The True Cost of Upgrading Your Phone

[ivinsfan]

But let's be clear: Trade-ins and paying over time do not change the price you are buying.

They may make you feel it is less expensive but that's a different matter.

A cheaper phone can also be paid for partially with trade-in and paying over time.

If you use a phone for 3 years and get a trade number more then you paid for it that's not really true, you can keep the same phone a little longer have it puke out completely and be worth virtually nothing.

 

[Rocket Man]

I still have my iPhone 6 which I bought “new” for $99.00 three years ago. Battery still doing well. Phone is fine. Mainly use it to talk, text and check email. Some light web surfing but don’t care to do that much on a 4 1/2 inch screen. Not into picture taking. Will keep it until the battery dies. Then I will probably get a “new” iPhone 8. I guess I would not be considered a phone/electronic gadget person. My cell plan costs $180.00 per year.

 

[sheehs1]

I accept the challenge.
And as an aside if you buy the insurance on these phones, that is an exceedingly poor value in my view.

I updated from the iPhone 7S to the iPhone 12 Max Pro last June, 6 months ago specifically for the better camera. Last week the new 12 became inoperable. I spent a day and a half with Apple and Verizon to try to figure it out. All of us were stumped. Verizon was willing to send me a replacement under the Original Manufacturers Warranty. The Problem was that the iPhone 12 was so Inoperable that none of us could get "Find My" off the phone which is a requirement to get a replacement. I did not even know what "Find My" was.
About 24 hours later, the phone started working again. Still don't know what happened or why.
With that, I decided I didn't trust the phone anymore. I was able to get "Find My" off the phone and called Verizon for the replacement.
I have never bought insurance for an iPhone. I didn't buy it this time either. However, I did buy the Extended Warranty for another 2 years ( 6 months on the original plus this = 2 1/2 years). And extra $4.15/month. Verizon told me if the same situation happened when I was out of the Original Warranty Period, they would not replace it. I would have to spend another $1,000 plus for a new phone. Not! I would have left Verizon and gone with another carrier before doing that. Or reverted back to my 7S. which still works-just not a great camera.

Oh and because Verizon was going to give me very few dollars for trading in the 7S, I kept the phone instead. Glad I did during this unexplainable iPhone12 inoperable period. I was able to get Verizon to change my cell number back to the 7S so at least I had a phone while the 12 was dead in the water.

So...first time I have purchased an Extended Warranty for an iPhone.

 

[Cobra9777]

I've actually only "bought" one smartphone in my life, and I'm still using it today. A year or so before I retired in 2013, I swapped my latest MC-supplied Blackberry for a Samsung Galaxy S2. I kept that device after retiring and used it for a couple years.

Then, DS got a new job-supplied phone and he gave me his Google Nexus 5. That was a fantastic little device. But unfortunately, I lost it a year later.

So I bought a OnePlus 3T. It cost $399 in 2016 and had flagship specs at the time. Five years later, it still works flawlessly. And the specs are still better than most mid-level Androids that sell for $200-250 today. The one area it's lacking is the newer LTE frequency bands. So mobile data connectivity can be a little sketchy compared to my wife's Moto G6, which cost $199 about 18 months ago.

I agree that flagship benefits are minimal at best for most people. I'm not really a hard-core phone enthusiast. So I have no interest in upgrading every X years. But, like my experience with the OnePlus 3T, I think there is merit in buying a great phone for longevity. The device that has my eye right now is the Google Pixel 6 Pro at $899, mainly for the camera, mmWave 5G, and the new Tensor chip designed around AI. That sounds like a future-ready phone that may be worthy of my "second" purchase.

 

[Rocket Man]

I've actually only "bought" one smartphone in my life, and I'm still using it today. A year or so before I retired in 2013, I swapped my latest MC-supplied Blackberry for a Samsung Galaxy S2. I kept that device after retiring and used it for a couple years.



Then, DS got a new job-supplied phone and he gave me his Google Nexus 5. That was a fantastic little device. But unfortunately, I lost it a year later.



So I bought a OnePlus 3T. It cost $399 in 2016 and had flagship specs at the time. Five years later, it still works flawlessly. And the specs are still better than most mid-level Androids that sell for $200-250 today. The one area it's lacking is the newer LTE frequency bands. So mobile data connectivity can be a little sketchy compared to my wife's Moto G6, which cost $199 about 18 months ago.



I agree that flagship benefits are minimal at best for most people. I'm not really a hard-core phone enthusiast. So I have no interest in upgrading every X years. But, like my experience with the OnePlus 3T, I think there is merit in buying a great phone for longevity. The device that has my eye right now is the Google Pixel 6 Pro at $899, mainly for the camera, mmWave 5G, and the new Tensor chip designed around AI. That sounds like a future-ready phone that may be worthy of my "second" purchase.

