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Apple to offer financing for Macs, iPads, AirPods, Apple TV, etc.

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Long-term finance all your extreme depreciation luxury items! The path to eternal poverty.


(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is preparing to allow customers to buy many of its products, including iPads, Macs and AirPods, over monthly installments via its Apple Card credit card.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is planning to roll out the service in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the plan. The offering will let customers buy a product through Apple and split up the cost over several months with interest-free payments.

The company will offer a 12-month interest-free payment plan for iPads, Macs, the Apple Pencil and iPad keyboards, as well as the Mac XDR Display monitor, and six months with no interest for the AirPods, Apple TV, and HomePod, the people said.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

The payments will be managed through the Apple Card section in the Wallet app on the iPhone and charges will be added to a customer’s monthly Apple Card bill. Apple started a similar program for the iPhone last year, offering 24 months no interest.

The program is similar to those by carriers selling phones and other products, offering consumers another avenue to purchase these items with monthly payments.

The service is also designed to spur enrollment for the Apple Card, a joint effort with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and boost sales of Apple products by letting users split up the cost over time. It will be compatible with Apple’s education discounts, the people said.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call in April that the company would launch an installment payment service for products beyond the iPhone, but he didn’t specify timing or features.
 
Dear debt suckers,

I hope you enjoy your apple products and that you have great fun with them. Don't worry about being in horrendous debt come month 13, at least you've got an over-priced POS that you can show off to your friends with :)

Yours Sincerely,

The guy who will be buying your repo'd house for pennies during the next recession.
 
this is basically like long term car loans (5+ years), except that a year later you'll get another loan when apple release a newer model, before your current one gets paid off.

Enjoy your iDebt, suckers
 

Ovek

7Member7
Wait until they unveil the Macbook Pro upgrade program where you essentially rent one for a year at a time, pushing people toward never actually owning anything, ever.

Considering how poorly they are made nowadays, shit soldered SSDs that just die I'm looking at you. So perhaps not owning one is a blessing in disguise because when it dies, and it will, you can just throw it at some schmuck at Apple store and get a new one.
 

Blond

Banned
Wait until they unveil the Macbook Pro upgrade program where you essentially rent one for a year at a time, pushing people toward never actually owning anything, ever.

The inability to repair is very clear of this trend. If I can't repair it myself, I'm not buying it. Phones costing the same as a used Volvo but with rapid depreciation and unrepairability.

I'm serious, I bet if you bought a used Volvo, put a phone bills worth of maintenance into every month by the the time the next iphone comes out you could flip it for more money just because you did all the work someone else didn't want too.

What the hell am I saying again?
 
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when will they offer just a part time (read: partial slave) position to pay off the products? or maybe buying our kidens/retina/whatever spare parts?
 

cjp

Junior Member
I’d take interest free payments on a smartphone that receives feature and security updates for 6ish years.

Why buy it outright with 0% financing on offer? That cash isn’t going to earn any worthwhile interest and you’re beating inflation.
 
If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. I enjoy my iPhone but I also keep it until it basically doesn’t work anymore and then I buy a refurb for half the price and repeat said cycle. It’s worked for me but I also pay for everything in cash and have never had a credit card.
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
I’d take interest free payments on a smartphone that receives feature and security updates for 6ish years.

Why buy it outright with 0% financing on offer? That cash isn’t going to earn any worthwhile interest and you’re beating inflation.
Yup, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking advantage of this program.

I did the exact same thing with my 4K TV. I had the money to pay outright, but I spread the payments across 12 months since there was no interest. Allows for more financial flexibility and no costs if you’re responsible.
 

godhandiscen

There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
you are a fool if you do this
Not really. It depends on your risk tolerance with regards to investments. If you are confident you’ll get a return on investing the cash, then it makes sense to defer paying debts.

I probably could take advantage of this, specially this Christmas since my family is due for upgrades. However I don’t like to carry debt when I don’t have to.
 
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Tesseract

Banned
Not really. It depends on your risk tolerance with regards to investments. If you are confident you’ll get a return on investing the cash, then it makes sense to defer paying debts.

