Apple’s new iPhone 17 will be available for pre-order starting 12 September 2025 at 8 p.m Singapore time, with the official release a week later. And with the prices this year reaching an eye-watering S$3,099 for the top model, this is one purchase you’ll want to carefully plan!
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| 🍎 iPhone 17 Pricelist | |
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The challenge this year is that bonus caps have been nerfed on numerous cards. For example, last year you could have used the UOB Visa Signature to earn 4 mpd on an in-store contactless payment of up to S$2,000. This year, the best you can do is S$1,200, which rules out the more expensive models.
But don’t let that deter you. With the right stacking, you can still take home a hefty chunk of miles on this purchase (plus more on the medical bills, once the loan sharks find you).
| 📱iPhone 17 buying guide |
Baseline: Don’t earn fewer miles than this!
Let’s start with what I call “baseline miles”, because regardless of where you ultimately end up buying your iPhone, you should not be earning fewer miles than this.
Buy iPhone online
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 Citi RewardsApply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per s. month |
 DBS Woman’s World CardApply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per c. month |
 HSBC RevolutionApply |
4 mpd MCC 5732# |
Max. S$1.5K per c. month* |
 UOB Preferred Platinum VisaApply |
4 mpd MCC 5732# |
Max S$1.1K per c. month^ |
 KrisFlyer UOB Credit CardApply |
2.4 mpd MCC 5732# |
No cap. Must spend at least S$1K on SIA Group in m. year |
| *Will revert to S$1,000 per calendar month from 1 Mar 2026 ^Reduced to S$600 per calendar month from 1 Oct 2025 #Most retailers which sell iPhones should code under MCC 5732, but you should always make a point of checking |
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Buy iPhone in-store
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
| HSBC Revolution Apply |
4 mpd MCC 5732 |
Max. S$1.5K per c. month* |
| UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Apply |
4 mpd | Use mobile payments, max S$1.1K per c. month^ |
 UOB Visa Signature Apply |
4 mpd | Use contactless payments, min S$1K, max S$1.2K per s. month |
| ^Reduced to S$600 per calendar month from 1 Oct 2025 *Will revert to S$1,000 per calendar month from 1 Mar 2026 |
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Here are a few important things to note about the cards recommended above.
The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa currently has a bonus cap of S$1,110 per month, which can be allocated between mobile contactless (i.e. buying iPhone in-person) or selected online transactions (i.e. buying iPhone online) in any proportion the cardholder wishes.
However, from 1 October 2025, this bonus cap will be split into S$600 for mobile contactless, and S$600 for selected online transactions. If you’re planning to buy your iPhone slightly later, be sure to account for this change.
Also, you might be wondering where the UOB Lady’s Cards are. MCC 5732 does not fall under any of the card’s bonus categories, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it. All you need to do is change the MCC to something else via KrisShop or HeyMax, and pick the right bonus category. I’ve covered how to do this in the sections below.
It’s worth checking whether you qualify for any sign-up bonuses, because a four-digit purchase is going to put you some way towards achieving it. I’ve just published a round-up of the latest credit card welcome offers on the market, so be sure to check out the post below.
Finally, since this is a big-ticket purchase, you’ll definitely want to confirm the MCC before buying, especially if you’re using an MCC-specific card like the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card or HSBC Revolution. You can do this in three main ways:
| Method | Ease of Use | Reliability |
| ❓HeyMax | ●●● | ● |
| 📱 Instarem app | ●● | ●● |
| 🤖 DBS digibot | ● |
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| Note: “Ease of use” and “reliability” are all relative. HeyMax already provides a solid baseline for reliability, and the DBS digibot is still simple enough to use, despite requiring more steps than the other two methods. | ||
Up to 10 mpd with Singtel
 DBS yuu Cards |
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| Apply (AMEX) | |
| Apply (Visa) |
If you’re buying your iPhone from a Singtel Shop or Singtel Exclusive Retailer, paying with the DBS yuu Card would earn 10 mpd.
However, when you buy your iPhone is important, because the rules for the DBS yuu Card will change from 1 October 2025.
