Best Credit Cards to Buy Apple Products in India

With the launch of the brand new iPhones and Apple Watches, many of you may be planning to get your hands on these latest releases from Apple. However, there is always a lot of buzz every year about how these devices are significantly more expensive in India compared to some other countries, and the usual calculations involving flight tickets, hotels, visa costs, and the price of the devices ensue.

If you are planning to buy these devices in India, do not worry. We have compiled a list of credit cards and websites that offer the most discounts on your purchases, and some of the results might even surprise you.

Imagine via SmartBuy using HDFC Credit Cards

Imagine is an Apple Premium Reseller. While they have their own website, they also have a partnership with HDFC SmartBuy. Purchases made via the SmartBuy website earn additional points or cashback, depending on the card you hold. Additionally, you also extra cashback on your HDFC credit cards for your Apple purchases.

The accelerated points earned on SmartBuy Imagine are as follows:

HDFC Credit Card	Multipler/Cashback
Infinia/Infinia Metal	5x Rewards
Diners Club Black	5x Rewards
Regalia	5x Rewards
Diners Privilege	5x Rewards
Tata Neu Plus	1% Cashback
Tata Neu Infinity	1.5% Cashback
Other Cards	5% Cashback

Capping

Keep in mind the per-day and per-month capping on HDFC Cards, which can limit the maximum points or cashback you can earn per transaction. If you are buying multiple devices, you might want to space them out across two or more days.

HDFC Credit Card	Daily Cap	Monthly Cap
Infinia/Infinia Meta	15000 RPs	15000 RPs
Diners Club Black	2500 RPs	7500 RPs
Regalia	2000 RPs	4000 RPs
Diners Privilege	2000 RPs	4000 RPs
Tata Neu (Cashback)	₹ 1000	₹ 1000
Other Cards	₹ 1000	₹ 1000

HDFC Cashback on Apple Purchases

As Imagine is an Apple Premium Reseller, you are eligible for additional cashback on Apple purchases from HDFC. The cashback/discount amount offered depends on the device purchased.

The table below shows the most current discounts available:

Device	Cashback
iPhone 15/15 Plus	5000
iPhone 15 Pro/15 Pro Max	6000
iPhone 14/14 Plus	4000
iPhone 14 Pro	3000
iPhone 14 Pro Max	3000
iPhone 12,13, 13 Mine	2000
Macbook Air/Pro	5000
iMac	5000
Mac Mini	4000
iPad Pro, Air & Mini	3000
HomePod and Airpods Pro	2500
Airpods (3rd Gen)	1500
HomePod Mini	1000

Note that the cashback is applicable on EMI as well as Non-EMI purchases.

💡 Pro-Tip: An easy way to bypass the HDFC per day capping on the reward points, if you are hitting the ceiling is to opt for a no-cost EMI. You get the 5X each month for the EMI component.

GST Input Credit on Business Purchases

This applies to business owners with a GST number. If you are purchasing an Apple device for business use, you can avail GST input credits on the same when purchasing from a premium reseller. Imagine allows you to provide your GST details during checkout.

Effective Price After Clubbing all Offers

Considering all the benefits mentioned above, let’s take a look at the effective price of the latest generation of iPhones. We will compare the prices when using either the Infinia or Diners Club Black credit card on Smartbuy Imagine. For the purposes of this example, we will only consider the base variants of all the devices.

For Infinia

Device	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Retail Price	79,990	89,900	1,34,900	1,59,900
HDFC Card Cashback	5000	5000	4000	4000
Total Rewards (Accelerated + Normal)	12,475	14,150	19,360	20,195
GST Credit (optional)	12,188	13,714	20,578	24,392
Effective Price (with GST credit)	50,327	57,036	90,962	1,11,313
Effective Price (without GST credit)	62,515	70,750	1,11,540	1,35,705

For Diners Club Black

Device	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Retail Price	79,990	89,900	134900	159900
HDFC Cashback	5000	5000	4000	4000
Total Rewards (Accelerated + Normal)	4,995	5,330	6,860	7,695
GST Credit (optional)	12,188	13,714	20,578	24,392
Effective Price (with GST credit)	57,807	65,856	103,462	123,813
Effective Price (without GST credit)	69,995	79,570	1,24,040	1,48,205

Note: The value of each reward point is calculated as 1RP = ₹1, since that is the redemption rate on the SmartBuy travel portal. However, for other redemptions, such as transfers to airline or hotel partners, your mileage may vary, both on the higher side as well as on the lower side. If you are a PointsDojo Discord member we are fairly certain that you will be able to squeeze a much higher value than ₹1 for each point.

If you have an HDFC card, especially the Infinia or the DCB, this is the best route.

Buying Apple Devices From Croma – Best Credit Cards

Croma is another popular website for buying Apple products. Here are some of our favorite ways to maximize purchases:

Instant Discount/Cashback on HDFC Card

Just like we covered above, you can get an instant discount (when purchasing online) or cashback (for offline Croma purchases) based on the Apple product you buy.

