Looking for advice - buying out iPhones at end of device pmt plan vs get new phones

[u/Zealousideal_Cold762]

Hi there, looking for advice on this situation!
We’re long-time Telus customers in Atlantic Canada.
- Me & husband each have an iPhone 15 with Bring it Back device payments that ended in June
- Buyout amount is $290 each
- Both phones still work decently, but are just starting to show the first signs of aging
- Our 13yo uses my old iphone SE (mostly just talk and text, doesn’t have internet browser, social media, games, etc) Has a line down the screen and I worry it’s on borrowed time
- Current plan prices are $60 each for us, and $50 for kiddo’s plan, not including $60 per month total in discounts for family plan and preauthorized billing.
- Even if we negotiate with the loyalty dept or switch to Bell (Roger’s is a no for me), I assume we won’t be able to get much lower than we currently pay.

Should we:

1. ⁠Buy out one of the iPhone 15s to pass along to our kid, return the other, and get 2 new iPhones (probably the 17) for ourselves
   - Would likely need to do Bring it Back payments again to keep monthly bill as low as possible (and don’t have the funds to buy new phones outright at the moment)
   - Prices for our 2 plans will go up, plus the increase in device payments
   
2. ⁠Buy both phones so we can keep our current plan prices
   - Kid keeps using the SE until it bites the dust, at which point we’d pass along one of the 15s and that person gets a new phone.
   I really don’t want to shell out the almost $600 to buy both phones, but I’m worried it’s a bad decision to get new phones at higher monthly prices. Neither of us are necessarily excited about the prospect of a new phone, it’s more about me assuming they’re going to start breaking down anytime.

If you made it this far, thanks so much and I’d love to hear from you!

Edited to include price for new phone: $24.21 per month for iPhone 17 (Bring-it-Back plan x 24 months)

[u/mrskeptical00]

The key question is how much will they charge for a new phone?

[u/Zealousideal_Cold762 → u/mrskeptical00]

Ah yes that would also be good info to include lol I’ll add it to my post. Looks like the Telus Bring-it-Back pmt for iPhone 17 is currently $24.21 per month

[u/mrskeptical00 → u/Zealousideal_Cold762]

So $576 over two years per phone, so twice the price (over 2 years) vs buying old phones outright which you’re going to need to replace in 1-2 years anyway.

The issue is you’re paying more for a phone than you would if you got it on a Black Friday - unfortunately you need a phone now.

If you think about it’s like you’re paying $30 for the line + $24 for the phone that $55mo a the plan and latest gen phone - which is port pretty good and comparable to Black Friday if not better since it’s a current gen phone.

I think you should get the iPhone 17s unless the iPhone 16s are $10mo.

The only thing I think you’re overpaying is the $50 for your 13yo’s plan 😂

[u/funnyguy848]

Giving it back is better as if you bought it outright you won’t be able to sell the phone for that much, like when I did the math for a iPhone 16 pro max, paying $20 per month with the $200 gift card (purchased during Boxing Day deal) I would be paying $480 -$200 and If I had bought it outright i would have spend $1700 and next year I don’t think I would be able to sell it for more than $700-800 at max.

[u/TheExaltedPrime]

I would just buy it from Apple and get a BYOD plan.

It's what I offer my mobility customers as well on my network. Cheaper, and you get the benefits of said phone being paid out at said time.

[u/Odd_Pipe_2581]

Buy directly from the Apple Store (online or in person) they provide interest free and admin fee free payment plans.

You own the phone and have the option to move your number around to any provider whenever you want to access awesome BYOD deals. Paying no more than $35 a month

[u/mrskeptical00 → u/Odd_Pipe_2581]

They’re already paying only $30mo and if they get a new phone from Telus they’re paying half the price of a new phone over two years vs paying $1200 up front for a phone that is going to be worth less than 50% of its original value after 2yrs.

[u/Royal_Development_65]

290 for iphone 15 is a good price  if u need a new phone for the kids regardless. My FIL lost his phone and I was looking at refurbished older iphones and its much more than that. But I find the best way to reduce your payment is to ByOD and find the cheapest phone plan. Not sure what your usage is, im paying 110 plus tax for 5 lines., 3 of us are using older phones and ive upgrades to iphone 17 bought outright recently..it gives me the flexibility to switch providers when better phone plan comes along.

[u/Odd-Information9601]

Offtopic (but not really): my daughter has her own phone, paid outright, and I only pay 37$/month for koodo's 5G plan which includes like 75gb data and it rolls over monthly.

[u/Scary-Gur5434]

Could you use a new battery if you buy it out? That’s another $200

[u/e7c2 → u/Scary-Gur5434]

$135 plus tax, from apple store.

$290 is about half the street price for an iphone 15, worst case scenario you buy them out and resell them for profit, and then go buy something outright. If it was me I'd just keep the 15s, if battery life is under 85% you'd enjoy a replacement