Other Why upgrading every year isn't as dumb as you think

[MuGeN PoWeR]

Nice 👍. I can imagine the low ballers though. How long did it take you to sell it

I think it took me literally 3-4 days. didnt get much low ballers. Mostly it was close to my asking price but one girl reached out and didnt negotiate at all and agreed in paying me my asking. I even told her if she can give me 975 then I can throw in genuine apple leather case but she said she only had 950!

 

[KOTN91]

I understand the sentiment here. At a high-level, this can be done "reasonably" where the actual "cost" of upgrading every year isn't as big one might think originally, largely because of the way the secondary market has dictated the depreciation curve of iPhones.

After 1 year, they don't depreciate "that much". After 2 years they drop off more, and after 3 years, more so.

Total round numbers and completely based on gut feeling, I think it's something like:
- After 1 year, 80% value
- After 2 years, ~50% value
- After 3 years, ~30% value

There's lots of things that can move the value one way or the other that many ppl have brought up (ie. higher-storage capacity models probably depreciate a bit more on a % basis, friction costs in selling on Ebay/Swappa/FB vary based on location and experience, etc.)

But I don't doubt that if you're on the happy end of a lot of those "little variables", the actual cost to upgrade every year may not be that much more than if you wait every 2 years or every 3 years to upgrade. And all-the-while, you get the benefit of having the latest phone every year.

I personally don't do this, but I can see why it may make sense for some people. The decision makes more sense if you have more disposable income (so the $ cost isn't as big a deal) and you really enjoy having the latest tech (so get more "value" out of upgrading every year and always having the newest).

On the contrary, upgrading after 2 years is the sweet spot. The phone depreciates more in the first year relative to subsequent years, but after the second year is still modern enough to be worth something decent as opposed to after 3 or 4 years

It’s also usually much better to skip a generation as the improvements are often very insignificant , see iPhone XR to 11.

This year is different though as it’s one the biggest upgrades ever between 2 successive generations, in the same league as possibly only the 4 and the X

 

[purpleparrotuk]

$500 to upgrade every year?

I just traded in an iPhone 7 for $500, so it costs me $500 to upgrade every 4 years. I don't see much value in paying $1500 more to have the latest and greatest every year. Especially with the incremental updates these phones have year to year.

You traded in an iPhone 7 for 500? Worth about £90 here in the UK.

 

[iObama]

i actulaly sell on craigslist. Meet at the police station and get cash with no fees or shipping. Its great. Except this year i wont be selling my 11PM. The resale value will be worse than other years due to split launch. My battery health is at 88% in a year...hmmmm. And it has a dang scratch on the selfie cam glass. argggg. So i dont think i will get as much as i want to this year. But i will start buying it in full from now on...
$900-$950 i think is a stretch, resale value is $700-$780 right now.

I'm in a similar spot with my 11PM on iUP. Down to 85% and drops a percent every few weeks, with a decent scratch on the screen. As much as I'd love to get a 12 series, my financial situation would be unnecessarily negatively impacted.

I'll just wait until I hit 80% battery health and take it in for a battery replacement/swap. This phone still kicks ass.

 

[Renho]

I'm in a similar spot with my 11PM on iUP. Down to 85% and drops a percent every few weeks, with a decent scratch on the screen. As much as I'd love to get a 12 series, my financial situation would be unnecessarily negatively impacted.

I'll just wait until I hit 80% battery health and take it in for a battery replacement/swap. This phone still kicks ass.

ya i think ios 14 is taking a hit on our battery health. Not sure why all of a sudden its dropped this much. I think you can take in for a replacement when its in the 80's and they will replace for free. so 89% and you're good to go. i just missed my 12 month cutoff weeks ago.

 

[comptr]

I upgrade yearly and sell my old phone for 200 over what I owe and I have been doing it for 4 years but this year I will turn it in to the carrier and upgrade. It's cheaper for me to upgrade yearly.

 

[loybond]

Every year, I pay the whole cost upfront for the biggest, fanciest iPhone unlocked directly from Apple. This year, I will be selling my iPhone 11 Pro Max (256 GB) on eBay and buying the same size 12 Pro Max. I should get about $900-$950 for it as it is in mint condition. Accounting for eBay fees, PayPal fees, and the taxes I'll pay on the new 256 GB Pro Max, it will essentially cost less than $500 for me to upgrade.

