topic Re: Apple Card in Credit Cards

Apple Card

UncleB — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 00:51:28 GMT

I've recently changed over to iOS, and I see an offer to apply for the Apple Card every time I open my mobile wallet.

I have the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve so I'm thinking there's no need to bother with the Apple Card. That said, I know things change (sometimes rapidly) and I admit I've not paid a lot of attention to this product until now, so I'm checking-in to make sure there's nothing I'm missing or overlooking.

The AR clearly has the Apple Card beat for routine purchases (4.5% vs 2%) so that part is fairly clear. Same for Apple purchases, 4.5% beats the 3% offered by the Apple Card. Phone financing doesn't apply to me since I pay annually for a single-line prepaid plan and Apple Card financing is limited to those with a postpaid plan.

So, outside of a sign-up bonus is there any reason for me to consider the Apple Card?

Note that I've seen the links floating around for $100 or $300 bonuses, but the fine-print on both states the offers are only for those who received an email solicitation and I'm not willing to risk it.

Re: Apple Card

Gregory1776 — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 04:16:43 GMT

literally being able to finance their over priced computers that work extremely well. I was just considering getting a monitor / TV Gaming. 1,600 and 5K im absolutely certain theyd be amazing but there are good options for 1k

Re: Apple Card

UncleB — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 04:50:21 GMT

@Gregory1776 wrote:
literally being able to finance their over priced computers that work extremely well. I was just considering getting a monitor / TV Gaming. 1,600 and 5K im absolutely certain theyd be amazing but there are good options for 1k

Yeah, there's not much chance that I'll have a need for anything Apple other than a phone. I have a love/hate relationship with Microsoft that is just too entrenched for me to consider switching to a Mac.

Unless/until there's a good ($200+) sign up bonus I'll likely be sitting on my hands. I really don't need (yet another) sock drawer card at this time, especially if there's no bonus attached.

Re: Apple Card

GZG — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 04:53:51 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
So, outside of a sign-up bonus is there any reason for me to consider the Apple Card?

Note that I've seen the links floating around for $100 or $300 bonuses, but the fine-print on both states the offers are only for those who received an email solicitation and I'm not willing to risk it.

you want to take a gamble on whoever apple card switches to as a lender and something about that lender will make it positive that you have their card?

you want the card before/if they remove apply with confidence when they do the switchover

you think the apple card and its apply with confidence feature is cool and you want to, in some way, show other lenders that the apple card is cool and they should be copying the apply with confidence model by having it on your credit report

you want to help a P2 with credit by making them a joint-owner, and giving them a high limit, it's a true joint owner card so they will be a card owner as well not just an AU, each personally responsible for payment, either one can close the card at any time.

it's cool and metal card goes clink clink?

Re: Apple Card

UncleB — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 05:03:53 GMT

@GZG wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
So, outside of a sign-up bonus is there any reason for me to consider the Apple Card?

Note that I've seen the links floating around for $100 or $300 bonuses, but the fine-print on both states the offers are only for those who received an email solicitation and I'm not willing to risk it.
you want to take a gamble on whoever apple card switches to as a lender and something about that lender will make it positive that you have their card?
This is something to consider, but it looks like we have some time before the switch (the new lender hasn't even been announced) so no real urgency there.

you want the card before/if they remove apply with confidence when they do the switchover
I'm pretty confident there wouldn't be an issue with approval, but fair point. Ironically, I've not even tried it out yet to see what a hypothetical limit and APR would be, LOL.

you think the apple card and its apply with confidence feature is cool and you want to, in some way, show other lenders that the apple card is cool and they should be copying the apply with confidence model by having it on your credit report
LOL.

you want to help a P2 with credit by making them a joint-owner, and giving them a high limit, it's a true joint owner card so they will be a card owner as well not just an AU, each personally responsible for payment, either one can close the card at any time.
No P2, and not likely to ever be.

it's cool and metal card goes clink clink?
Metal is heavy, and I have plenty of 'em already.

That was fun... thanks for your perspective!

Re: Apple Card

Gregory1776 — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 05:25:04 GMT

I really wish they'd make the apple card more apealing....

Re: Apple Card

Jnbmom — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 13:14:40 GMT

I agree with @Gregory1776 .

I have the card use it for 3%, but nothing really is special . I was an android user for years but daughter talked me into switching to IPhone .