Sounds like that cell phone would remain usable for many years. Good plan!

 

[joedila]

I take great pride in being 3 to 5 models behind

I take great pride in being 3-5 models behind the latest I-Phone. I mean what idiots would pay $1000 - 1300 to be current. 2.5 years ago, I traded in my 5S and got an 8Plus, which has served me fine and will likely do so for the next 2-3 years.

What's more, I bought a refurbished one from a dealer on ebay and paid around $200 for it.....it works perfectly, no issues.

 

[dp226]

I fall in the camp that the iPhones we have are some of the most used things we have so spending money on them is not a problem. I have my iPhone next to me 16 hours a day and the other 8 it is on the night stand just a little further. Gets used all of the time. Same for my wife's iPhone. So I actually get my money's worth of of this expense unlike the toaster over (used once a day) or the TV which is used maybe 8 hours a day. So I am willing to spend on the phones and view the high cost as still being frugal.

In saying that, I get a new one when the last one starts to get slow, starts to not hold a charge, etc and try and trade it in to get some sort of discount on my next purchase. In full disclosure my phone is an Xr (3 years old) and my wife's is an SE 1st gen (4 years old). SE is getting replaced this Christmas since the battery is not holding a charge and we need NFC for a medical device and the Xr may or may not get replaced at the same time but that will depend if we can get a deal. Wife will replace here with whatever is the same small size as the SE (I think the 13 mini) since the small size size is what is important to her. Looks like it will be roughly $700

 

[Bruceski44]

In my world, usually making monthly payment on anything equates to paying more than the sticker price.

There are certainly fees and finance charges when paying in installments. But I checked my ATT bill for my iPhone 7 (5 years old) and my wife's iPhone 8s (just paid off) and the monthly charge was the quoted price divided by the term. No fees, no finance charges. Else I would have paid it off immediately.

 

[ARW44]

"...financial advisers see this differently. By some estimates, an investment of $1,000 in a retirement account today would balloon to about $17,000 in 30 years."

This would assume a 10% per year return on investment. Hard to achieve.

 

[dixter]

maybe the real problem is people look at the iphone as just a phone.... its actually a full featured computer that just so happens to make phone calls too and will fit in your pocket/purse....

So if a person used an iphone over their life span and used that iphone to buy/sell their investments and had accumulated over $1 Million.... what would the value of that iphone be then...

or maybe you used your iphone to capture moments with a family member through the years and that family member isn't with you any more.... does that have value.....

I could go on and on.... but the iphone...depending on your use case could be a very very valuable instrument in your life....

The money I have spent on iphones seem a bargin to me... remember the good ole days when if you needed to call someone you had to wait until they got home to call them... or if you old enough.... you would call and you weren't sure who was going to answer the phone because you were calling a party line.... and then if you got the right person you were calling you didn't know who was listening on the other phones.... ha ha

 

[ychuck46]

Not for us

It's not just the latest and greatest iPhones. How about everyone having the latest Apple watches that have nowhere near the assets of many of us here. When I ask them what they do with them most just shrug; they are a vanity piece for most consumers. Not for us; my Garmin smartwatch that cost two digits does everything I need, and if I don't need that anymore my Seiko tells the time exactly. When our current iPhone XRs are fully paid in five months we'll just keep banking the lower AT&T payments and keep them going for years to come, hopefully.

 

[aja8888]

I take great pride in being 3-5 models behind the latest I-Phone. I mean what idiots would pay $1000 - 1300 to be current.

Joe, you just called a ton of folks on this board an idiot!

(That's not a great way to start off as a new member)

 

[RobLJ]

I just inherited my son's OnePlus8T, which he barely used before buying a new Apple Phone. It replaces a Motorola with a cracked screen which was usable but the battery was holding less of a charge. Can't be cheaper than 0$. I'm tough on phones; I cracked this one on a hike while I was looking at the hiking map and my wife backed into me and knocked it out of my hands.



Hiking using the AllTrails app and gps is worth the cost of a decent phone, all by itself.

 

[MissMolly]

"...financial advisers see this differently. By some estimates, an investment of $1,000 in a retirement account today would balloon to about $17,000 in 30 years."

This would assume a 10% per year return on investment. Hard to achieve.

Actually, it's not. The average annualized nominal return over the past 30 years is 10.7%.

https://www.fool.com/investing/how-to-invest/stocks/average-stock-market-return/

 

[JJpop]

We are getting our new iPhone 13 pros toward the end of the month. I am replacing my iPhone 6 that I can't get the latest security updates on. My DH is getting the iPhone 13 pro max to replace his iPhone 8 max, simply because he wants the newer one. We both worked hard during our lifetimes, we have the money, so why not.

