I know I am part of Apple's iPhone problem but even after doing all my research, I still don't feel the need to upgrade (AAPL)

Nick Bastone / Business Insider

• At the beginning of January, Apple announced that its holiday quarter revenue would be 7% lower than expected due to weakening iPhone sales. 
• Not having upgraded my 7 Plus for over two years, I know I am part of Apple's iPhone problem. 
• So, I made a trip to my local Apple Store and did some research to see if I should finally upgrade to an iPhone XR or XS. Here's what I decided. 

I am part of Apple's iPhone problem. 

You see, I own a perfectly fine iPhone 7 plus that I've had for over two years, and I feel no pressure to upgrade. 

My screen isn't cracked. All the apps I need are running smoothly (despite the occasional crash). And I like to think that my photos still stand up to my friends' who shoot with their new, notch-laden iPhone XR and XS. 

Bah humbug! I'm sticking with my 7! 

I was curious, though, how much it would cost to upgrade and would that cost be justified? 

The Face ID feature to open a locked screen seems nice (my thumbprint only works 50% of the time when it's sunny out and 0% when it's raining). And maybe having Portrait Mode on the front facing camera would help make me look less awkward in selfies. Maybe not. 

Anyways, I headed to my local Apple store in San Francisco's Union Square to figure out if I should finally upgrade or not. 

Here's what I found: 

If I were to buy the cheapest of Apple's new phones — the 64 GB iPhone XR — my monthly fee would be $37.41 through its financing program.

YouTube/MKBHD

That $37.41 is exactly what I was paying per month for my 7 Plus. 

But since I haven't upgraded my phone for over two years, my monthly payments are no longer. Starting last September, I owned my phone outright and have been paying $0 to Apple since. 

So, if I were to upgrade, I'd have to get used to a monthly payment again. 

If I traded in my 7 Plus (which is in good condition), I would receive a $300 credit through Apple's GiveBack program.

Apple

That credit could be used for future monthly payments and paying taxes on my next phone. 

Shoot! I always forget about the taxes. Let's figure that out real quick. 

The 64 GB XR retails for $749, and the sales tax in San Francisco is 8.5%. So to walk out the door with my new XR, I would have to pay $63.67 in taxes. 

 

 

After taxes, I would have $236.33 left from my trade-in credits, which would be enough to cover my first six months of fees on my new XR. That's not bad!

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See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

• How Apple went from a $1 trillion company to losing over 20% of its share price
• Apple is putting the brakes on hiring for certain groups because of slowing iPhone sales
• Microsoft is creating the ‘Netflix for games’: Here’s everything we know so far

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from Business Insider https://read.bi/2FNHpDK