I honestly got the card b/c I could if that makes sense lol .

The only plus for me is SPs for CLIs and since I am stuck and have been for over at year at 16.5 the card is less appealing .

i do like their customer service though , they are on it if you have an issue , but other then that not much going for them .

Re: Apple Card

Anonymous — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 13:49:44 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
I've recently changed over to iOS

UncleB? Never heard of him.

Re: Apple Card

Ushio — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 14:05:38 GMT

The reasons I keep mine open despite having better cards are:

A (the big one): free financing of Apple products.

B: free card with no FTF. Nice to have as a backup for my travel card just in case.

C: integrates very well with Apple products (which I use anyway).

I don't think you're really missing anything. It's not really a mainline card unless you're the kind of person who isn't into credit cards in general. But I think it can be a useful one to keep in your back pocket as an option just in case sometimes.

Re: Apple Card

swankytiger — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 15:05:13 GMT

we also dont know which bank is going to get the apple card since GS really doesnt want to keep it, and apple is apparently pretty specific with what they want.

Re: Apple Card

xenon3030 — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 15:38:39 GMT

A new iOS user here as I got my first iOS phone a few days ago (iphone 16 pro). I also do not see any special soup here in Apple products (Apple pay, iOS devices, etc)

The Apple products are way overpriced and some of their features are deal-breaker vs Andorid. It is not possibe to increase the storage with a simple SD card (the price difference between 125GB to 1TB of internal storage is $500, which should be only up to ~$100 based on the price of memory in the market!!!). There is no TouchID (only FaceID). There is no physical simcard and need to live with an eSIM technology (impossible to move simcard from phone to use it simply in another phone or in a laptop; some carriers also would not allow it).

For my next phone, I definitely would move to Android

Re: Apple Card

G2244 — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 16:23:33 GMT

@GZG wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
So, outside of a sign-up bonus is there any reason for me to consider the Apple Card?

Note that I've seen the links floating around for $100 or $300 bonuses, but the fine-print on both states the offers are only for those who received an email solicitation and I'm not willing to risk it.
you want to take a gamble on whoever apple card switches to as a lender and something about that lender will make it positive that you have their card?

you want the card before/if they remove apply with confidence when they do the switchover

you think the apple card and its apply with confidence feature is cool and you want to, in some way, show other lenders that the apple card is cool and they should be copying the apply with confidence model by having it on your credit report

you want to help a P2 with credit by making them a joint-owner, and giving them a high limit, it's a true joint owner card so they will be a card owner as well not just an AU, each personally responsible for payment, either one can close the card at any time.

it's cool and metal card goes clink clink?

That seems to cover all the potential reasons I can come up with haha. I have my Apple Card on the chopping block. Aside from the interest free financing (which I prefer not to use anyway) there is nothing special about the card compared to many others. The only reason I have not actaully chopped it is that I am considering waiting around to see who takes it over for Apple. It is possible there will be some use for it then, but unlikely it will be anything as good as my current set up even - let alone something better.

Re: Apple Card

Anonymous — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 16:30:57 GMT

@xenon3030 wrote:
. It is not possibe to increase the storage with a simple SD card (the price difference between 125GB to 1TB of internal storage is $500, which should be only up to ~$100 based on the price of memory in the market!!!).

Unfortunately, a lot of Android flagships have made the same decision to remove SIM cards. My Samsung 10+ has an SD, and at least from the S21 on they don't. As you suggest, much more money for them providing models with more memory for a lot more!

Re: Apple Card

NoMoreE46 — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 21:57:58 GMT

From a rewards perspective- no.

No need as the USB AR is better at 4.5% for NFC (but one has to Math-in that $400 AF for the additional 1.50% delta.)

Today, there are better category cards - but this was decent as the FOTM in Aug 2019.

Since getting mine then, my actual card has never left my house as 1.0% back for physical chip/swipe was not competitive, even six years ago.

From a digital user perspective, I will say the UI and UX are top notch.

Also, this card has the most predictable Due and End dates. The End date is always the last calendar day of the month and the Due date is always the last calendar day of the following month.

Thus, this card would be great starter card for someone looking to get into basic cc rewards. My wife loved it back then but has since graduated to higher yielding and category specifics.

@UncleB wrote:
I've recently changed over to iOS, and I see an offer to apply for the Apple Card every time I open my mobile wallet.

