Hi! So I currently have the iPhone 12 Pro Max, and at the moment with the s23 ultra education discount the phone is $150 off regular price, and they’re offering me $500 for my iPhone to trade-in.
I think I’m pretty set on waiting for the s24 Ultra BUT would it be better for me to wait until then and hope that the trade-in value for my iPhone remains the same or are we convinced it’ll decrease?
OR
Right now for s22 ultra they’re offering 800, so maybe it’d be better for me to just buy the s23 ultra now and once the s24 ultra comes out just trade-in the s23 ? Worst case if the s24 ultra won’t be much of an upgrade, I keep the s23 ultra (possibly losing a few bucks considering s23 ultra price will probably decrease with s24 ultra release?)
I’m trying to decide which one will be more money saving in the long run.
If saving money is a concern, and I had an iPhone 12 (actually I do, but just the regular Pro, not the Max) then I’d stick with what I had, for a number of reasons. The big two being a) existing investment in the ecosystem - most of us have spent hundreds of dollars on apps over the years, and b) the iPhone 12 is not bad tech, and should last for years with nothing more than a battery replacement.
More money saving in the long run is on keeping your current phone, second around be to buy the out of season phone (S22). The S23 price will probably drop when the S24 comes out. I doubt you will lose much trade in value for your phone because that’s less tied to the price of your phone and more tied to the value of converting customers and locking in longer contracts.
Unless there’s a truly revolutionary new feature in the S24, I don’t see much benefit to getting it, especially through the lense of money saving - “what if I wait for the new phone” will just leave you in a perpetual state of waiting.
Buying a new phone won’t save you money. Switching platforms will cost you even more, except you bought a Pro Max and no apps or accessories like cables whatsoever, which is unlikely.
The 12 series has lots of compute power for several years to come and will receive some full OS version updates. Its cameras and general hardware are great. So keeping a powerful, working phone will save you more money.
Keeping your current phone would be more money saving in the long run (if it’s still in good condition)
Definitely wait. Consider selling your phone instead of trading in and keeping an eye on the promos coming from Samsung directly. At least in Canada, they have been very aggressive for product launches.