I probably could take advantage of this, specially this Christmas since my family is due for upgrades. However I don’t like to carry debt when I don’t have to.

imma have to say hell nah to that
 

Chiggs

Gold Member
Such scorching hot takes in here. I mean, some of us actually can pay things back in 12 months...and if this is interest free, well...
 

kingwingin

Member
Such scorching hot takes in here. I mean, some of us actually can pay things back in 12 months...and if this is interest free, well...
The issue is this will push people who can't afford these items to buy them.

Always a bad idea to use a credit car when shopping. You think you are winning with your points/air miles or interest free payments but you spent more than if you walked in with cash
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
Always a bad idea to use a credit car when shopping. You think you are winning with your points/air miles or interest free payments but you spent more than if you walked in with cash
Uh, what? Whether I used cash or my credit card would have had no bearing on the amount of chicken, potatoes, carrots, and eggs I purchased at the store on Friday.
 

HoodWinked

Member
seems like a bad thing to get into, i can imagine idiots having buyer's remorse several months in then wanting their debt to be absolved and call apple predatory lenders for letting them get into a mess of their own doing.
 

godhandiscen

There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
The issue is this will push people who can't afford these items to buy them.

Always a bad idea to use a credit car when shopping. You think you are winning with your points/air miles or interest free payments but you spent more than if you walked in with cash
I believe that these financial programs can be advertised in a predatory manner. That this particular type of B2C advertisement should be stopped and punished by law. Also, a better effort from the education system to instruct young adults about the risks of using credit is necessary to complete the picture.

However, I don’t have a problem with these financial programs existing. They can benefit those who understand the risks and use the program as a financial tool.
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
We are talking apples here, not carrots.
Apples, then.

I recently purchased a dehumidifier for the house, needed it as mildew is showing in spots. I paid with my credit card. How would paying cash have been the better option? I went in to Home Depot and left with exactly what I needed and no more.

I mean, I agree with your sentiment towards folks who can’t control their impulses... but saying that using a credit card when shopping is always bad is just flat out wrong. It reminds me of conversations I’ve seen on Resetera about finances, and some of these folks later start running into problems where their credit score is total crap. You can’t have good credit if you don’t have a credit history.

Better advice would be to use a credit card the same way you use a check/debit card. Only spend what you can afford and always pay full statement balance every month. If you can’t afford to pay for your Apple gadget in cash, don’t buy it.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
At least the MacBook keyboards are good again!
 

kingwingin

Member
Apples, then.

I recently purchased a dehumidifier for the house, needed it as mildew is showing in spots. I paid with my credit card. How would paying cash have been the better option? I went in to Home Depot and left with exactly what I needed and no more.

I mean, I agree with your sentiment towards folks who can’t control their impulses... but saying that using a credit card when shopping is always bad is just flat out wrong. It reminds me of conversations I’ve seen on Resetera about finances, and some of these folks later start running into problems where their credit score is total crap. You can’t have good credit if you don’t have a credit history.

Better advice would be to use a credit card the same way you use a check/debit card. Only spend what you can afford and always pay full statement balance every month. If you can’t afford to pay for your Apple gadget in cash, don’t buy it.
studys show people who use credit cards focus more on an items features than the cost of the item. So if someone walks in home depot to buy a dehumidifier they are more likely to buy the more expensive one if they use credit. Sure you paid it off on time but you spent more than you should have.

There are no problems with having a non existent credit score. You save up and buy a car in cash. You can get a mortgage manually underwritten where they actually verify income.

A high fico score just means you've borrowed a lot of money and paid a ton in interest
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
studys show people who use credit cards focus more on an items features than the cost of the item. So if someone walks in home depot to buy a dehumidifier they are more likely to buy the more expensive one if they use credit. Sure you paid it off on time but you spent more than you should have.

There are no problems with having a non existent credit score. You save up and buy a car in cash. You can get a mortgage manually underwritten where they actually verify income.

A high fico score just means you've borrowed a lot of money and paid a ton in interest
“More likely” i.e. doesn’t apply to all people. Spent more than I should have? I bought the cheapest obviously made in China dehumidifier on the shelf. Payment method has no bearing on my purchase habits.

