At its launch event last month, Apple managed to do something that it’s never done before — rendering the newly launched iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus obsolete within minutes. With the company now going all-out to try and sell it in the market, it seems Apple fears for the 8 not doing as well as its predecessors, thanks to the much awaited iPhone X.

Continuing to position itself as a premium brand, Apple after many years, increased the base price of the iPhone to $699 from the previous $649. In India too, the price went up from ₹60,000 for previous generation iPhones to ₹64,000 for the entry level iPhone 8.

While that may seem like a steep price for a phone that seems barely an upgrade from the previous generation iPhone, Apple is willing to go all out to sell the phone before it makes the next or the true upgrade to iPhone 7 — the iPhone X — available.

This may come as good news for people looking to upgrade to the iPhone 8 as several offers are now making iPhone 8 the most affordable iPhone ever at launch.

Reliance Jio kicked off the offers on September 29, the launch date, by providing buyback guarantee with 70 per cent cashback if you decide to return the phone next year. Taxes, however, are calculated separately. Jio claims that with the offer, the net cost of iPhone 8 64 GB will be ₹18,788. However, one would need to take a Jio connection and a minimum monthly plan to be able to qualify for the offer. And that comes at a premium.

The prepaid and postpaid plans offered for iPhone users are priced at ₹799 per month and include 3 GB of high speed data everyday along with free calls and messages.

Banks had also lined up a host of offers during the launch. To begin with, Citibank was offering ₹10,000 cashback on payments made via its cards, but on September 29 only.

HDFC Bank on the other hand was offering ₹11,000 cashback on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus on both its credit and debit cards, again for the launch day only.

Missed all the cashback offers? You still have a chance. Flipkart is offering a buyback guarantee price when you exchange the iPhone 8 with Flipkart for a newer phone. For iPhone 8 64 GB, this would mean a buyback value of ₹33,000 if upgraded to another phone within six to eight months or ₹20,000 if upgraded after 13 months but within 15 months.

So unless you are willing to burn your pocket by going for the upcoming iPhone X that’ll be priced starting ₹89,000, the iPhone 8 offers do make for a good buy, if you really need that upgrade.

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