Device	Cashback
iPhone 15/15 Plus	5000
iPhone 15 Pro/15 Pro Max	6000
iPhone 14/14 Plus	4000
iPhone 14 Pro	3000
iPhone 14 Pro Max	3000
iPhone 12,13, 13 Mine	2000
Macbook Air/Pro	5000
iMac	5000
Mac Mini	4000
iPad Pro, Air & Mini	3000
HomePod and Airpods Pro	2500
Airpods (3rd Gen)	1500
HomePod Mini	1000

Buy using Croma Gift Vouchers Purchased off HDFC SmartBuy

HDFC offers either a 5x reward multiplier or a 5% cashback, depending on the card you hold, when you purchase Croma gift vouchers from the HDFC Gyftr Instant Vouchers website. These vouchers can be used both on the Croma website and at offline Croma stores. When using them on the Croma website, you can use a maximum of 5 vouchers together. You can use any number of vouchers in a single order for offline purchases.

Unfortunately, when using vouchers, you do not qualify for the HDFC Cashback offers. However, in some cases, you might be able to club the cashback offers with an offline purchase. This is because the cashback offers have a minimum threshold for the amount that must be paid using the card to get the cashback, and the remaining cost can be paid using gift vouchers. During my recent purchases, I have noticed that this threshold is usually high and often close to the product’s price anyway.

Buying gift vouchers is a great way to maximize your rewards if you hit the per-day cap on your HDFC Card. By spreading out the purchase of gift vouchers over multiple days, you can continue to earn rewards. For instance, if you have a Diners Club Black card and make a purchase of ₹37,400 via the SmartBuy portal, you will hit your daily limit of 2,500 reward points.

Purchase through Croma Gift Vouchers Purchase off Axis Gyftr

Just like HDFC, you can also buy Croma gift vouchers from the Axis Gift Edge website. The only difference is that Axis offers a 2X reward multiplier on Croma vouchers.

Purchase from Croma using HDFC Tata Neu Credit Cards

If you hold the HDFC Tata Neu Plus or Infinity Credit Card, you can avail the HDFC Cashback offer on Apple products mentioned earlier, as well as receive 2% cashback in the form of NeuCoins on the Tata Neu Plus Card and 5% on the Tata Neu Infinity Card. Additionally, you can receive an extra 5% through NeuPass, capped at ₹750 per transaction.

Let’s look at the value by clubbing these offers for the Tata Neu Infinity Credit Card on Croma

Device	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Retail	79,990	89,900	1,34,900	1,59,900
HDFC Instant Discount	5,000	5,000	4,000	4,000
Tata Neu Infinity 5% Cashback	3,750	4,245	6,545	7,795
NeuPass 5% Cashback	750	750	750	750
GST Credit (optional)	12,202	13,714	20,578	24,392
Effective Price (with GST credit)	58,288.50	66,191	1,03,027	1,22,963
Effective Price (without GST credit)	70,490.50	79,905	1,23,605	1,47,355

Neu Coins are valued at ₹1 per coin.

If you are a business owner Croma will also allow you to add your GST number to your order to avail the GST Input credits.

Amazon or Flipkart

If you are purchasing Apple devices from Amazon or Flipkart, you can use the following methods to maximize your rewards.

Instant Discount/Cashback on HDFC Cards

Once again, we see the same discounts and cashback offers that were shared earlier when using an HDFC card to purchase Apple products from Amazon or Flipkart. A few other alternatives would be:

Purchasing Amazon/Flipkart Gift Vouchers from HDFC SmartBuy

HDFC offers a 5x multiplier or 5% cashback when purchasing Amazon Pay, Amazon Shopping, and Flipkart Gift Vouchers.

There is a limit on the maximum value of gift vouchers you can purchase per brand:

• Amazon Pay Gift Vouchers: ₹20,000 per month
• Amazon Shopping Gift Vouchers: ₹10,000 per month
• Flipkart Gift Vouchers: ₹10,000 per month

Please note that there is a processing fee of 2.50% + GST on Amazon Pay Gift Cards and 1.75% + GST on Amazon Shopping Vouchers.

On Amazon, you can combine both Amazon Pay and Amazon Shopping vouchers together.

For business owners, if you have an Amazon Business account, you will be able to obtain GST credits for your purchases. Flipkart allows you to enter your GST details during checkout.

Purchasing Amazon/Flipkart Gift Vouchers from Axis Gift Edge

Axis Bank offers a 2x multiplier on Amazon Pay, Amazon Shopping, and Flipkart Gift vouchers purchased from the Axis Gift Edge portal. A maximum of ₹20,000 worth of Amazon Pay vouchers, ₹10,000 worth of Amazon Shopping vouchers, and ₹10,000 worth of Flipkart vouchers can be purchased in a calendar month. Unlike HDFC’s SmartBuy portal, there are no processing charges here.

Purchasing Amazon/Flipkart Gift Vouchers from American Express Reward Multiplier

American Express offers anywhere from 2x to 10x multiplier on Amazon Pay and Amazon Shopping vouchers purchased from the American Express Reward Multiplier Portal. A maximum of ₹20,000 worth of Amazon Pay vouchers, ₹10,000 worth of Amazon Shopping vouchers can be purchased in a calendar month. Unlike HDFC’s SmartBuy portal, there are no processing charges here.

Apple Official Website & other Apple Premium Resellers

If you are purchasing from the official Apple India website or any other Apple Premium Reseller, either online or offline, you can avail the HDFC cashback offer on EMI or non-EMI purchases made through an HDFC card. For business owners do bear in mind that the official Apple India website does not issue B2B GST Invoices, so you will not be able to avail GST Input credits on your purchases.

Conclusion

It goes without saying that holding an HDFC Credit Card offers excellent value when purchasing Apple products in India, especially if you have an Infinia, DCB, or Tata Neu Infinity Credit Card.

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