• pageflight@piefed.social
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    15 hours ago

    Now, a $1,999 MacBook Pro can have a monthly payment of $38.99 over 36 months.

    $38.99 * 36 = $1403.64. That doesn’t seem right.

    Macrumors has a more detailed analysis (different device in their example):

    If you return the iPhone 17 Pro and simply move on from the Apple Upgrade program, then your total cost to own the device would be $551.88 after 12 months, plus sales tax if applicable. While that is less than paying $1,099 upfront, the catch is that you are no longer in possession of the device after your lease ends and cannot resell it or trade it in.

    Seems like it’s just designed to keep people buying new hardware regularly.

    • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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      49 minutes ago

      For the people that do it, if you paid $1099 upfront, and then sold it after a year to buy the next upgrade, how much would you get for the 1 year old phone?

      That’ll help decide if it’s worth it or not, and I’m sure there will be deals that put it in your favor at times vs buying outright.

    • MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com
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      13 hours ago

      It really only makes sense if you buy a new phone or computer every year/lease term.

      This is good though, so it might not be that bad of a deal if you could use the credit anyway:

      Buy the iPhone outright by paying an amount equal to the device’s retail price minus any lease payments made.