Other Why spend $1K every year on a phone?

[Ram65]

Look Apple wants us to upgrade our phones every year and that’s what we’ll do

 

[NewBench]

In real terms, nobody is spending $1000 each year on a phone. Even if you buy devices outright and sell them privately each year, you're paying something like $200-$400 each year to upgrade worst case scenario.

 

[cousintim]

Because we can

That doesn't mean you should.

 

[semihat]

I usually go 2 years between phones but the deals are too good this year. $134 to upgrade from a 12 PM to a 13 PM and own it outright with no credits?! Yup I had to.

Where is this deal available?

Thank you.

 

[Hotpinkflamingoaz]

Where is this deal available?

Thank you.

Best Buy if you have T-Mobile. Their iPhones are $100 off and with T-Mobile they are adding $100 to the trade in price.

 

[tis]

Why spend 7.00 on coffee everyday..not sure why people are so concerned on how others spend money

by the way I spent less than 400 on the brand new 13 pro max

I don't think anyone cares what others spend their hard earned money on. The argument is that the cost to upgrade every year far exceeds the performance increases in all areas.

Then, you add in the fact that most people who do upgrade every year are also on an expensive post paid service. That service normally costs them double what the same service would cost on prepaid. So....when you add it all up (service, activation, monthly taxes and fees, and device costs), these trade in "deals" are costing customers much more than if they were to just buy their phone outright. No matter how often they decide to upgrade. The only exception to this rule seems to be those who are on postpaid service with 3+ lines. The differences are then minimal.

 

[compwiz1202]

What does that cost you? Is the phone yours to sell at the every year?

When I looked at it last it was like leasing a car...didn’t make sense to me.

When I last looked it was like 50.00 a month, so 600.00 a year....then u turn in and your old phone, get a new one, and pay another 600.00 every year...

With how good carrier trade in promos are lately, it's better for us to just pay what is left on the installment plan, and then trade it in. Like this year my 12PM is worth $785 plus $15 in bill credits, and Apple sent an email saying there will be $200 more in bill credits for people trading a 12PM. By the time s year goes by, there will probably be like $157 left to pay on the installment, and the trade in promo cycle will continue.

 

[compwiz1202]

Where is this deal available?

Thank you.

Best Buy? I read there's is insane.

 

[Jemani]

I didn’t spend $1000. I only spent $359 on my new iPhone 13 Pro. Apple gave me $640 for my iPhone 12 Pro. It is mine and no 3 year contract.

 

[MacTechnics]

I upgrade every year on iUP. Pay half the phone and get a new one. And I’m okay with that cause it’s something I use all the time and like to have the most up to date one.

 

[Hunter5117]

I'm a cheapskate, so I can't imagine spending $1,000 a phone, period, let alone once a year!

I am pretty frugal myself. But I do like having nice tech devices, probably my only real vice. Currently driving a 16yo car so it is definitely not those. One monthly car payment pretty much pays for my phone.

 

[Hunter5117]

Then, you add in the fact that most people who do upgrade every year are also on an expensive post paid service.

I have 3 phones with unlimited service, 1 iPad unlimited, 2 Apple Watches unlimited, and unlimited home 5g internet. I pay $171 per month including tax. Not expensive at all considering home internet used to cost me almost $100 by itself.

 

[Bodhitree]

I used to upgrade annually but have stopped at the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Previously I would upgrade then my old handset would be passed to a family member. But we all have iPhone X or newer and the upgrades are so slight now there's not much point. And I really like the blue colour of my iPhone 12 Pro Max.

This is the thing. Quite a few people on this thread pass older iphones along to a family member rather than trading them in, and then the cost really is 1100 euro’s for a new phone. You’re basically paying to upgrade your iphone and everybody else‘s iPhone in the chain. But it’s a nice present to give.

It seems when you trade in or sell your phone it varies a lot by where in the world you live. Carrier trade in deals in Europe are a lot less generous, and Apple’s trade in values like some people in the UK have remarked are pretty rock bottom here. You can easily end up paying 300-400 euro’s a year if you upgrade yearly.

But this thread does make me wonder if I can upgrade yearly while still paying 150 euro’s a year for my device. I did the math some years ago and found that it wasn’t too expensive to buy-and-hold, but if locally people are getting 1000 euro’s back for a 12 Pro than that might give me the nice little luxury of a new phone every year. I will have a look around.

 

[Bodhitree]

A refurbished base spec iPhone 12 Pro is 635 euro’s here from a reseller, so that gives you an indication of where my local trade-in prices are at for a one year old iPhone Pro. It seems you need to adjust your buying strategy by country if you want to pay something reasonable, because that would imply nearly 500 euro’s a year for yearly upgrades.

I noticed a leasing company allowing you to pay monthly, they were charging about 40 euro’s a month for a new iPhone 12 Pro. So also 480 euro’s a year.

Still, the refurb 12 Pro for 635 euro’s is tempting. If I buy that and hold it until software support runs out, it would be a lot more economical than a new 13 Pro. Half the yearly price.

Maybe it’s not surprising that people here tend to buy Android phones and hold onto them for longer. iPhone has a local market share of about 15%.

 

[tis]

I have 3 phones with unlimited service, 1 iPad unlimited, 2 Apple Watches unlimited, and unlimited home 5g internet. I pay $171 per month including tax. Not expensive at all considering home internet used to cost me almost $100 by itself.

You might want to read whole posts before responding. I specifically stated that people with 3+ lines are an exception, and can generally save on their monthly service bill.

 

[hr10]

I upgrade every year and this year after having the the 13pro
I am having a hard time selling the 12 pro at a good price. It’s trending at 900-950 in CDN. I am having a second thought if I should be returning the 13P which costed $1500
In the past you pay $2-350 to upgrade annually
Resale value isn’t the same as it used to

 

[aue123]

this was the first year i didn’t “sell” my old iphone to a friend.. i simply gifted my 11 PM to my mom because she was using the OG SE.. it was a nice upgrade for sure 👍

 

[MareLuce]

I have 3 phones with unlimited service, 1 iPad unlimited, 2 Apple Watches unlimited, and unlimited home 5g internet. I pay $171 per month including tax. Not expensive at all considering home internet used to cost me almost $100 by itself.

WOW great deal! I am in same situation (Austin, Texas with AT&T as carrier)
MINUS the unlimited home 5g internet which I'm paying + $70 / month to Spectrum for gigabit.

May I ask - who is your provider?

 

[BuggyGT]

This is very rough math and this is how I look at it from my perspective only. I have been upgrading every year since Xs Max and the initial cost upfront is always about the same for the 256GB version.

-Price I paid including tax $1300
-Price I sell to my close friend every year with 'friend' discount $800
-$500 cost to me to use the latest iPhone for one year (365 days) comes out to roughly $1.37 per day and for me that is easily worth the cost

 

[Hunter5117]

WOW great deal! I am in same situation (Austin, Texas with AT&T as carrier)
MINUS the unlimited home 5g internet which I'm paying + $70 / month to Spectrum for gigabit.

May I ask - who is your provider?

I am with T-Mobile.