Our son and daughter, who will receive any money left when we die, have newer phones than we do. Our children also have newer cars than mine. Our daughter has newer vehicle than her father also. We need to start treating ourselves more often now. At 68 and next month 70, we are not getting any younger.

Amen. I wish my wife thought like that

 

[WWDog]

Stopped reading this after the third post. Never owned or desired an I Phone. I see people every day clued to their phones to the point where they don't even know what is point on around them.

 

[ivinsfan]

Stopped reading this after the third post. Never owned or desired an I Phone. I see people every day clued to their phones to the point where they don't even know what is point on around them.

WWDog I agree if you can't be certain that you won't be tethered to your phone you shouldn't buy one. I, OTOH actually have enough self control to not let my phone take over my life.

 

[2retireearly]

smart phones...

We bought the original iPhone and loved it. Upgraded every two or three years since then. Will continue to do so as long as we enjoy them. You do realize you get a nice refund on a trade-in, or even more selling the old one?

The other part is that for many trips (and we take many), this little device that fits in your pocket fulfills many roles. Web browsing, email, texting, local information, GPS location, health monitoring, entertainment, etc., etc. (even actual voice phone calls!).

But newspapers are prone to publish stuff they think will get your attention, aren't they?

You do realize Smart phones aren't just iphones...right? Since I have windows products and android reader, I have an android phone. I'm very technically inclined. Some androids can be as pricey or more than iphones. Some androids are very inexpensive. My $200 phone can do all an expensive iphone can do. And..they are all, generically Smart Phones...please don't assume iphone = smart phone. Phone with internet capability=smart phone.

 

[Rustic23]

DW and I use Iphone SE2's. I have looked at Android phones, and we will stay in the Apple eco system. (Don't want to debate why)

Having said this I have considered upgrading, and, rejected it. We don't need a faster phone, better screen, more storage, or better camera. Only a longer battery life would change our mind. OK, maybe some real good marketing.

It's a phone first! A text and email/text device second. After that it is my IPAD that is my go-to device. If others feel this way, it may not hear well for Apple.

 

[Aramis]

Yup - and you didn't even get into the current value vs. future value element of it.

 

[jollystomper]

I do not have an iphone, probably never will. The cost/benefit analysis just does not work for me. I do not play games on a phone, the primary apps I use are a web browser (which IMHO takes the place of more than a few apps), Google Maps, Messaging, Whats App (to keep in touch with relatives overseas), camera, and a couple of retail store apps (primarily to tell me which aisle a desired product is located in).

A much less expensive Android is fine with me. In addition, one of my life mottos is "never carry around anything worth more than you are willing to lose". I cannot help it, you get that way growing up in a bad neighborhood . I can deal with misplacing/losing a <$200 smartphone than a $1000+ smartphone. My "insurance" is to simply own a second smartphone of the same model as a backup. It works out cheaper than the insurance plans.

I do not have a problem with others owning iphones. I do find it interesting when I encounter someone claiming financial difficulty in saving, in debt, etc. but own a brand new iphone, or seeking to get the latest one.

The payment plans for expensive phones just remind me of car payments/leases... convince someone that the cost is just the monthly payment, and to move to a new car, just trade in for the next monthly payment. That does provide companies with a steady and predictable income stream.

 

[GoBears]

Note To Self: Don’t place your 2-year old iPhone on the roof of the car, particularly when it is still dark and you’ve only had 4 hours sleep. No trade in for me this time. But since we are an Apple family, I bit the bullet and upgraded to the 13. First phone I have had to pay for in many years, I used to get reimbursed by work.

The interesting thing is that the phone apparently stayed on the roof for about 25 miles. Last reported by Find Your Device to be on or near the right shoulder of one of the freeways on our route - not someplace I am willing to stop my car and go look. Maybe I should have posted this in the Blow That Dough thread.

 

[RobbieB]

I take great pride in being 3-5 models behind the latest I-Phone. I mean what idiots would pay $1000 - 1300 to be current?

I bought a google pixel 128 on release. Cost about a grand. I'm an idiot!

 

[ivinsfan]

I bought a google pixel 128 on release. Cost about a grand. I'm an idiot!

But Robbie you are a happy idiot!!!

 

[ERhoosier]

I hate to agree with NYT about anything, but I see their point. Vast majority of phone buyers buy (or are 'upsold') for 'bling' rather than what meets their needs. And throwing $$$ away. Most $1000 phone owners don't use (or even know how to use) all the features they are paying for.
I've had iPhones for years (both personal and from corporate). Last replacement time for personal phone I went with the 2020 SE. It does everything I need/want it to do.....including fit in a shirt pocket or bike seat bag. And Touch ID, which I find far more secure than Facial Rec (on business phone- for which I have no model choice).