Currently, the 10 mpd rate is capped at S$600 per calendar month. Both the AMEX and Visa have their own bonus cap, so getting both cards doubles it to S$1,200. Any spend in excess of the cap earns an uncapped 2.78 mpd.
| 💳 DBS yuu Card Bonus Structure (until 30 Sep 2025) |
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| Points | Remarks |
| Base 10 points per S$1 spent (equivalent to 5% rebate) |
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| Bonus 26 points per S$1 spent (equivalent to 13% rebate) |
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| Note: The amounts above include the base 1 point per S$1 (0.5%) from the yuu Rewards app | |
From 1 October 2025, the bonus cap will be increased to S$800 per calendar month, or S$1,600 across both cards. However, any spend in excess of the cap will earn an uncapped 0.28 mpd.
| 💳 DBS yuu Card Bonus Structure (from 1 Oct 2025) |
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| Points | Remarks |
| Base 10 points per S$1 spent (equivalent to 5% rebate) |
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| Bonus 26 points per S$1 spent (equivalent to 13% rebate) |
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| Note: The amounts above include the base 1 point per S$1 (0.5%) from the yuu Rewards app | |
Personally, I’d prefer to wait until the upsized bonus cap takes effect from October, then split my payment as follows:
- S$800 on DBS yuu AMEX
- S$800 on DBS yuu Visa
- Remainder on a 4 mpd card like UOB Preferred Platinum Visa or UOB Visa Signature
I’m assuming the staff won’t have issues with using multiple cards for payments, but if you have real-world data points, feel free to chime in.
If you’re planning to dull the upfront pain of a new iPhone by buying a (probably overpriced) monthly plan, you can also earn 10 mpd on your monthly Singtel bill by paying with the yuu Card at Singtel kiosks.
Up to 8 mpd with KrisShop
As with previous years, the iPhone 17 will be available through KrisShop (and before you get excited about the price, remember that prices shown are before 9% GST).
This presents an opportunity to earn up to 8 mpd on your purchase.
Up to 4 mpd from KrisShopper
| KrisShopper Tier | Qualifying Spend* | Earn Rate |
 Non-KrisShopper |
N/A | 1.5 mpd |
 Member |
N/A | 2 mpd |
 Insider |
S$5,000 | 2.5 mpd |
 Icon |
S$10,000 | 3 mpd |
 Ambassador |
S$15,000 | 4 mpd |
| *Qualifying spend includes purchases on KrisShop.com, KrisShop on Kris+, KrisShop on KrisWorld, Inflight purchases on Singapore Airlines. Excludes GST, duties and delivery charges | ||
The free-to-join KrisShopper Member tier grants 2 mpd on all purchases, 0.5 mpd more than a non-KrisShopper customer. This can increase to as high as 4 mpd as you move up the ranks based on cumulative spend on the platform.
Do remember that KrisShopper does not award miles on GST, so if your iPhone 17 costs S$1,191.74 + S$107.25 GST, for example, you’ll only earn the 1.5-4 mpd on S$1,191.74. This means the effective earn rate will be slightly less than the figures mentioned above.
| ✈️ 20% off KrisFlyer miles redemptions |
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From now till 30 September 2025, KrisShop is offering 20% off KrisFlyer miles redemptions for all items, including the Apple iPhone. Do note that this is not a discount on the price per se. Instead, it boosts the value per mile from 1 cent to 1.25 cents each. I would still prefer to redeem an award flight, but if you have expiring miles and no plans to travel, then I guess this would be one of the better ways of cashing them out. |
Up to 4 mpd from credit card
KrisShop purchases code as online transactions under MCC 5309 Duty Free Stores, so you can use the following cards for up to 4 mpd.
