Is the Apple Updater a Profitable Option for the IPhone 12?

Posted on October 16, 2020 by resourcefulman

Should you buy the new iPhone 12 directly from Apple, directly from your carrier, or subscribe to Apple’s iPhone upgrade program? It depends on the circumstances . The iPhone Upgrade Program has its advantages and disadvantages, and it’s worth knowing what they are before buying an iPhone next time.

While we tend to be fans of buying a device that you fully own so you can sell it at your leisure whenever you want to get something new (or just something else), that doesn’t mean the iPhone update program is bad. As you would expect, if you’ve invested heavily in the Apple ecosystem, this is a really decent option that can save you some money and stress.

Matching numbers for Apple’s iPhone update program

Consider the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro . If you sign up for Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program, here’s how much you’ll pay for the different versions of each smartphone (approximate):

iPhone 12 Mini (64GB): $ 35 / month (minimum pay approximately $ 420 before upgrade)
iPhone 12 Mini (128GB): $ 37 / month ($ 444 before upgrade)
iPhone 12 Mini (256GB): $ 42 / month ($ 504 before update)
iPhone 12 (64GB): $ 40 / month ($ 480 before upgrade)
iPhone 12 (128GB): $ 42 / month ($ 504 before update)
iPhone 12 (256GB): $ 46 / month ($ 552 before update)
iPhone 12 Pro (128GB): $ 50 / month ($ 600 before upgrade)
iPhone 12 Pro (256GB): $ 54 / month ($ 648 before update)
iPhone 12 Pro (512GB): $ 62 / month ($ 744 before update)
iPhone 12 Pro Max (128GB): $ 54 / month ($ 648 before upgrade)
iPhone 12 Pro Max (256GB): $ 58 / month ($ 696 before upgrade)
iPhone 12 Pro Max (512GB): $ 67 / month ($ 804 before update)

As part of that price, you also pay for AppleCare + – a $ 149 rebate for the iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12, and a $ 199 premium for the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Once you pay the full price of the phone – usually a 24-month arrangement – you will be owned forever. You no longer have to pay a monthly fee and can do whatever you want with your device, including selling it to someone else on your favorite service .

So, is the iPhone Upgrade Program beneficial? Let’s count.

How much does it cost to ignore the Apple Updater

Let’s say you purchased a brand new iPhone 11 , iPhone 11 Pro, or iPhone 11 Pro Max when it arrived in September 2019. If you bought the base model straight away, it will cost you:

iPhone 11: $ 699
iPhone 11 Pro: $ 999
iPhone 11 Pro Max: $ 1,099

To keep things simple, let’s pretend that you now want to exchange your iPhone back to Apple in order to make some money on a new iPhone 12. Here is the maximum amount you will receive for an exchange (at the time of this posting):

iPhone 11: $ 350
iPhone 11 Pro: $ 450
iPhone 11 Pro Max: $ 500

This is what your total expenses will look like from September 2019 to today:

iPhone 11 to iPhone 12: $ 699 to $ 350 + $ 999 = $ 1,348
IPhone 11 to iPhone 12 Pro: $ 699 to $ 350 + $ 1,099 = $ 1,448
IPhone 11 Pro to iPhone 12: $ 999 to $ 450 + $ 999 = $ 1,548
IPhone 11 Pro to iPhone 12 Pro: $ 999 to $ 450 + $ 1,099 = $ 1,648
IPhone 11 Pro Max to iPhone 12: $ 1099 to $ 500 + $ 999 = $ 1,598
IPhone 11 Pro Max to iPhone 12 Pro: $ 1,099 to $ 500 + $ 1,099 = $ 1,698

Of course, the upgrade is not cheap.

