The iPhone X Isn't That Expensive, Actually

With monthly plans, that $1,000 iPhone looks like a much more reasonable purchase.
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Apple

Let's be real here: the iPhone has never, ever been cheap. Even when it debuted in 2007, it started at the then-eye-watering price of $500. The thing is, many Americans who bought iPhones since then have never paid attention to the price of their devices; the off-contract cost was often obscured by mandatory plans with subsidized phone prices.

The iPhone X made waves not just because of its new edge-to-edge OLED display but because it's the most expensive iPhone that Apple has ever made. Many folks across the world wide web were heard complaining about its primo $999 starting price. The thing is that, if you know how much phones cost, $999 isn't that expensive. If you use a monthly program that Apple and carriers offer, the iPhone X seems like a much more reasonable purchase.

A couple of years ago, I signed up for Apple's iPhone Upgrade plan when I bought a shiny new iPhone 6S. I went with this payment program because I simply couldn't justify the out-of-pocket cost of a top-of-the-line 128 GB iPhone 6S, which would have been $849 (plus you get AppleCare+ for the duration of the two-year loan period). With the Upgrade Program, I was able to get this phone for only around $40 a month. Save for one other model (the 128 GB iPhone 6S Plus), this was the most expensive iPhone on sale in late 2015 when I bought it.

Today, I priced out what it'd cost to buy into the latest and greatest that Apple has for 2017. A brand-spanking-new 64 GB iPhone X costs $49.91 per month—only about $10 more than my top-shelf 6S—under the same Apple payment plan. If you want more storage space than that, the 256 GB iPhone X is $56.16 a month. That's … not very much for such an impressive phone.

Now, don't get me wrong—the iPhone is a premium device and it's not attainable for everyone. Nor do I recommend that most shoppers spring for the super duper iPhone either (for most people, the iPhone SE is an awesome, affordable device). But, in the scheme of things, the iPhone X isn't ridiculously priced for what you get.

Apple's offering a phone that seems a bit nicer and if you break it down into 24 monthly payments, it's not much more money. It's not worth giving up real necessities such as food, water, and shelter … but whether you buy it from Apple or purchase it on a carrier plan, the month-to-month reality is that it's only a bit more than any other fully loaded iPhone from years past.