No problems with a non-existent credit score you say? Depends on your income level. Paying for a car with cash is outside of the average American’s ability and in most places, you need a car. A good credit score facilitates having a better interest rate. And some utility companies will not provide service unless you pay a deposit... which is waived if you have good credit.

Credit score is a reflection of financial reliability, not how much you’ve borrowed or how much interest you’ve paid. Folks with mountains of credit card debt have to pay lots of interest, and their credit scores are NOT high because it’s a reflection of their poor finances.
 
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eddie4

Genuinely Generous
lol an excuse to charge more for shit

wow, I can have an iPhone for $12/month, for 600 months? What a deal! I'll take two.
 
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kingwingin

Member
“More likely” i.e. doesn’t apply to all people. Spent more than I should have? I bought the cheapest obviously made in China dehumidifier on the shelf. Payment method has no bearing on my purchase habits.

No problems with a non-existent credit score you say? Depends on your income level. Paying for a car with cash is outside of the average American’s ability and in most places, you need a car. A good credit score facilitates having a better interest rate. And some utility companies will not provide service unless you pay a deposit... which is waived if you have good credit.

Credit score is a reflection of financial reliability, not how much you’ve borrowed or how much interest you’ve paid. Folks with mountains of credit card debt have to pay lots of interest, and their credit scores are NOT high because it’s a reflection of their poor finances.
you are delusional, you may be smarter than the average person but its been proven you spend more. Doesn't matter if its a vending machine, McDonald's or the apple store. At some point you spent more than you should have.

After my car was written off I rode the bus to work for months until I scraped up 3k to buy an old grand marquis. Sure I could have walked into a dealership and financed a new car but why put myself in that situation? Why give them interest payments?

Deposits for utility's or rent because of a low score? Its a better option then having a higher score. The money you saved from limited impulse buys and overspending will vastly outweigh any deposit. Not to mention you get the deposit back.
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Well, I guess it's good for people who can't afford to buy one of the more expensive Apple products outright. 0% financing and all.

Myself, I didn't even consider Apple products until I was earning north of $80k. I don't like to finance anything, so I always bought my laptops, phones, etc, outright. A Macbook is a very convenient device if you already own an iPhone and iPad for all of the effortless integration and such. I really like this Macbook I am typing on right now.

I feel sorry for all those people my age putting $1,300 - $2,000 Macs on a credit card or doing traditional financing. Ugh. Paying all that interest for such a small (relative to most "large" purchases) buy.
 
I’d take interest free payments on a smartphone that receives feature and security updates for 6ish years.

Why buy it outright with 0% financing on offer? That cash isn’t going to earn any worthwhile interest and you’re beating inflation.

That sounds like a great idea. What's your address? I want come around and measure up the garden.
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
So the other day I was at this acquitance's house.

They were renting a 40m2 one-room apartment (that's about 430 square feet you filthy non-metricals). That's all they could afford.

However, they both had macbooks and iphones and were saving to buy airpods. I just don't get people and Apple. I mean sure their products look nice and are well designed and there's an appealing coherence to them but at the end of the day they're an unrepairable rip-off. I would sort of understand the iPhone as an alternative to the google spyware if you're privacy-conscious but eh... Then again I'm the weirdo that runs Linux so meh.
 

Super Mario

Banned
I would never finance anything I can't pay for. Except a car and a house. Even then, I have my limits. People who finance things becase "they can't afford them", tend to continue to have problems affording things

The issue is this will push people who can't afford these items to buy them.

Always a bad idea to use a credit car when shopping. You think you are winning with your points/air miles or interest free payments but you spent more than if you walked in with cash

I knew this kind of post was coming. Those poor vitcims being "pushed" to buy Apple products. Someone should look out for them!

It is without question, that the best payment is the responsible use of a credit card. Points, chargebacks, $0 liability, and a slew of other perks. You can show me whatever study you want that I'm spending more, or I'm a moron that now buys the more expensive humidifier because I feel like I have more money in my pocket. There absolutely are people out there like that. Their bad habits spill all onto everyday life.

