Apple Introduces Leasing Program for iPhones and Other Devices

KKorwell about 2 hours ago 22 commentsRead Article on nytimes.com

DE version is available. Content is displayed in original English for accuracy.

⚡ Community Insights

Discussion Sentiment

92% Positive

Analyzed from 736 words in the discussion.

Discussion (22 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

xnx•3 minutes ago

Apple is introducing this now because hardware capability ceilings are being hit and component prices are preventing higher specced components from being used.

I buy a new (non apple) phone most years, but I'll probably skip the next 2 years due to flatlining of specs and increasing price.

cautiouscat•about 1 hour ago

For what it’s worth, it’s lease to own:

> At the end of your initial lease term, you can do one of the following:

> Upgrade and return your current device. Footnote ◊

> Leave the program and return your current device. Footnote ◊

> Buy the device outright with a one-time payment from your Klarna account.

https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade

kotaKat•29 minutes ago

Slightly mixing up programs there - the initial statement ("your loan will be closed") applies to customers of the current "iPhone Upgrade Program" which is now being replaced by the new lease program via Klarna.

The new program, at the end of the initial lease term, will switch to an extended 6 month month-to-month lease; then at the end of that if you have still not acted, Klarna will charge the remaining buyout amount.

> For an iPhone 17 Pro 256GB with a purchase price of $1099 (excluding taxes and any trade-in credit), the typical monthly payment is $31.99 (excluding taxes and any trade-in credit) for a 24-month lease term and $45.99 (excluding taxes and any trade-in credit) for a 12-month lease term.

Riding out a 12 month term, you'll have paid in $551.88. Buyout at that point is $547; ride out the next 6 months month-to-month another $45.99/mo and Klarna will then ding you $271 and close it all out. I assume this is how they're going to avoid any kind of possible "paying more than the cost of the phone" shenanigans from a perpetual lease.

cautiouscat•4 minutes ago

Good catch. Edited the original post.

thrownawaysz•18 minutes ago

I use Klarna all the time but I always felt that it’s more suited for fast fashion, Shein, Aliexpress etc kind of like sites. Apple giving them a huge business here selling millions of iPhones.

kibwen•9 minutes ago

Makes sense here, then. Apple is primarily a luxury fashion company.

LunicLynx•about 2 hours ago

Because if you don't own it nothing on it is monopoly anymore. You are allowed to use it the "intended" way.

gla67890543•33 minutes ago

Own nothing and be happy. Hope people don't fall for this BS. The only thing you can control is to decide where to spend your own money and time.

RivieraKid•3 minutes ago

What about it is BS? I don't see any issue with leasing things if it does make me happier.

amelius•about 1 hour ago

Then it is not a status symbol anymore.

embedding-shape•about 1 hour ago

Yup, exactly like luxury cars no longer are status symbols because they're leasable.

VladVladikoff•about 2 hours ago

You'll own nothing and you'll be happy.

ImHereToVote•about 2 hours ago

Why are capitalists doing this? I thought it wall all CuLtUrAl MaRxIstS??

Forgeties79•about 1 hour ago

Surely the invisible hand will provide for us

dotcoma•about 1 hour ago

What the invisible hand giveth, the invisible hand taketh.

kotaKat•about 1 hour ago

At the same time T-Mobile just announced they're finally going out to 36 month installment agreements on phones.

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/eip-flex-36

... though curiously, out of all the carriers, T-Mobile is now the first to start charging anywhere from 0% to 24% APR on their installment plans based on creditworthiness. I assume this is a signal that the era of 0% APR installments from carriers is going to start to disappear as well.

Sprint also got sued a few times over for offering leasing for cellphones - I wonder when the first lawsuits against Apple and Klarna are going to strike as well when consumers realize what they fell for.

sixhobbits•about 1 hour ago

Not sure why people are so negative about this, macbooks only really last a few years under heavy use anyway and most small businesses would love to pay $100/employee/month to make sure they all have hardware they need rather than trying to manage depreciation accounting and cash flow.

Eg often hardware over $1000 gets depreciated over 5 years but employee laptops get replaced every 3 years so subscribing can have a huge positive effect on cashflow

harladsinsteden•about 1 hour ago

What exactly does "heavy use" mean? My MacBook Pro is now in its fourth year of daily development work. It doesn't show any kind of wear. So far I don't see any reason to replace it in the years to come. If nothing major changes I think I'll get another four years out of it.

robotswantdata•about 1 hour ago

Untrue to say they don’t last, our M1 macs 6 years later are still very usable. However your point is very true for corporates, staff always want a refresh regardless if the laptop is good enough or not.

These personal plans make sense for people who want the latest and don’t like the hassle of reselling

harladsinsteden•28 minutes ago

> staff always want a refresh regardless if the laptop is good enough or not

My personal experience disagrees. A lot of colleagues are absolutely happy with keeping their machines for quite some time. A lot of it - believe it or not - is simply inertia. Apple has made switching MacBooks super easy but still the process of going through the migration process from one machine to the next simply isn't worth the trouble for a lot of them (and I include myself in that group as well).

If all your people are looking for is the latest and greatest gadget then you may simply have the wrong people in your team.

jb1991•about 1 hour ago

I have a seven-year-old MacBook Air that is like new and runs just as fast today as it did the day I bought it. Battery lasts acceptably and it’s a joy to use.

RunSet•about 1 hour ago

It occurs to me that none of those metrics include numbers.