A report surfaced last week about a new iPhone subscription service: According to Bloomberg, Apple is working on a way to get iPhones into your hands, without paying a hefty one-time fee (or giving carriers a lot of money). of mobile telephony).
It would apparently start with iPhones, but then spread to other Apple devices and allow many more people to get their hands on an iDevice, since it's easier to break the cost down into monthly payments, rather than seeing it as one. huge lump sum.
However, ever since the TechRadar team covered the news when it broke last week, I couldn't stop scratching my head (no, they're not lice). I don't understand what is happening here.
it is already a service
The main question I kept asking myself is "isn't that already a thing?".
He is. Apple's iPhone upgrade program lets you pay monthly for a new iPhone: It starts at $30 or the equivalent for the iPhone 13 mini, and goes up to $45 for the 13 Pro Max, and when the iPhone 14 comes out, you will be able to upgrade to that.
At that price, you basically get an iPhone for about 2/3 the cost of buying it outright for a year, but for many people it's a convenient way to go.
Of course, this price doesn't include your SIM card or connectivity, but depending on your network, it doesn't cost too much.
And that's not the only option you have, if you want to 'subscribe' to an iPhone, have you ever heard of something called 'carrier plans'?
Yes, one of the oldest concepts in the history of smartphones is to pay a fee every month in exchange for a smartphone; Of course, they're not exactly comparable in price, but in concept, they absolutely are.
Is this a case of Apple reinventing something that already exists?
So the rumors about Apple's 'new' subscription service have me a bit confused: how is it different from the myriad of similar services available?
The whole package
Apple already loves its subscription services too much, it has about 10 million of them. There's Apple Fitness, TV Plus, iCloud+. Arcade, music - the list goes on (well, not 10 million, but there are too many to easily remember).
Apple One is the global subscription service if you want them all, which subscribes you to many other subscription services (PSA: If you're tired of the term "subscription service" by now, we don't recommend reading the rest of this article about the subscription services).
The company could add iPhones as another level to its belt by integrating them into existing packages; perhaps a new level of Apple One could give you a new iPhone plus Arcade and Music, or a new iPad along with TV Plus, or a paired Apple Watch. with aptitude.
It could also be a hardware-only scheme, giving you an iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad all in one for the ultimate Apple fan.
Whichever way you go about it, this option wouldn't exactly be cheap - we're talking several hundred dollars coming out of your account every month to get the latest hardware, if that's what happens.
And that's a problem, given the number of subscription services vying for your attention.
Property vs loan
TechRadar editor Gareth Beavis pointed out to me that this iPhone subscription service could simply be a phone rent-to-own program, where you contribute over time until you've paid off the cost of your iPhone.
This is common for personal vehicles; well, I've been told, but I'm under 30, so I may never experience it. But I don't think that's what Apple would do.
The current iPhone upgrade program doesn't give you the phone to keep once you've paid its fee; you just keep switching devices and keep paying Apple, basically under a lease.
A rent-to-own model does not fit into the subscription system we are used to. Other than vehicles, how often do you manage to rent something for cash and then keep it?
Can I keep my Xbox Games Pass games when I've been a long enough subscriber? Or my favorite Netflix movies when I've seen them enough times? In fact, this is even the case with vehicles now: Some EVs can be purchased on a permanent lease, where you pay constantly for the privilege of driving them.
You don't really buy things anymore, you subscribe to them and lose them when you want to stop paying. You are spending on access, not ownership. This is where capitalism has pushed us, and I don't see Apple bucking that trend.
Subscription depletion
There are too many subscription platforms these days, a problem a new iPhone subscription plan would help with. Of course, this is not new: there is evidence that subscription news services were used as far back as the XNUMXth century in Germany, but it is hard to deny that there has been a recent rise in "pay little and pay" media. to buy things.
But when does it end? When do we say "I have too many services, I don't need another one"?
It can't be far off: I recently hit my limit, canceled my Playstation Plus (mainly because it got a bit lame, as my colleague here eloquently explains), and I don't think it's just the first of a great staff. purge.
Of course, since you're not thinking as much about what you're spending, that's great for business and could help Apple get more of its expensive smartphones into buyers' hands.
It would also help with buyer's remorse, as you could realize you drove Apple crazy, then return it all and watch your bank balance come back to health. Yes, you've already spent and you don't own anything, and you can't sell anything to get it back, but that means you can try things out a lot easier.
But with so many other subscription services for iPhones and smartphones already out there, and the busy landscape of subscription services significantly reaching tipping point, it's hard for me to understand, or get excited about, another Apple.