I have the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve so I'm thinking there's no need to bother with the Apple Card. That said, I know things change (sometimes rapidly) and I admit I've not paid a lot of attention to this product until now, so I'm checking-in to make sure there's nothing I'm missing or overlooking.

The AR clearly has the Apple Card beat for routine purchases (4.5% vs 2%) so that part is fairly clear. Same for Apple purchases, 4.5% beats the 3% offered by the Apple Card. Phone financing doesn't apply to me since I pay annually for a single-line prepaid plan and Apple Card financing is limited to those with a postpaid plan.

So, outside of a sign-up bonus is there any reason for me to consider the Apple Card?

Note that I've seen the links floating around for $100 or $300 bonuses, but the fine-print on both states the offers are only for those who received an email solicitation and I'm not willing to risk it.

Re: Apple Card

Aim_High — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 17:44:46 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
I've recently changed over to iOS, and I see an offer to apply for the Apple Card every time I open my mobile wallet.

I have the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve so I'm thinking there's no need to bother with the Apple Card. That said, I know things change (sometimes rapidly) and I admit I've not paid a lot of attention to this product until now, so I'm checking-in to make sure there's nothing I'm missing or overlooking.

The AR clearly has the Apple Card beat for routine purchases (4.5% vs 2%) so that part is fairly clear. Same for Apple purchases, 4.5% beats the 3% offered by the Apple Card. Phone financing doesn't apply to me since I pay annually for a single-line prepaid plan and Apple Card financing is limited to those with a postpaid plan.

So, outside of a sign-up bonus is there any reason for me to consider the Apple Card?

Note that I've seen the links floating around for $100 or $300 bonuses, but the fine-print on both states the offers are only for those who received an email solicitation and I'm not willing to risk it.

I've defended the Apple card, even though I understand it's easy to dismiss. It's true that from a rewards standpoint, it's not exceptional. (3% at selected merchants with Apple Pay; 2% everywhere else when using Apple Pay; 1% with physical card.) Still the 3% cash back at selected merchants is competitive to some other cards. For example, I get 3% back at Walgreens with either my Apple card using Apple Pay with no spending caps. Compared to your USB AR, though, the 3% on any mobile pay with 4.5% in RTR redemptions for travel is definitely a better rewards choice. For those without a USB AR, or a USB Smartly Visa, or a BofA PR/PRE/UCR with Platinum Honors status, the 2% on any Apple Pay is a respectable return.

For anyone who makes card decisions with considerations beyond rewards, I believe there are many other characteristics that make it appealing. I wrote about some of these at >this longer link<. In summary:

Financing: Apple card offers 3% rewards at the Apple store and/or special financing on Apple products.
Security: Physical card has no numbers which can be compromised, making it more secure from fraud. (Numbers are stored internally protected behind iPhone login and easily available to cardholder when needed.)
Security: CVC/CVV codes are also stored internal to iPhone for security and can be set to periodically change for added security.
Preapprovals: Firm, soft-pull, preapprovals that show starting limit and APR before taking a HP.
No Fees: Period. No AF. No FTF. No late fees. Competitive APRs in-line with other rewards cards for anyone not PIF.
User Interface: Card management User Interface is exceptional. Since the card is designed to work with Apple Wallet + Apple Pay which is integral to iPhone, managing the card via Apple Wallet and iPhone is extremely easy and intuitive. No card is needed unless you prefer to carry it. Alerts to phone on new charges or payment activity. Precise locations of charges depicted (even with map depiction.) Historical breakdown of charges by spending categories and by time-frames per week-month-year are automatically displayed. Other cards may do some of the same things but Apple does it all easier and better than possibly any card I've ever seen.
Easy Payment: Paying account via iPhone is very simple. Apple Cash amounts can be automatically applied to balance. The remainder drafts from the designated bank account. With face ID login on my phone, I can pay my monthly bill in full in less than two minutes. Statements always post by calendar month which is very simple to track.
Customer Service: Contacting Goldman Sachs Customer service via text/phone is easily accessible via iPhone Wallet with no additional mobile apps required. (Card management is built into Apple Wallet.)
Soft Pull CLI: Soft Pull CLI requests once every six months.
Quick Growth and High Limits Possible: With good usage, Apple card has proven to grow very quickly and can reach high limits, even over $50K. One of our members started with a $250 CL and grew it 48xCLI to $12K. I've seen it grow to $70K.
Physical Card: Physical premium titanium card is secure (see above), durable, elegant, and impressive to carry more-so than many competing cash back cards. Only true titanium metal card; even the Barclay's Titanium Luxury Card is not 100% titanium. Yes, the card only gets 1% cash back but the security features combined with no FTF make it a great choice for a theft-proof backup card when traveling with wide-ranging Mastercard network acceptance.