Older iPhones obviously lose value each time a newer model is released, so I am paying only a tiny bit more than if I upgraded every 2 years or every 3 years and did the same thing. I would start saving serious money only if I kept my current phone for at least 4 years, and as a tech enthusiast I just can't bring myself to do that -- especially considering that this is a device I use for multiple hours every day.

In other words, upgrading your iPhone every year is actually not stupid or particularly expensive assuming you pay upfront, keep it in good condition, and sell the old one on eBay. Using this method, I am paying only a fraction of what those on Apple's yearly upgrade program pay. I understand that not everyone is in the financial position to do this, but if you are and are a tech enthusiast like me, I think this is the best way to do it.

I’ve done that every year, and its been very cost effective in the paat, but things have changed since the XS Max. I paid around $1750 with tax for that phone, and it was going for around 750-800 locally when the 11 gen came out. I paid $1950 with tax for the 11 Pro Max, and those are going for $1000 right now. That’s a fairly hefty loss given how we’re seeing smaller and smaller updates year to year now.

The XS Max has been one of my favourite iPhones, but it seems to have the worst resale value of any iPhone. I’m seeing many for sale at 600, even 550 here and there right now. I’ve seen the X for 350, but never see the 11 under 700. So weird!

 

[mnsportsgeek]

You traded in an iPhone 7 for 500? Worth about £90 here in the UK.

T-Mobile had a pretty killer trade in deal this year. $300 in bill credits + $200 visa gift card for people who have had t mobile for 5+ years.

 

[edhchoe]

I only upgrade if the new iPhone is compelling enough.

I used to have T-mobile. It sucked because I didn't get any signal inside any buildings.

 

[lsutigerfan1976]

I think it depends on whether you can afford to finance a phone and pay monthly. Literally every year non stop. And even if you could. Not everyone would. I know plenty ppl who have older phones. And have no desire to get a new one. Till they absolutely have to.

 

[MartyvH]

I thought it was a good deal to get the latest model each year, starting with the iPhone XS, by paying only US$496 a year for the phone component of a lease plan - paying a total of US$67.50 a month for phone and calls/data. So you're renting the phone and paying a fraction of the outright price to try each model for a year.

That was until lease plans were discontinued by all carriers in Australia at the same time (there must have been a court case somewhere). I was completely fleeced. I had to pay the whole remainder of the two-year contract and then return the phone at the end.

In Australia on any carrier plan with a phone included, you always pay the entire outright price of the phone over the length of the contract. Nothing is subsidized and you pay several hundreds of dollars more on a carrier plan with less data in the same period than you do buying outright and a SIM-only plan with more data.

So guess what, this time I'm paying outright for the 12 mini and I'm already on the cheap SIM-only plan I want, with a temporary phone.

 

[MisterSavage]

I think it depends on whether you can afford to finance a phone and pay monthly. Literally every year non stop.

The nice thing about the iPhone Upgrade Program is that it doesn't have to be non-stop. If you decide you don't want to upgrade then you keep paying and after two years you own the phone.

 

[Christopher Kim]

That was until lease plans were discontinued by all carriers in Australia at the same time (there must have been a court case somewhere). I was completely fleeced. I had to pay the whole remainder of the two-year contract and then return the phone at the end.

In Australia on any carrier plan with a phone included, you always pay the entire outright price of the phone over the length of the contract. Nothing is subsidized and you pay several hundreds of dollars more on a carrier plan with less data in the same period than you do buying outright and a SIM-only plan with more data.

So guess what, this time I'm paying outright for the 12 mini and I'm already on the cheap SIM-only plan I want, with a temporary phone.

This was somewhat similar in Canada too. Prior to 3-4 years ago, carriers could still have real "contracts" which locked customers in for 2-3 years. And in doing so, they gave real discounts on cost of phones (since you were locked in).

Regulatory changes meant carriers couldn't have "real" contracts anymore, so they stopped giving any real discounts on phones, but pretended they were giving you an upfront discount (which was really a subsidy) that they made you pay for by having a more expensive phone plan.

The cheapest plan was always the BYOD bring-your-own-device plan. So the smart move after that change, assuming you had the cash liquidity to do so, was to just buy your phone outright from Apple, and then you'd be free to get the BYOD best plans from any carrier (and switch if a good deal came by).

The market has moved once again where carriers now offer explicit phone financing plans, that they claim are 0% financing, but they make their margin by having a slightly higher device cost (ie. 12 Pro 128gb = C$1,440 at carriers vs C$1,399 at Apple). I still just buy the phone outright from Apple so I have full flexibility on carrier plans.