| 💳 Best Cards for KrisShop |
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| Card | Earn Rate |
Cap |
 Citi Rewards Apply |
4 mpd KrisShop.com 0.4 mpd Kris+ |
Cap S$1K per s. month |
| DBS Woman’s World Card Apply |
4 mpd KrisShop.com Kris+ |
Cap S$1K per c. month |
| HSBC Revolution Apply |
4 mpd KrisShop.com Kris+ |
Cap S$1.5K per c. month* |
 OCBC Rewards CardApply |
4 mpd KrisShop.com Kris+ |
Cap S$1.1K per c. month |
 UOB Lady’s CardApply |
4 mpd KrisShop.com Kris+ |
Cap S$1K per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category |
 UOB Lady’s Solitaire CardApply |
4 mpd KrisShop.com Kris+ |
Cap S$750 per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category |
 UOB Preferred Platinum VisaApply |
4 mpd KrisShop.com Kris+ |
Cap S$1.1K per c. month^ |
| KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply |
3 mpd KrisShop.com Kris+ |
No cap |
 AMEX KrisFlyer AscendApply |
2 mpd KrisShop.com 1.2 mpd Kris+ |
No cap |
 AMEX KrisFlyer Credit CardApply |
2 mpd KrisShop.com 1.1 mpd Kris+ |
No cap |
| *Will revert to S$1,000 per calendar month from 1 Mar 2026 ^Reduced to S$600 per calendar month from 1 Oct 2025 |
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If you need to break up the KrisShop transaction to better optimise your bonus caps, one option is to purchase e-Gift Cards. e-Gift Cards are valid for one year from the date of issuance, and can be used for a single transaction. However, they require up to four working days to be issued, so they’re not an instant solution (Atome is an alternative option; see below).
Up to 7.5 mpd with HeyMax
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| Sign up here |
HeyMax sells vouchers for various iPhone retailers, and buying these allows you to double dip on Max Miles and credit card points.
Buying vouchers also enables you to break up the transaction in a way that better optimises your bonus caps. For example, instead of making a single transaction of S$2,000, I could buy 2x S$1,000 Courts vouchers, paying for one with the Citi Rewards Card and another with the DBS Woman’s World Card.
Up to 3.5 mpd from HeyMax
HeyMax is currently offering the following rates for gift card purchases (rates change frequently, so always refer to the website for the latest):
- Amazon SG: 3.5 Max Miles per S$1
- Best Denki: 0.25 Max Miles per S$1
- Courts: 0.5 Max Miles per S$1
Max Miles can be converted at a 1:1 ratio to 28 airline and hotel loyalty programmes, without any fees.
| ✈️ HeyMax Airline Partners | |
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| 🏨 HeyMax Hotel Partners | |
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Max Miles can also be used to pay for air tickets at a rate of 1.8 cents each via FlyAnywhere, with a minimum redemption of 1,000 Max Miles.
Up to 4 mpd from credit card
HeyMax voucher purchases code as online transactions under MCC 5311 Department Stores, so you can use the following cards to earn up to 4 mpd.
| 💳 Best Cards for HeyMax Gift Cards (MCC 5311) |
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| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
| Citi Rewards Card Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per s. month |
| DBS Woman’s World Card Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per c. month |
| HSBC Revolution Card Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1.5K per c. month* |
 Maybank XL RewardsApply |
4 mpd | Min. S$500 and max S$1K per c. month |
| OCBC Rewards Card Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1.1K per c. month |
| UOB Lady’s Card Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per c. month, must choose Fashion as bonus category |
| UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$750 per c. month, must choose Fashion as bonus category |
| UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1.1K per c. month^ |
| KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply |
2.4 mpd | No cap. Must spend at least S$1K on SIA Group in m. year |
| *Will revert to S$1,000 per calendar month from 1 Mar 2026 ^Reduced to S$600 per calendar month from 1 Oct 2025 |
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Up to 5 mpd with Kris+
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| S$5 for new Kris+ Users |
| Get S$5 (in the form of 500 KrisPay miles) when you sign-up with code W644363 and make your first transaction |
Kris+ is accepted at several iPhone retailers, and it’s possible to earn up to 5 mpd with the right stacking combination.
1 mpd from Kris+
The following electronics retailers are offering an incremental 1 mpd on all purchases, including Apple iPhones.
| Retailer | Earn Rate |
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2 miles per S$2 |
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3 miles per S$3 |
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1 mile per S$1 |
Don’t forget to transfer any miles earned to KrisFlyer within 21 days of the transaction, in their entirety. If you wait longer than 21 days, or use Kris+ to spend any portion of the miles earned, the remaining balance will be stuck inside Kris+.
Up to 4 mpd from credit card
Kris+ transactions code as online spend, and maintain the MCC of the underlying merchant.
