There are finance options available for Apple products to help people afford them. Regular consumer options via a Barclaycard Visa and educational financing via a Capital One personal loan. But potential consumers might be left wondering, is it worth financing a piece of Apple hardware?

Apple’s products carry a price premium over other manufacturers. While a potential buyer might believe the quality of the equipment is there, that initial sticker shock makes it hard for some to pony up hundreds of extra dollars to get in.

Here’s how you can afford to buy an Apple computer:

Can you finance a MacBook or other Apple products? Here at Macs4u we offer financing options using Affirm, PayPal Credit®, Amazon Pay and Layaway plans. 13' Macbook Pro mid-2017. Compact, powerful and light. 1 Year warranty. Shop for finance software for mac at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Sage 50 Pro Accounting provides you with. Browse and download Finance apps on your Mac from the Mac App Store. The Mac App Store has a wide selection of Finance apps for your Mac. Apple Financial Services can help your business plan for the long term, and at the same time make short term changes to support company goals. Whether you are looking to enable a new strategy, or to adopt the latest Apple technology quickly, Apple Financial Services can help you make the best decision for your organization.

Finance A Mac For Cheap

• Use Apple 0% Consumer Financing
• Use Apple Education Financing
• Use Layaway

We lay out which is most cost effective below.

Apple Holds Resale Value

Apple laptops and phones are highly lusted after pieces of equipment. And while for many, the phones are a lifestyle options, many users are loyal to Apple’s laptops and desktops because they depend on them for getting work done. Whether it’s video editing or photography, creatives have been depending on Apple products for decades. Now many others who have found their phones to be excellent want to buy the laptops and desktops as well.

Best Personal Finance Software Mac

Some people question the value of Apple hardware. For some it’s almost akin to a religious war. But one thing is certain, no matter someone thinks about whether Apple hardware it holds its resale value. Used Apple products hold twice their value as non-Apple products.

This means that taking the time to finance Apple equipment might make sense to consumers. If they hold their value well and last, financing Apple products to get a better computer that will hold its resale value makes sense.

So how to finance an Apple computer?

Finance For Project Management

General Consumers Financing an Apple Computer

Anna Hoychuk / Shutterstock.com

Apple has teamed up with Barclaycard Visa to offer financing to any consumer that qualifies for the credit card. Applying for the Visa card will mean the applicant’s credit score gets a hard credit inquiry, which could knock their score down a few points. But the card offers a number of benefits to frequent Apple shoppers and benefits to financing through the credit card.

Read: 6 Surprising Ways to Hack Your Credit Score

The first benefit is that, depending on how much you spend at the Apple Store, you get a no-interest promo period to pay off the card:

For example, that means anyone wanting to buy a $999 MacBook Air would have 18 months interest fee. That’s $55.50 a month paid to the credit over a year and a half without paying any interest.

It certainly takes the sting out of the higher initial Apple prices. And with 3X points for Apple purchases, frequent Apple buyers might need to pay close attention to this card anyway.

Educational Financing Through Capital One

For students, Apple has a finance plan through Capital One. It’s not a credit card you apply for, but a loan. The loan payments are spread out over 24 months for less than $1,099, or 48 months at $1,099 and up. So for a $1,099 laptop, the monthly payment would be $30-33 a month.

Unlike the interest-free credit card promotional period in the general consumer financing option, the Capital One loan has interest rates of 11.99% to 19.99% APR. That’s certainly not interest-free. In fact, the loan is appearing cheaper by taking longer to pay off. Sure a $1,099 loan is costing $30-33 a month, but over the life of the loan that means a total of $1240.38 spent due to the 11.99% interest (if you qualify for that lower rate). At 19.99% interest, the total cost of the loan is $1,342.30. That’s a very expensive 22% extra on top of the cost of the laptop due to financing.

The educational loan is, surprisingly, not a great deal. Students would be better off getting an Apple educational discount, which can be as much as 10%, and then applying for the regular consumer financing option through Barclaycard to then pay off the computer over an 18 month span.

Cost Comparison of Apple Financing with Barclaycard Visa vs Capital One Education Loan

The extra cost of using the educational financing becomes quickly clear if you create a table looking at 24 month financing costs on Apple hardware:

What About Financing an Apple Computer with Bad Credit?

No credit? Bad credit? It’s probably best to shy away from dinging a credit score down by applying for a credit card just to finance a laptop. If someone absolutely can’t bear with non-Apple equipment but can’t afford that upfront cost, then they should probably consider one of the oldest ways people have in the past afforded expensive items they couldn’t pay up front for: use a layaway plan.

Walmart, Sears and some other department stores offer layaway plans. These work by letting a customer put an expensive item aside and then make payments on it as they’re able until the item is paid off. There are some smaller fees, and some of them are limited to only the Christmas season. By asking around, it may be a way to break up the payments on an Apple device to make them affordable without getting into any kind debt.

But in general, if money is that tight, consumers might be better of looking at a Chromebook. At prices of $160 and up they might not hold their resale value or be as fully features as an Apple laptop, but they’re certainly going to fit the budget.

Sources:

Apple Financing: Consumer Finance – Apple.com

Apple Financing: Education Finance Plan – Apple.com

Apple Tax: Why Do Macs Hold Their Resale Value? – Makeusof.com

What Stores Offer Layaway – Makecentsof.com

With new financing solutions, it's easier than ever to bring Apple products into your organization or institution in a way that is simple and cost-effective.

Innovative payment structures.

Apple products are built to last, and with a high residual value they are a smart investment. Apple Financial Services builds in the future value upfront, to create compelling financial structures.

Straightforward contracts.

You can get the technology you need to run your organization or institution, with an experience that is simple, flexible and friendly — exactly as you would expect from Apple.

Flexible terms.

Apple Financial Services offers you the flexibility to change as your organization or institution needs change. With customer-friendly end-of-term options, you have complete control of your refresh. You decide the right time to upgrade.

Apple Financial Services gives our business flexibility — now we can add the right devices at exactly the right time, in line with our company growth.

Erik Bak-Mikkelsen

Head of Cloud Operations, SHARE NOW

Education

Apple Financial Services can provide your school or university with financing and refresh options to support your teaching and learning goals.

Discover how to maximize your budget so you can give your students and faculty the Apple products they need, when they need them.

Business

Apple Financial Services can help your business plan for the long term, and at the same time make short term changes to support company goals.

Whether you are looking to enable a new strategy, or to adopt the latest Apple technology quickly, Apple Financial Services can help you make the best decision for your organization.