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

I usually wait for sales/promos. So you can justify buying new phones every year. I just don’t see the rationales for paying full price and still think u can come out ahead reselling on eBay. I’m shocked you can get $900 for one year old iPhone pro Max 11. Considering Apple trade in is $500. Current eBay selling prices are $850-900. But with fees. It net is $800. You are taking a $550 lost after one year when you account for taxes

the only way you can come out ahead is to wait for $300-400 Sam’s gift card deals or trade in $700-800 monthly credit promos.

but to each their own. I’ve owned every iPhone except iPhone 2016 (iPhone 7/plus). So I upgrade every year myself. I know I lose some mone because I pay retail some years I don’t want to wait for promos.
 
theSeb said:
I am going to put the environmental impact of buying new devices every year aside, because that’s a whole different discussion.

It‘s fine to spend the money and get a new phone every year simply because you want the latest and it makes you happy and your brain releases little endorphins every time you open that brand new box. I get it. But don’t try to pretend like it’s clever, or financially savvy, because it’s not.

If you feel the need to justify yourself on forums to a bunch of strangers, then you probably have something in the back of your head telling you it’s not fine and the only one you are really trying to convince is yourself. So people post on forums to find self-validation and it makes them feel a bit better if others are doing the same thing, because we are herd animals.
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Sums up the rationale perfectly. It’s purely a want rather than a need and those that suggest they need the tiny incremental hardware improvements are really just using that as an excuse because they want a new device. Nothing wrong with spending your money the way you want but let’s not pretend we need a new phone every year because that’s total rubbish. Less and less people are upgrading annually and that tells us all we need to know about how good the technology has gotten.
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
Sums up the rationale perfectly. It’s purely a want rather than a need and those that suggest they need the tiny incremental hardware improvements are really just using that as an excuse because they want a new device. Nothing wrong with spending your money the way you want but let’s not pretend we need a new phone every year because that’s total rubbish. Less and less people are upgrading annually and that tells us all we need to know about how good the technology has gotten.
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Yeah but you can say that about a lot of things people have interests in, for me i surf and swap boards yearly could easily go 2-3 if still in good nick.

Anyway I can't get my 13mth old 11 pro off 100% guess i don't need a new 12 lol.

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Robbosan said:
Yeah but you can say that about a lot of things people have interests in, for me i surf and swap boards yearly could easily go 2-3 if still in good nick.
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Notice how I said it’s fine for people to spend their money how they want. We often buy things we want because we want to, not because we need to. If people come online and say they buy an iPhone every year because they need the extra performance, we all know that’s rubbish because we all know what these phones are capable of. If someone says they upgrade every year because they want the latest and greatest then it’s a lot more believable to the actual situation.

It’s not about telling others how to spend their money when people are actively feeling like they need to justify their spending habits in the first place.
 
It is even less dumb when you can take advantage of offers, my Xr was 2 years old, battery down to 87 percent capacity, still got 440 trade in for it that I used instantly to buy a iPhone 12. So just over $350 I got a new device.
 
I think it’s worth doing this simply keep AppleCare+ always on your phone.

3rd party insurance & particularly the excesses are getting expensive.

And if you haven’t got insurance you could be looking at spending 1/3 to a half of the value of the original price of the phone for repairs.
 
Robbosan said:
Anyway I can't get my 13mth old 11 pro off 100% guess i don't need a new 12 lol.

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If you’ve got an 11 Pro even at 90%, in my view you don’t need to replace it. The 11 Pro still a current and up to date iPhone which is at best fractionally inferior to the 12 Pro. I suppose unless you have to have 5G, there is no stand out reason to upgrade from what I can tell.
 
I used to do exactly this, but eBay had become more difficult. Last year I went with the Apple Upgrade program and it saved me all the hassle of reselling the phone.
 
Robbosan said:
Funny how on forums people like to tell others how to spend their money.
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The OP and others are saying it's clever and that they save money by spending money. Of course people are going to reply and point out that it's not. Nobody is saying how others should spend their money. But the whole point of a discussion forum is that people will give their opinions, unless you are hoping for an echo chamber?

