How to save for the iPhone 18 without wrecking your budget

Prices are now official. On Apple's Spanish store, the iPhone 18 Pro starts at €1,469 and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at €1,619, both with 256 GB. The foldable iPhone Duo starts at €2,339. On Apple's US store the same three start at $1,199, $1,299 and $1,999. These are apple.com prices as of 23 September 2026, and every step up in storage pushes them higher, so decide how much storage you really need first and use that model's price as your target. The method in sections 2 to 4 works the same whatever the number is.

Apple's own programme, Apple Trade In, or independent comparison sites, typically pay between €150 and €400 for an iPhone two or three generations old, depending on the model and the condition of the screen and battery. Apple applies the credit instantly when you trade in an iPhone 13 or later. That isn't money you need to save: it's money you already have, sitting inside the phone you're using right now. Check the trade-in value before setting your savings target, so you don't save more than you need to.

Apple and carriers usually offer financing over 12 or 24 months. If it's genuinely 0% APR with no arrangement fee, the cost is the same as saving, the only difference being that you're committing future months' budget instead of past ones. There's no trap there: it's a legitimate way to spread the cost.

The problem shows up when the financing carries an arrangement fee or real interest dressed up as an "easy instalment". That's where there's an actual difference in euros, not just in when you pay. Before signing anything, check the APR, not the monthly instalment: that's the number that tells you whether you're paying extra to buy now.

If you don't have the money right now, there are two paths that make sense:

• Wait a few months and buy later. The price won't drop much, but you can have the money ready. Split your target (the model's price minus your trade-in) across however many months you give yourself. For example, €1,469 minus a €250 trade-in leaves €1,219: over 10 months, that's about €122 a month.
• Aim at next year's model instead. If you're happy to wait, you've got plenty of runway to save without pressure: same calculation, just spread over 12 or 15 months instead of 10.

Neither path requires having the money today. It requires having a number and a date, which is exactly what most people never stop to write down. To run it with your own figures, the savings goal calculator tells you how much to set aside each month, or how long it will take with what you can save.

In Neto you can set the target as a savings goal: enter the amount, the deadline, and each month move what you set aside into it from your account. If you log your trade-in value as income and move it into the goal too, you can see at a glance how much you actually still need, without doing the subtraction by hand every time. And since everything lives in the same app as your net worth, you don't end up with a separate account for "the iPhone thing" and another for everything else.

Prices are official now: in Spain the iPhone 18 Pro starts at €1,469 and the Pro Max at €1,619. Subtract your trade-in value before setting the target. If financing is offered, check the APR, not the instalment. And if this launch catches you without any savings in place, that's fine: spread the same calculation across however many months you have until you buy, whether that's November or next year.