How Much Does It Really Cost to Use Apple Updater

Now, let’s say you signed up for Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program back in September 2019. Let’s say you want to get your new iPhone 12 as soon as you receive it – after 12 payments. You would pay about the same monthly payments for the basic version of your original iPhone:

iPhone 11: $ 420 (12 months x $ 35)
iPhone 11 Pro: $ 600 (12 months x $ 50)
iPhone 11 Pro Max: $ 648 (12 months – $ 54)

And after the upgrade, you will switch to a monthly payment of about the following amount:

iPhone 12: $ 40 per month (only $ 948 after 24 months)
iPhone 12 Pro: $ 50 per month (only $ 1,198 after 24 months)

Assuming you paid for your iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro, here’s how much you’d spend overall on Apple’s update service:

iPhone 11 to iPhone 12: $ 420 + $ 948 = $ 1,368
IPhone 11 to iPhone 12 Pro: $ 420 – $ 1,198 = $ 1,618
IPhone 11 Pro to iPhone 12: $ 600 + $ 948 = $ 1,548
IPhone 11 Pro to iPhone 12 Pro: $ 600 + $ 1,198 = $ 1,798
IPhone 11 Pro Max to iPhone 12: 648 + 948 = $ 1,596
IPhone 11 Pro Max to iPhone 12 Pro: $ 648 + $ 1,198 = $ 1,846

The iPhone Upgrade Program is better than the exchange for Apple, but …

If you are an Apple supporter and plan on updating every year until the end of time, the iPhone Updater is the best way to get new iPhones at an affordable price and with minimal hassle. This basically guarantees half the cost of your old iPhone, even if you save most of the money buying and selling that iPhone yourself. (More on this in a moment.)

With iPhone Updater, you don’t have to worry about reselling your iPhone whenever you want to upgrade; you will get AppleCare + to solve any problems you face; and Apple will usually take your old phone when you’re ready to update while it’s still in working order. This is great if you bought an iPhone with minimal storage, as Apple does not offer discounts to those who spent more space. The 64GB, 128GB and 256GB iPhone 11 models are equal in the eyes of the Apple Trade-in team.

Plus, your eBay or Swappa shopper might not want to pay big bucks if your device is completely broken. Apple doesn’t care about cosmetics. If you are tired of playing the game “will anyone buy?” Or worrying about being robbed, giving your iPhone back to Apple for something new and shiny, couldn’t be much easier.

If all you care about is saving money …

The absolute worst thing you can do is buy your iPhone right away and exchange it for Apple for a new iPhone. Apple will be more than happy to pay you as little as possible for your not-so-old iPhone. And if you want to sell your latest version before Apple announces its latest device, you’re out of luck; Apple isn’t going to buy your iPhone 11 until it announces the iPhone 12.

If you are most concerned about cash, buying an iPhone and reselling it is still the best way to save money – provided you can get a solid price for your device. Take the base iPhone 11 for example . If you bought it at full price from Apple when it launched in September 2019 ($ 699) and bought AppleCare + ($ 150) with it, you would have lost 850 US dollars (not including taxes). ).

Right now, you can sell a 64GB iPhone 11 for about $ 603 on Swappa . This seems a bit overpriced to me, but this is the average selling price as of October 2020. Basically, you would only spend about $ 200 a year using your iPhone 11, assuming you keep it in top condition. That’s a little money saved on top of the $ 420 you’d pay Apple for an annual iPhone 11 “loan” through the upgrade program, and you won’t be dependent on other Apple devices. Heck, you can go out and buy Android if you want.

Returning to our scenarios above – buying an iPhone 11 and then upgrading to an iPhone 12 – let’s say you can sell your old iPhones for, say, 75% of their original price:

iPhone 11: Bought for $ 699, AppleCare + added for $ 149, sold for $ 525.
iPhone 11 Pro: bought for $ 999, AppleCare + added for $ 199, sold for $ 750.
iPhone 11 Max: Purchased for $ 1,099, AppleCare + added for $ 199, sold for $ 825.

Total cash if you bought an iPhone 11 and hold on to it: $ 848.

Total cash if you bought an iPhone 11 and sold it today: $ 323

If you then buy the iPhone 12 at the full price ($ 829), you’ll spend as little as $ 1,152, or about $ 200, saving about $ 200 over Apple’s iPhone upgrade program. Even if you choose AppleCare + for $ 149, you still save some money ($ 1301 vs $ 1368). And if you’ve never bought AppleCare + for any of your iPhones, then buying and selling an iPhone yourself is the best financial move you can make. Just make sure you don’t drop your shiny new smartphone … ever.

This guide was updated on October 16, 2020 to reflect the iPhone 12, new pricing models, and new analysis. Everything is mostly new from the moment we first published this article in September 2018.

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