Can’t Afford to Buy a New iPhone? Apple and Klarna will Lease you One Instead

[Foxbat]

That would be a topic for a separate thread, I imagine that Samsung and Google are also equally incentivized by the "Big 3" carriers.

Mrs. Foxbat is using T-Mobile's $15 prepaid plan which gives her everything she needs for her phone. She had a grandfathered plan but it limited her to 30 minutes of talk, a little sleuthing and I found the plan she's switched to, saving money over her old plan. Unlimited Talk, Text, and 5 GB of data on her iPhone 13.

 

[Juan]

Like every buying decision, you have to crunch the numbers to decide which method is acceptable for your situation. If you don't mind not owning your phone and paying a fraction of what the normal purchase price would be, maybe it would work out better for you. If you end up with a box full of old cellphones, maybe giving it back at the end of the lease saves you from having the hassle of this clutter.

Me, I trade in. Instead of constantly paying twice to use the phone (one payment for the service, the other to Apple or CC company), it's just the monthly prepaid service fee for me.

Depends what the lease price is....

 

[comfortably_numb]

Depends what the lease price is....

The terms are pretty clear if you read the link.

 

[Juan]

The terms are pretty clear if you read the link.

Right..but compare that to a monthly payment with a credit for an existing phone...it starts looking like a scam...kinda like the way that sprint used to lease phones...or better yet rent a center and their triple the price tv sets...you pay less monthly but your out the door price is horrible

 

[comfortably_numb]

it starts looking like a scam

I don't see any evidence of a scam. Might be a poor financial decision for many, but not a scam. If anything is "scammy" about it, it's the language calling the phones "unlocked," but they aren't really. Even if there's a loophole, the restriction to the Big 3 is shady IMO.

 

[Juan]

I don't see any evidence of a scam. Might be a poor financial decision for many, but not a scam. If anything is "scammy" about it, it's the language calling the phones "unlocked," but they aren't really. Even if there's a loophole, the restriction to the Big 3 is shady IMO.

You have to look at the out the door price...see how much they are overcharging someone who can't afford to just buy a phone...at the end of the rental agreement..is it really cheaper to rent?

 

[cp2k]

You have to look at the out the door price...see how much they are overcharging someone who can't afford to just buy a phone...at the end of the rental agreement..is it really cheaper to rent?

It really doesn't look like they're overcharging. I gave an example earlier of a MacBook Air, but the same can apply to the phone. You pay the lease price for the term you choose (24-36 months) which in all the cases I've looked at so far comes out cheaper than a typical monthly installment arrangement with a carrier. At the end of that you send the phone back and get another one, or you pay the difference between what you've paid already and the original retail price of the phone. If the trade in value is higher than what that lump payment would be you can just pay the lump payment, trade in the device, and go that route if you wish. It doesn't cost any more than a typical carrier installment plan would.

I agree there are better deals to be had on phones than what this offers (IF you have a device that commands a high trade in value), but I think for other devices like MacBook's it's a decent arrangement.

 

[comfortably_numb]

at the end of the rental agreement..is it really cheaper to rent?

As long as you give the device back at the end of the term and it is in "acceptable condition" (subjective) then it would appear to be cheaper.

 

[EarDemon]

In a round about way, I treat my cell phone purchases as a lease. I get new Pixels every year since the Nexus 6 days. I always trade in the previous years model, if the final out the door price after the trade in and 10% id.me discount is lets say $700 for a Pixel Pro XL. In my mind, I'm leasing it for $700/year or around $60/month when broken out and I'll be getting a new one in about 12 months.

I really hate paying for things on a monthly basis, if I can pay for a year or more at a time, I'm happy as a clam. So charge me $700 for a Pixel 11 Pro XL, and I don't have to spend money on hardware for another 12 months until I get the Pixel 12 Pro XL.