O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: hike

  • Apple Card interest rates expected to rise along with Fed’s interest rate hike

    Apple Card interest rates expected to rise along with Fed’s interest rate hike

    As is won’t with most credit cards, the Apple Card’s interest rate on overdue balances will rise as the Federal Reserve raises its benchmark overnight interest rate in an attempt to slow inflation in the United States.

    As of July 1, the Apple Card’s variable APRs now range from 12.49 percent to 23.49 percent based on creditworthiness, compared to 11.74 percent to 22.74 percent previously. This is in line with the Fed’s 0.75 percentage point increase to its overnight rate in June.

    The Apple Card interest rates had been as low as 10.99 percent to 21.99 percent for much of 2020 and 2021 as the Fed lowered interest rates in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    With the Fed’s recent interest rate hike, the Apple Card’s APR range will likely see another increase to 13.24 percent to 24.24 percent based on creditworthiness. This would be the Apple Card’s highest interest rate range since 2019.

    If you’re carrying an overdue balance on your Apple Card, be aware that interest charges have been increasing and will cost you extra.

    The Apple Card remains limited to the United States.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and The Wall Street Journal

  • Netflix announces largest-ever price hike for streaming packages

    You’ll soon be paying a bit more for your Netflix streaming package.

    Netflix announced its biggest ever price increase since it launched its streaming service 12-years-ago. Its most popular streaming plan will now cost $13, the company said Tuesday.

    The prices will increase between 13 percent and 18 percent, with its most popular plan jumping to $13 per month from $11 per month. Its basic plan will become $9 per month instead of $8, and its ultra-HD premium plan will rise from $14 per month to $16 per month.

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    The company has raised prices 4 times previously but this is the largest rise since it launched its streaming service 12 years ago. The most recent price increase was in October 2017. It said it was making the move to in order to continue investing in high-quality content.

    Netflix offered the following comment regarding the price hike:

    “We change pricing from time to time as we continue investing in great entertainment and improving the overall Netflix experience for the benefit of our members.”

    The price will be applied to customers in the U.S. It will begin with new customers and then be rolled-out to existing ones over the next 3 months. Customers in around 40 Latin America countries where Netflix bills in U.S. dollars will also be hit with higher prices. However, key international markets such as Mexico and Brazil will be exempted.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Mac Observer and the Associated Press

  • Rumor: Samsung initiates 20% price increase for iOS device chips

    I think it’s about time we just rename “Apple” and “Samsung” as the “Hatfields” and the “McCoys”, because this is going to drag on for a while.

    Per MarketWatch, Samsung has allegedly increased the price of its mobile processors by 20 percent for just one company: Apple.

    The details come from an unnamed person allegedly familiar with negotiations between the two companies.

    The person indicated that Samsung asked for a “significant price raise” for building chips such as the A6 chip found in the iPhone 5 and the A6X processor that powers the fourth-generation iPad.

    Apple apparently balked at the terms of the deal at first, but eventually accepted the 20 percent price hike, as it could not find any other company to build its mobile processor.

    All of Apple’s application processors for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch are made by Samsung. The company produces the chips at its fabrication plant in Austin, Tex.

    Samsung is expected to build a total of 200 million chips for Apple this year. The companies have allegedly signed a long-term supply contract through 2014.

    Although though Samsung remains the sole supplier of Apple’s custom chips found in the iPhone and iPad, the company has long been rumored to be pursuing a chipmaking partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. One report from last month claimed that TSMC could begin building quad-core 20-nanometer chips for Apple as soon as late 2013.

    And in October it was said that Apple was getting “serious” about moving chip production away from Samsung. Around the same time, Apple also hired away former Samsung chip designer Jim Mergard, who also designed and developed chips for AMD for 16 years.

    Last week, one report claimed that Samsung was expecting to lose a portion of its future chip orders from Apple. It indicated that the Korean electronics company may put off construction of a new fabrication facility because of the expected decrease in orders.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.