice is sound if your going to go down the loan route for the computer and display.
The applecare is important as well if you go this route, you don't want to be paying for a dead computer or display after 18 or so months make sure your covered.

I never leased a machine before , but it sounds like paying rent on a house handy for short term.
But in the long run it will never be yours to own.

Good luck with your new computer (when it ever gets released)
 
lantree said:
Krakman advice is sound if your going to go down the loan route for the computer and display.
The applecare is important as well if you go this route, you don't want to be paying for a dead computer or display after 18 or so months make sure your covered.

I never leased a machine before , but it sounds like paying rent on a house handy for short term.
But in the long run it will never be yours to own.

Good luck with your new computer (when it ever gets released)
Click to expand...

Generally you can arrange a $1 buyout at the end of the term with most lease providers. Talk with your accountant and commercial bank to determine what's best for your situation.

edit to add: doing so can have tax implications so again, talk with you accountant to see what best fits your situation.
 
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Yes, the company I linked allows you to buy the equipment for £1 at the end of the lease.

@thisisnotmyname - can you expand on what you mean by tax implications, please?
 
vel0city said:
Yes, the company I linked allows you to buy the equipment for £1 at the end of the lease.

@thisisnotmyname - can you expand on what you mean by tax implications, please?
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I don't know UK tax law but in the US there are rules about how you can depreciate equipment. There are lots of variables but sometimes there are incentives to depreciate up front with an outright purchase versus over time on a depreciation schedule. When leasing you then change the type of lease by having a buyout option and need to follow depreciation rules as eventually the equipment will (likely) be yours but claim the interest portion fully versus being able to deduct the full lease payment if there's no buyout option as it's a pure operational expense. Best to discuss with your accountant though as they will be familiar with specifics of your situation and applicable tax law.
 
vel0city said:
Yes, the company I linked allows you to buy the equipment for £1 at the end of the lease.

@thisisnotmyname - can you expand on what you mean by tax implications, please?
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There are different tax rules in each country, best to talk to your accountant and work out what the situation is.

In my original reply the extra cost in leasing rather than buying was about £2900 across 3 years. That is half the cost of a Mac Pro or monitor.

The leasing model works if, lets say for example, you land a post production contract for a film that requires 10 mac pros over 2 years. The upfront cost of 10 mac pros is £60K plus another £60K for monitors. In this case lease the machines at £42 per mac per week and charge the cost to the client. Once the contract finishes just return them.

To buy the machines would cost £120K to lease them would cost £42 x 10 macs x 52 weeks x2 years = £43680

This is a rough example, talk to your accountant about tax implications.

My personal preference, i'm a one man band, would be buy the thing outright.

Many of us are still using 2009 mac pros for daily work so I would expect a 2019 mac pro to easily last you 10 years. I still have a 2008 17inch MacBook pro that I use for emails and light photo editing.
 
Yeah, talking with a CPA about how this affects your tax liability is important here.

I am looking at the 7,1 myself and will most likely buy it upfront, primarily for the immediate deduction for this year. But everyone's situation is different.
 
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I ran basic numbers through on $7500-$10K for leasing and GENERALLY speaking it was costing 15%-20% more over retail in total over the length of the lease, not including tax for purchase and shipping.

At those prices it was not an attractive option for many. Better financing through third party or other business financial brokers. Some credit cards even have better terms for 18-24 months no interest.
The end buyout ($1 through CIT/Apple Business) usually has no impact on a 3 year lease since that is USUALLY the minimum scheduled tax term. When going with a 1-2 year term lease, there are implications.

Until an actual product is available for purchase, you cannot get real quotes yet. Not unlike a car purchase with financing, they want to factor depreciation and value over time. Little established history does not help this and often need to do a little of your own legwork to show comparable (like an HP PC workstation).
 
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bsbeamer said:
I ran basic numbers through on $7500-$10K for leasing and GENERALLY speaking it was costing 15%-20% more over retail in total over the length of the lease, not including tax for purchase and shipping.

At those prices it was not an attractive option for many. Better financing through third party or other business financial brokers. Some credit cards even have better terms for 18-24 months no interest.
The end buyout ($1 through CIT/Apple Business) usually has no impact on a 3 year lease since that is USUALLY the minimum scheduled tax term. When going with a 1-2 year term lease, there are implications.

Until an actual product is available for purchase, you cannot get real quotes yet. Not unlike a car purchase with financing, they want to factor depreciation and value over time. Little established history does not help this and often need to do a little of your own legwork to show comparable (like an HP PC workstation).
Click to expand...
It's been my decades long experience that paying to the last month of a lease is always more expensive in-total than the total purchase price with one upfront amount. The leaser must make a profit and that profit must come from the extra money you are paying for the option of low monthly payments above and beyond their purchase price; and they are not going to get cut-deals on their Mac Pros. If I needed to put the Mac Pro on a payment system, I would look for a 0% interest credit card lasting ~ 2 years. I recognize that for some - this is not an option though. The power of the entry level Mac Pro can be had with one of several other lower costing macs. Sometimes its easy to get hypnotized by a product.
 
vel0city said:
Yes, the company I linked allows you to buy the equipment for £1 at the end of the lease.
Click to expand...

Always read the fine print. In a lot of these situations, that will convert the lease to a kind-of-a-loan, and you'll have to pay the interest that would have accumulated over the terms of the lease.
 
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FYI, B&H is offering 24 months interest free financing on $1599+ purchases through 12/2. They are an authorized Apple reseller. APR is nearly 30% so pay this off in advance or look elsewhere. I'm sure they will be willing to extend the offer through EOY if you're going to pre-order an MP7,1 for $6K+ and Pro Display XDR.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/l/special-financing
 
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Thanks a lot everyone for feeding back on thoughts about this. I'll most likely buy it outright and claim the VAT back and of course the Mac itself is a deductible expense.
 
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I'd decide depending on how returns and warranty work out - e.g. what happens if the machine doesn't work as advertised a year down the road and you just want to get rid of it? Or if it breaks down in year three and you don't have Apple Care.

I'm saying this because I do remember those T2 crashes on the iMP - that kind of thing would surely make me ditch the machine if its not reliable. Also the GPU burnouts on the trashcan of course. In both cases I'd just want either another box of the same kind - pronto and without fuss - or something entirely different - is that something that would be easier with a leasing contract?
 
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