 

[Sam in SoCal]

I think it took me literally 3-4 days. didnt get much low ballers. Mostly it was close to my asking price but one girl reached out and didnt negotiate at all and agreed in paying me my asking. I even told her if she can give me 975 then I can throw in genuine apple leather case but she said she only had 950!

Alright so far after only 12 hours the highest offer I’ve had from someone on FB is 800$ for my 11 pro max 256gb. I told him the Ad has only been up a short time and I need another day or so. Now he’s telling me he needs it today and he happens to be working in the area I’m in. Lol.decisions, decisions

edit: ooops now someone is offering 855$

 

[ShadowGuardian87]

I buy my phones outright never bothered with the upgrade plans or anything like that. I just put the cost of the phone on my credit card and do the apple trade in (which lowers the cost) and just pay off the rest that I owe over the course of a month or two. But yea, I don't upgrade every year (usually every two years) due to the cost of iphones and because sometimes it's not worth it (like new features aren't worth the upgrade. Example iPhone X to XS). Like someone else said, upgrading every year doesn't make sense to most people. But not knocking those that can afford to do so and find enjoyment in it.

I miss the good old days when iphones only cost 200-300 bucks if you agreed to stick with your current cell provider for two more years ( golden ages of iphone 4,5,6 ha)

 

[MisterSavage]

I miss the good old days when iphones only cost 200-300 bucks if you agreed to stick with your current cell provider for two more years ( golden ages of iphone 4,5,6 ha)

I was always paying early upgrade penalty fees back then!

 

[Six0Four]

This works out well if you're able to keep your phone in mint condition all year.

 

[Sam in SoCal]

This works out well if you're able to keep your phone in mint condition all year.

Easy practices. Easy for me anyway. Use the 5w adapter, leave the 18w with the other accessories in the box. The battery was so good on the 11 pro max I was never in hurry to recharge. The best time was at home when I’m only on my iPad I would just plug it in and when it got to 80-90%, done. after one year the battery health is 100%. Traditionally Ive used Apple leather cases, no screen protector. Just made sure to never have keys, sand, or anything in the pocket I would put it in. always set the phone down on its back and not the screen. Other than that just be mindful wherever you are. Especially at times when you’re getting in and out of your car, steps, whenever you can possibly bump your hand against something and knock the phone to the ground. Here’s my 11 pro max that I purchased in October 2019

 

[MuGeN PoWeR]

Alright so far after only 12 hours the highest offer I’ve had from someone on FB is 800$ for my 11 pro max 256gb. I told him the Ad has only been up a short time and I need another day or so. Now he’s telling me he needs it today and he happens to be working in the area I’m in. Lol.decisions, decisions

edit: ooops now someone is offering 855$

yeah man you can easily do better. if that guy is in hurry he can offer more and get it Good luck!

 

[HarryWild]

I just give my iPhone away to family member or to a charity. To much time wasted in selling it! I upgrade usually on a yearly basis too!

 

[Deliro]

I now hand my phones down to my kids, so yeah it wouldn't be all that wise. I upgrade every 2-3 cycles depending on if the new device has anything that would dramatically improve my usage of it. Looking back all my upgrades have been significant in terms of speed/space/screen size. I have an XS Max and the 12 provides little benefit to me. My XS does everything I need from it and my money is better spent elsewhere. Next iPhone I get will have 5G that doesn't compromise battery and a 120hz screen.

 

[tayshumway]

6 months ago I bought an iPhone 11 Pro 256GB in very good condition for $810 on eBay ($860 with tax). I expect to sell it for close to that on my local classified website (KSL). I had to keep an eye on eBay and make sure it was a seller with a good track record, which may not be worth the hassle for many. As a poor college student with an expensive hobby of keeping up on the latest Apple hardware, it’s worth it for me.

 

[wmkim]

I would say that it’s best to pay monthly. Trade in. Vs purchasing up front and trading in.

The first method your guaranteed paying half the cost plus taxes. Second method your guaranteed only what they offer for your used phone.

I get the eBay and swappa ways but don’t have time to fool with or the fees or hassle negate it. Plus work pays for it anyways.

Agree on not paying up front. If it’s zero interest, why pay it all up front? The upgrade program is the best for frequent phone switchers. I personally prefer the ‘every other model’ upgrade.

 

[Powerguru]

Looks like Tim Cook wrote the original post. 😀

 

[trip1ex]

smartphones don't get any more expensive than buying a new $1200 one every year.

so not sure what financial math the OP is using.