On Friday, in the middle of tariff madness, which caused hordes of consumers to the iPhone Panic-Boy, President Trump announced an exception to electronics such as smartphones and computers. For a moment, the extensive anxiety from the potential iPhone dispersed $ 2,000.
Two days later, however, Trump Administration said that smartphones and computers were likely to be hit by new tariffs focused on semiconductors or chips. After all, the more expensive iPhone could come! Talk about Whiplash.
Don’t panic. Even if the tariffs cause the price of the iPhone, we would have a lot of cheaper options, such as buying last year’s phone model instead of the latest and the largest.
The most important lesson that we can learn from riots: the only consistent way to save money on technology is to use the device as long as possible, which requires them to keep them as a car and upgrade only when you have to.
“Buy the best and take them to the ground,” Sethi said, and Personal finance expert. “Holding this item will reduce the total cost of ownership longer.”
There is a lot of uncertainty about future technological hardware costs. This month, Nintendo canceled plans to start orders on its game console, $ 450 Nintendo Switch 2 to evaluate the impact of tariffs on prices and availability. Costs for some accessories such as phone chargers, power bricks and cases has already increased on Amazon.
Here’s how to navigate technical purchases for the future.
Hold on your device longer to save money
The best way to save money on technology is simply to replace your device less frequently.
To understand how personal technology affects your finances, calculate the actual cost of ownership, Sethi said. Every time we buy a new phone, we buy more than that. Extra, such as a protective case, other data storage that can accommodate more photos and applications, and accessories such as power charger or headphones are added up.
Take as an example of iPhone 16. Its price tag 800 $ can easily inflate at $ 1,080 because you can also buy:
Your total ownership costs in three years would be about $ 30 per month. You could then trade on your phone and equalize the cost of a new one, but these savings would be shaved by another phone and other accessories.
On the other hand, if you bought the phone together with these accessories and held on it for six years, the total cost of ownership would reduce to $ 15 per month.
The same principle applies to other devices such as computers and tablets: the longer you hold your belongings, the greater the value of them.
Keep your technology just like a car
Technical products were built to be highly valuable, long -term investments, similar to cars. Many modern smartphones, tablets and computers have been designed to take six to 10 years. Most of us, however, still buy new phones every three years, according to the research of Chetan Sharma, consultant for telephone carriers.
One of the common customs is largely to blame: we neglect the replacement of the battery, said Kyle Wiens, IFixit CEO, a company that provides instructions and parts for electronics repair.
As with car tires, the phone batteries are degraded and must be replaced after a certain amount of use, about every three years. The old battery directly affects the speed and longevity of the phone. However, the process of curious opening of the smartphone to remove the glued battery can be intimidating and buying a new phone feels easier than visiting the repair shop.
Now is the same time as always to replace the batteries with a new habit. In the last few years Apple, Google and others have significantly improved smartphone designs to make the batteries easier to replace.
For one, I used a hair dryer and cheap hand tools to melt the glue around my iPhone 14 and opened it to replace the battery for less than an hour. It only costs about $ 50.
Apple and many phone repair stores will also replace battery replacements for about $ 100; Apple will replace the old battery for iPhones as part of the warranty.
The cost of repair is also expected to be filmed, because most of the technological parts, such as batteries and screens, come from China, according to the three repair shops I talked to. But even if the $ 100 battery becomes a battery of $ 150, it will be much cheaper than the replacement of the whole device, Mr. Wiens said.
Buy a used phone
The recent technical purchase of panic has been partially driven by analysts who speculated that tariffs could increase the cost of some iPhone models anywhere from $ 1,300 to $ 2,300. Apple refused to comment on whether the tariffs would affect its iPhone prices.
But even in the worst case, we would have a lot of cheaper options, as well as when buying cars.
Shoppers are well aware that they never have to buy the latest model. They can look for used options or buy a model of the previous year for much cheaper. According to data of published companies, about 76 percent of cars sold in the United States are used Consumer matters. Only 5 percent of the phones are purchased in a renovated state, which means that the products were used before restoration so that according to the Back Market research, a website that sells reconstructed technological equipment.
Lauren Benton, CEO of Back marketHe said that the fears of tariffs seemed that they were bringing consumers to older phones. The sale of the renovated iPhone 15 Pro, which was released in 2023 for $ 1,000, was significantly increased last week on the web, she said. The renovated phone is sold for $ 639 and has a better camera than the latest $ 800 iPhone 16.
Although tariffs increase new prices of the phone, the value of your older phone will also rise and trading with them would significantly compensate for costs, said Mrs. Benton.
All this means don’t worry about the hypothetical iPhone $ 2,000.
And let’s be honest: If you are worried about your personal finances in the current chaotic state of the economy, you should probably think about more important questions than on the phone upgrade, such as your emergency savings fund, Sethi said.
“These discussions remind me that someone who sees their entire house in the fire, and what they do is calmly changing their laces,” he said. “Panic purchase of iPhone is number 662 on the list of things I would do.”