I get swapping surfboards on a regular basis. They get dinged up from just surfing no matter how carefully you handle them. I think every year is a bit much personally, but I do understand. Then again, some of my custom boards have taken 4 months to make so swapping every two years minimum makes far more sense to me 🤷‍♂️
 
collin_ said:
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. :)
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I honestly dont understand how this is a better deal. Each year you spend 500$ yes but you have to account for that original 1,000+ plunge you did when you started this.

Lets take your example and lets say you started doing this when you bought Iphone X (so that we dont go back ages)
So you bought the Iphone X for 1,000$
Then you sold it for to get an iphone Xs Max. I will get your own metric of 500$ cost to upgrade
Then you sold that for an Iphone 11 Pro Max. That is another 500$ to upgrade
And now you will upgrade to a iphone 12 Pro Max for another 500$.

So since 2017 you have spent 2,500$ to have the latest iphone out there. If we want to be fair we have to also calculate the cost of additional accessories, like cases and screen protectors since you cant share these between phones, but ok I will be generous and leave them out of the equation.

Now my situation is the following.
I bought an iphone X for 1,000$
I can sell that phone for 500 if i try but i will again be generous and say I will sell it for 400.
The upgrade to an iphone 12 Pro Max will cost me around 800 usd
In total I will have spent like 1,800 dollars or so.

I get the appeal behind always having the latest phone in your hands (i dont consider it "dumb", if you have the money and this is your passion go for it), but it is definitely not cheaper by any means.
 
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collin_ said:
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.
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I think it's very bad for the planet, gear acquisition syndrome draining the planet of resources for our entertainment. I rather get a kick out of having a 2009 Mac Pro maxed out running on Catalina and Big Sur, refusing to let it go to waste. Yes, buying the latest and greatest every year is part of the problem
 
I upgrade every year and pay less than $500 for the newest model. I do the monthly payment plan with t-mobile which has no interest. Unless you are keeping your phone for more than 2 years, I think it’s silly to pay in full upfront. The way I do it there is always a monthly payment, it’s almost as if I am leasing it which I understand but I always have the newest device.
 
I think you over estimate what you phone is worth no way would i pay 900 for a 1 year old phone. Value of tech drops 50% every 18 months plain and simple.
 
njvan-2 said:
I've long wondered about the iPhone upgrade plan, anybody do that?
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I do. I love it. I just send my phone to Apple. They accept it with scratches and normal wear and tear As long as it works.

Also in normal circumstances where iPhones come out in September. You only wind up paying half the phone... so it’s similar to selling on another site without the hassle of being scammed.

If you like to get a new iPhone every year I would just do Apple plan.

Yes they force Apple care but at the price of these phones idk who wouldn’t want Apple care.
 
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I plan to trade in an XR this year to upgrade to a pro max. Hoping the battery life is the same as my 11 pro max. Gonna miss this green beauty. God I wish Apple kept this color especially since they claimed it took years to perfect.

I just want it to make sense. $1099 for a pro max or a MacBook Pro on sale. I get it, Apple doesn’t spend millions every year engineering a new MacBook Pro (they barely even update it), but come on.
 
theSeb said:
It‘s fine to spend the money and get a new phone every year simply because you want the latest and it makes you happy and your brain releases little endorphins every time you open that brand new box. I get it. But don’t try to pretend like it’s clever, or financially savvy, because it’s not.
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Absolutely agree. This is a splurge that I treat myself to because I enjoy it.
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
If you’ve got an 11 Pro even at 90%, in my view you don’t need to replace it. The 11 Pro still a current and up to date iPhone which is at best fractionally inferior to the 12 Pro. I suppose unless you have to have 5G, there is no stand out reason to upgrade from what I can tell.
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Your view doesn't really matter. What matters is what the person making the purchase thinks.
 
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k1121j said:
I think you over estimate what you phone is worth no way would i pay 900 for a 1 year old phone. Value of tech drops 50% every 18 months plain and simple.
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No it's not that simple, and you are wrong. The average selling price of a OP's 11 Pro Max on Swappa is $875, and right around $900 on eBay. Those are actual selling prices, not "estimates."

Whether you would pay $875 or $900 is a different matter.
 
SchrodingersMartian said:
I got 600.00 for trading my phone into Best Buy and used that towards the iPhone 12 Pro which pretty much means most of the new phone is paid off already.
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I received more from selling my phone on Swappa than what best buy trade in was currently offering. Otherwise, I would have taken that route.
 
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