Most People are Putting Off Their Upgrades. The iPhone 18 Pro Doesn't Have to Wait

Upgrading to a flagship smartphone used to be a yearly ritual. You’d look out for the announcement of a new release, verify your contract, and then join the queue for a new device. Prices have jumped on the hardware, retail lock-in periods seem far more intractable, and many buyers are weighing whether to drop buying outright on a device. Perhaps, you’re looking at your current smartphone becoming slower, and pondering whether you pay a hefty price now or wait an extra year. 

It’s a reasonable dilemma. However, there’s no need to default to putting off performance, camera upgrades, and a display that meets the standards of the latest flagship phones for the iPhone 18 Pro. simply change the way you think about using tech and having the newest can easily be budgeted into your monthly expenses.

You’re not the only one. Singapore has experienced a drastic change in consumer behaviour on mobile hardware as replacement cycles get longer. Market research reported a decrease in new mobile phone sales in Singapore from 1.34 million to 1.16 million. Furthermore, more than two-thirds of the smartphones sold now cost over S$1,899, compared to slightly more than half a few years ago. As the premium flagship tier creeps into the multi-thousand-dollar range, Singaporeans are increasingly deciding to defer non-essential upgrades. 

If a new flagship also comes with a significant price, postponing your upgrade seems like the financially prudent decision. However, although waiting means having to part with a sum of your savings, it comes with its own small sacrifices to your daily life.

Keeping an Older Phone for Longer than You’d Like

After the prime living days of a smartphone and before the repair becomes necessary, is a time when the phone experiences chemical degradation of its lithium-ion battery which causes degrading performance, excessive drain, and mid-day charging trips. 

In addition to battery degradation, older screen devices will reduce touch sensitivity, micro-factures, and aging cameras no longer have low light clarity and computational processing capabilities. You can still send messages with an older device, but the daily usage will become a quiet struggle to overcome frustration.

Selling a Phone Yourself: Listings, Meetups, and Wiping Your Data

• Creating Online Listings: Quality images, detailed and accurate descriptions, and pricing the device competitively on multiple peer-to-peer marketplaces.

• Managing Enquiries and Haggling: Persistent low offers, abrupt withdrawals, and the never-ending private messaging.

• Coordinating Physical Meetups: Making appointments, taking safety measures, and ensuring that you allow the buyer to check all parts of the hardware.

• Ensuring Complete Data Security: Manual unlinking all accounts, deleting cloud backups, and factory resetting, making all pictures, banking details, and login information completely unretrievable.

Pick a Term of 3, 6, 12, or 24 Months

Cinch offers a more flexible option for the iPhone 18 Pro or the iPhone 18 Pro Max — you can rent the device for as long as you want, without entering into a fixed 2-year telco plan or paying the full retail price upfront. You can start choosing a term of 3, 6, 12, or 24 months, based on your daily use. 

Return the Device at the End, with Nothing to Sell

Once your term ends, you have the option to return the device to Cinch. You don’t need to take product photos, create marketplace listings, negotiate with buyers, or worry about residual value depreciation. You can return the device, clear your own personal profile and choose your next step. 

Lower the Monthly Fee with a Trade-In

Cinch allows you to trade-in your current device for a discount on your subscription. That amount is immediately applied to your plan, paying down your monthly cost even more. An immediate reason for your old hardware for you to jump on the iPhone 18 Pro.

When you opt for the Cinch Max protection tier, you would get a reduced repair fee of S$25/incident or you can use the benefit of fast swaps and replacement support. Cinch Max will keep downtime to a minimum so your communication both in personal and business remain accessible. Experience the latest device and make use of the Cinch Max early upgrade benefit, upgrading into a new device in the last 6 months of your subscription.

Since deciding between the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max depends on how you live and work, choose how often you want to keep your personal device:

• 3 or 6-months term: If you need it for a short while or simply trying the device for work purposes. 

• 12-months term: If you like to stay ahead of the curve with new software, features, and design iterations each year.

• 24-months term: If you want to keep things simple and have the lowest monthly payment for 2 years. 

Compare transparent pricing on all of Cinch’s products with our online phone finder, which includes Cinch Plus. You will see the illustration of the monthly price on the screen already include the built-in protection of S$75 capped repair protection.

1. How does subscribing to an iPhone 18 Pro differ from buying on a telco contract? Traditional telco contracts tie hardware financing to expensive monthly mobile data plans over fixed multi-year periods. Subscribing with Cinch separates your device from your network provider, giving you flexible term options (3, 6, 12, or 24 months), built-in repair protection, and zero resale obligations at the end of your term.

2. What is the difference between Cinch Plus and Cinch Max? Cinch Plus caps all out-of-pocket repair costs at a flat S$75/incident and comes built-in to default catalogue pricing. Cinch Max lowers repair costs further to S$25/incident, while adding rapid device swap or replacement support and the ability to upgrade your device during the last 6 months of your term.

3. What if I accidentally crack the screen on my subscribed iPhone 18 Pro? Physical damage is covered according to your chosen plan tier. If you have Cinch Plus, your screen repair is billed at a fixed rate of S$75. If you selected Cinch Max, the repair fees reduced to S$25, with options for rapid device replacement if needed.

4. What condition must my trade-in device be in to lower my monthly rate? Cinch accepts trade-in devices across a wide range of conditions. During the online checkout process, you will answer a few brief questions about your current phone's screen, body condition, and operational status to receive an instant valuation that directly lowers your monthly subscription fee.