It's funny because I actually just purchased a firepit at home depot. In fact, I chose the least expensive option. I was also able to use my credit card to get a big cashback return on it. I guess I should have used cash because of the lowest common denominator
 

Rbk_3

Member
If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. I enjoy my iPhone but I also keep it until it basically doesn’t work anymore and then I buy a refurb for half the price and repeat said cycle. It’s worked for me but I also pay for everything in cash and have never had a credit card.

You're missing out on increasing your credit score and a lot of free cash back or rewards. Just pay your card off every month. I get $500 plus cashback ever year and don't pay a cent in interest.

Apples, then.

I recently purchased a dehumidifier for the house, needed it as mildew is showing in spots. I paid with my credit card. How would paying cash have been the better option? I went in to Home Depot and left with exactly what I needed and no more.

I mean, I agree with your sentiment towards folks who can’t control their impulses... but saying that using a credit card when shopping is always bad is just flat out wrong. It reminds me of conversations I’ve seen on Resetera about finances, and some of these folks later start running into problems where their credit score is total crap. You can’t have good credit if you don’t have a credit history.

Better advice would be to use a credit card the same way you use a check/debit card. Only spend what you can afford and always pay full statement balance every month. If you can’t afford to pay for your Apple gadget in cash, don’t buy it.

Don't forget that most cards also double 1 year manufacture warranties to 2 years.
 
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diffusionx

Gold Member
It's gonna be tough to sell these high priced vanity goods in the middle of a depression, Apple's just trying to get ahead of it.
 

PSYGN

Member
This sucks. They'll start raising their prices up even further to try and get people on financing.
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
you are delusional, you may be smarter than the average person but its been proven you spend more. Doesn't matter if its a vending machine, McDonald's or the apple store. At some point you spent more than you should have.

After my car was written off I rode the bus to work for months until I scraped up 3k to buy an old grand marquis. Sure I could have walked into a dealership and financed a new car but why put myself in that situation? Why give them interest payments?

Deposits for utility's or rent because of a low score? Its a better option then having a higher score. The money you saved from limited impulse buys and overspending will vastly outweigh any deposit. Not to mention you get the deposit back.
Delusional eh? Funny, you didn’t like my food example earlier in the conversation, then you decide to bring up McDonald’s in your rebuttal. My purchase decisions are not influenced by my credit card. I hate going to stores to begin with, why would I suddenly start buying higher priced items via credit card when I already can buy them outright? My cheap ass reuses empty pickle jars to freeze food because I’m not paying for containers. I still go to Goodwill for used dishes and kitchen utensils.

Good for you on the car situation. I will do you one even better though. If I had access to public transportation like you do, I wouldn’t buy a car at all. How’s that for being frugal? The point was that not everyone has the same circumstances as you do. Some folks don’t have access to public transportation and have to own a car, and it really sucks if their credit score is crap and they don’t have several grand in the bank already. They have to get a car now, and a bad credit score means more interest for the bank.

On the deposits discussion, I know you get the security deposit back. But you don’t have a choice in the matter if your credit score is shit. Saying that it’s a better option to have a utility company hold on to several hundred of your dollars indefinitely until you cancel your service is hilarious. Lack of choice is not better no matter how you try to spin it.

And being able to choose is really the point, isn’t it? Money is power and when you can leverage credit to your advantage while not being frivolous, you can go far. Credit cards are powerful tools that cause financial ruin for the foolhardy, but are fantastic in the right hands.
 
You're missing out on increasing your credit score and a lot of free cash back or rewards. Just pay your card off every month. I get $500 plus cashback ever year and don't pay a cent in interest.



Don't forget that most cards also double 1 year manufacture warranties to 2 years.

Oh trust me, I agree with what you’re saying. My main issue is I’ve watched my older brother be terribly irresponsible with credit cards and it’s basically stopped me from ever getting one. It seems silly to say that considering how responsible I am with money but even the temptation of a credit card gives me extreme anxiety. I’m very lucky in the sense my house is inherited and paid for and with my decisions money-wise I’ve done well for myself financially so credit is not something I really need at the moment. I know it might harm me down the road but I’m just stubborn when it comes to credit cards.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
So the other day I was at this acquitance's house.