So for rewards alone, no. But if any of the above sounds attractive, I'd recommend giving a trial run. My FICO has our rewards purists that think it's heresy to accept anything less than the highest possible rewards. I see rewards as one of several factors that make a card worth carrying.

Re: Apple Card

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 02:38:31 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
My FICO has our rewards purists that think it's heresy to accept anything less than the highest possible rewards. I see rewards as one of several factors that make a card worth carrying.

Not heresy. Just misguided. Very very misguided and a cry for help.

I agree that there may be other factors, but for me rewards are an extremely important factor because in some sense, unless I am paying over time (and paying interest or a fee) what is another point of using a credit card? (OK, plus the security of not having to carry cash). As I think I said before, I don't find many of the factors you list that compelling, possibly more nice to have

Re: Apple Card

Aim_High — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 02:59:56 GMT

@NoMoreE46 wrote:
From a digital user perspective, I will say the UI and UX are top notch.

For anyone who hasn't experienced Apple's UI, this is perhaps the feature that is most absent from most consumer's consideration. It's hard to explain how user-friendly, complete, and thorough that Apple made this UI until you experience it for yourself. I was just playing with it again for a few minutes and went ... wow. In seconds, I could see all my monthly spending back to 2019 when I first got the card, either by week, month, or year. That spending can be easily categorized by Shopping, Food and Drink, Health, Transportation, and Services. For just one example of the depth and breadth of data, I can still see a specific charge at a Starbucks from 2020, click on the link and still see a map where the charge originated, and see the amount of cash back. My charges have a link to the merchant if I need to contact them regarding the charge. Similarly, I can see payment history for each month I've had the card. Most card websites make you dig and click around if you can even find such data and sometimes they don't retain it for very long. The amount of data, the ways you can filter it, and how quickly and easily is nothing like I've ever experienced with any credit card. Pulling up the credit card number or CCV is just as easy, and paying as I mentioned is also quick and easy to manage.

Re: Apple Card

UncleB — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 03:25:28 GMT

All great points; this robust discussion is exactly what I was hoping for when I started the thread.

I think where I am right now is just holding off for a bit to see what's going to happen with the switch from Goldman Sachs. If they change to a bank like Chase or Amex I'll probably consider pulling the trigger, on the other hand if they go with Comenity or Synch I'll probably pass. That's not to bash Comenity or Synch (Synch in particular has always been fine for me), just that those two tend to be easier approvals and there won't be a need to commit early.

I really wish Apple/Goldman hadn't been strong-armed into requiring a postpaid contract for iPhones to get monthly installments (ACMI) on the Apple card. All other things being the same, having the ability to finance a new phone at 0% would have been a strong selling point for me. I've read around the interwebs that some people have luck just making the purchase and reaching-out to Goldman once the transaction posts and asking for the sale to be manually switched to monthly installments but that's anecdotal and could even be luck-of-the-draw.

Of course if I get an email offer with a good enough sign-up bonus all bets are off, haha.

Unrelated side note: In the back of my mind I also know that if I wait I'll be 0/24 in April, which is something I've not seen since before I joined the forums, LOL.

Re: Apple Card

Zoostation1 — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 03:50:13 GMT

@Aim_HighI'll likely never have an Apple card as an Android loyalist, but will give props for making good points regarding other reasons to have the card besides the net rewards.

Re: Apple Card

UncleB — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 04:13:41 GMT

@Zoostation1 wrote:
@Aim_HighI'll likely never have an Apple card as an Android loyalist, but will give props for making good points regarding other reasons to have the card besides the net rewards.

I used to consider myself an Android loyalist as well, but Apple Pay got me to jump ship. I have the U.S. Bank AR, and I got tired of wondering if a Google/Android Pay/Wallet (whatever they're calling it this week - I can't keep up) transaction was going to trigger the mobile wallet category, especially with in-app payments. With Apple Pay that's not an issue.

If Google can ever get that worked out (or if U.S. Bank ever nerfs the AR) it'll be a moot point and I might be back.