This would be MCC 5732 Electronics Stores for the three retailers mentioned above, so you can use the following cards for up to 4 mpd.
| 💳 Best Cards for Kris+ (MCC 5732 Electronics) |
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| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 Citi Rewards + AmazeApply |
4 mpd | Max. S$1K per s. month. 1% admin fee applies to all SGD trxns |
| DBS Woman’s World Card Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per c. month |
| HSBC Revolution Apply |
4 mpd |
Max. S$1.5K per c. month* |
| UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Apply |
4 mpd |
Max S$1.1K per c. month^ |
| KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply |
3 mpd | No cap |
| *Will revert to S$1,000 per calendar month from 1 Mar 2026 ^Reduced to S$600 per calendar month from 1 Oct 2025 |
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How can I break up the purchase?
Given the hefty price of the iPhone 17, it’s highly likely you’ll bust the bonus cap on some of the 4 mpd cards out there.
For example, if I were to buy an iPhone Air 256GB at S$1,599 and pay with the DBS Woman’s World Card, only the first S$1,000 earns 4 mpd. The remaining S$599 earns 0.4 mpd, which means 4,240 miles in total, or an effective earn rate of 2.65 mpd.
Ideally, you’d break up the transaction into smaller payments so you can better optimise the bonus caps. But what if the cashier doesn’t allow it, or if you’re buying online and don’t have the option?
Atome
Even if you can’t split the cost over different cards, you could pay with Atome, which partners with KrisShop, Gain City, Mobyshop and Singtel.
Atome breaks the transaction into three interest-free monthly instalments, and changes the MCC to MCC 5999. My S$1,599 payment would then become S$533 per month, within the bonus cap of various specialised spending cards.
Here’s a summary of the best cards to use for Atome.
| 💳 Best Cards for Atome (MCC 5999) |
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| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
| Citi Rewards Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per s. month |
 DBS Woman’s World CardApply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per c. month |
| HSBC Revolution Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1.5K per c. month* |
| KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply |
2.4 mpd | Min S$800 spend on SIA Group in a m. year |
| *Will revert to S$1,000 per calendar month from 1 Mar 2026 | ||
Use gift cards
I’ve already alluded to this earlier under HeyMax, but buying gift cards is another way of breaking up the transaction amount.
Some of the bigger gift card aggregators in Singapore can be found below (though my first choice would still be HeyMax, since these platforms don’t award you with any miles beyond what you get from your credit card).
 MCC 5311MCC 5399 Amazon processes transactions over a range of MCCs, so use a card that awards bonuses for general online spend |
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 MCC 5999 |
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| *Admin fee of up to 5% applies to purchases | |
 MCC 5812MCC 5814 MCC 5311 ShopBack processes transactions over a range of MCCs, so use a card that awards bonuses for general online spend |
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 MCC 5947 |
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Alternatively, you can also buy FRx Experience gift cards (MCC 5965) and buy your iPhone at a merchant inside a Fraser mall.
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Some of these MCCs are whitelisted by certain credit cards, and if not, you should fall back to the Citi Rewards and DBS Woman’s World Card for 4 mpd.
MCC 5947
💳 Best Cards for MCC 5947
Card
Earn Rate
Remarks
Citi Rewards
Apply
4 mpd
Max S$1K per s. month
DBS Woman’s World Card
Apply
4 mpd
Max S$1K per c. month
HSBC Revolution
Apply
4 mpd
Max S$1.5K per c. month*
UOB Preferred Platinum Visa
Apply4 mpd
Max S$1.1K per c. month
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
Apply
3 mpd
Min S$800 spend on SIA Group in m. year
*Will revert to S$1,000 per calendar month from 1 Mar 2026
MCC 5999
💳 Best Cards for MCC 5999
Card
Earn Rate
Remarks
Citi Rewards
Apply
4 mpd
Max S$1K per s. month
DBS Woman’s World Card
Apply
4 mpd
Max S$1K per c. month
HSBC Revolution
Apply
4 mpd
Max S$1.5K per c. month*
UOB Preferred Platinum Visa
Apply4 mpd
Max S$1.1K per c. month^
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
Apply
2.4 mpd
Min S$800 spend on SIA Group in a m. year
*Will revert to S$1,000 per calendar month from 1 Mar 2026
^Reduced to S$600 per calendar month from 1 Oct 2025
Earn PPS Value or Elite miles
As an added bonus, PPS Club and KrisFlyer members can now earn PPS Value and Elite miles for purchases made through Kris+ and KrisShop.