They were renting a 40m2 one-room apartment (that's about 430 square feet you filthy non-metricals). That's all they could afford.

However, they both had macbooks and iphones and were saving to buy airpods. I just don't get people and Apple. I mean sure their products look nice and are well designed and there's an appealing coherence to them but at the end of the day they're an unrepairable rip-off. I would sort of understand the iPhone as an alternative to the google spyware if you're privacy-conscious but eh... Then again I'm the weirdo that runs Linux so meh.

I am typing this on a MBP I bought in 2014. It was expensive. But six years later, I use it every day. It still works great, outside of the battery which I was planning to replace before coronavirus. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think there are a lot of daily driver Windows laptops from 2014. So I do think, for a long time, Apple was able to charge more because they just had better products.

Unfortunately, they've gone away from that. The MBP redesign was awful. They should have been embarrassed to put that out, something even shills like Jon Gruber finally admitted (right after they started replacing them of course). And of course the way they've jacked up the price on iPhones is just ridiculous. I don't want a Google spy device, but the fact is you can spend 30% and get 90% of the phone, if not more. Apple lost the lead on cameras, iOS has a lot of weird Windows-esque bugs that pop up out of nowhere and require a restart to fix, etc. They've lost it. AirPods are great, but even then, they're trying to find ways to jack up the price.
 
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godhandiscen

There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
A high fico score just means you've borrowed a lot of money and paid a ton in interest
I pay everything with a CC and clear the debt immediately. I do this for the extra 1.5%-5% cash back that the different CC’s I own provide. My on-time payment history is 100%.
I used to have bad credit when I was a young adult, but now that I have become finance savvy, I take advantage of all the tools I am provided. For example, last year I refinanced my house by dropping a whole unit in the interest rate. This will save me 90k over the remaining lifetime of my mortgage. It was an excellent move only possible with a high credit score. If you want to accumulate wealth you need to understand the financial tools that are available to you and not resent them just because of the risk and potential negative consequences.
 
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cjp

Junior Member
That sounds like a great idea. What's your address? I want come around and measure up the garden.

Oh, I won’t give you my address but you can find something local on here that’ll be great for you.

Maybe start with the 7-11 age range.
 

kingwingin

Member
Delusional eh? Funny, you didn’t like my food example earlier in the conversation, then you decide to bring up McDonald’s in your rebuttal. My purchase decisions are not influenced by my credit card. I hate going to stores to begin with, why would I suddenly start buying higher priced items via credit card when I already can buy them outright? My cheap ass reuses empty pickle jars to freeze food because I’m not paying for containers. I still go to Goodwill for used dishes and kitchen utensils.

Good for you on the car situation. I will do you one even better though. If I had access to public transportation like you do, I wouldn’t buy a car at all. How’s that for being frugal? The point was that not everyone has the same circumstances as you do. Some folks don’t have access to public transportation and have to own a car, and it really sucks if their credit score is crap and they don’t have several grand in the bank already. They have to get a car now, and a bad credit score means more interest for the bank.

On the deposits discussion, I know you get the security deposit back. But you don’t have a choice in the matter if your credit score is shit. Saying that it’s a better option to have a utility company hold on to several hundred of your dollars indefinitely until you cancel your service is hilarious. Lack of choice is not better no matter how you try to spin it.

And being able to choose is really the point, isn’t it? Money is power and when you can leverage credit to your advantage while not being frivolous, you can go far. Credit cards are powerful tools that cause financial ruin for the foolhardy, but are fantastic in the right hands.
If all you eat in a week is a bag of carrots and a carton of eggs thats one thing. But like I said before. Credit cards and any other company trying to sell you product do their best to take the sting out of spending money. They are not your friends, they are here to make you spend your money, your greatest wealth building tool.

Americans owe 1 trillion in credit card debt. Numerous Studys show you spend more. No person with wealth attributes their success to the air miles they have collected.
 

mr.dilya

Banned
I mean I financed my current iPhone with Best Buy for 18 months interest free and paid it off in 9 months. What’s the big deal? Payment plans are great for people who know how to manage their debts. It’s not our problem a lot of you are stupid as fuck.
 
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