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| PPS Club | KrisFlyer | |
| Earn Rate | 1 PPS Value per S$3 spent* | 1 Elite mile per S$1 spent** |
| Cap | 2,500 PPS Value^ | 5,000 to 10,000 Elite miles |
| *Or 1 PPS Value per A$3 spent via Kris+ in Australia **Or 1 Elite mile per A$1 spent via Kris+ in Australia ^5,000 PPS Value for Solitaire PPS Club earned from 1 June 2018 |
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PPS Club members will earn 1 PPS Value per S$3 spent.
- A maximum of 2,500 PPS Value per membership year can be earned from non-flight activities towards qualification/requalification for PPS Club, or Solitaire PPS Club earned before 1 June 2018
- A maximum of 5,000 PPS Value per membership year can be earned from non-flight activities towards qualification/requalification for Solitaire PPS Club earned from 1 June 2018
PPS Value earned will also count towards the attainment of PPS Rewards.
KrisFlyer members will earn 1 Elite mile per S$1 spent.
- A maximum of 5,000 Elite miles per membership year can be earned from non-flight activities towards qualification/requalification for KrisFlyer Elite Silver
- A maximum of 10,000 Elite miles per membership year can be earned from non-flight activities towards qualification/requalification for KrisFlyer Elite Gold
Elite miles earned will also count towards the attainment of KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards.
For example, if you were to buy the S$3,099 iPhone 17 Pro Max 2TB, you would earn:
- 947 PPS Value
- 2,843 Elite miles
Remember, PPS Value and Elite miles are not awarded on the GST component, so the eligible amount for status credits is S$2,843 (S$3,099 – 9% GST).
AMEX x Apple Rewards Store
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| AMEX Apple Rewards Store |
One final point to mention: American Express offers an online Apple Rewards Store where Membership Rewards points can be used to offset purchases at a rate of S$6 per 1,000 MR points (versus S$4.80 per 1,000 points normally).
Based on the conversion rates to miles, this is equivalent to accepting a value of:
- AMEX Platinum Charge/Centurion: 0.96 cents/mile
- All other AMEX cards: 1.08 cents/mile
Truth be told, it’s not a fantastic valuation, so I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re flush with MR points.
Conclusion
The latest Apple iPhone 17 will put a dent in your wallet, but at least it’ll pad your miles account. The key here is to look for stacking opportunities, and to split up the amount via gift cards, BNPL, or simply paying with multiple cards in-store so you can optimise your bonus caps.
What’s your iPhone 17 purchase strategy?
According to the UOB PPV T&C, this also should work with Atome, is there any other reason it wouldn’t?
yeah, but real-world data points say it doesn’t. better not risk it.
apple staff discount 20% + citi SMRT card 5% annual cap.
seems like purchasing from the Apple Store through mobile Apple wallet using Citi rewards card will just earn 0.4mpd..so we cannot purchase through Apple wallet on the Apple Store mobile app? What does “Buy iPhone Online” mean if I want to use Citirewards with no Amaze? Can I also head down to Apple’s physical store and use my citirewards card (Contactless paywave)?
omg.
That is one thoroughly ugly product from Apple.
Best saving is to buy it outside of SG!
buying through Kris + and UOB KrisFlyer – 2miles + 2.4miles through Istudio
Any idea if the Citi Rewards/DBS Womens would work for SPaylater similar to how it works for Atome? 🙂
I want to know as well, have you try using DBS Woman for SPaylater?
didn’t know you can buy iPhones at retail price from SingTel shop. All shops willing to do this?
atome is best..
both for cashflow as well as “milesflow”
FYI-The DBS method of checking MCC code does not work. I have tried. The declined transaction does not show up in my transaction history and calling up the bank confirms that they cannot check the MCC code for declined transactions.
i just did it and it works fine.
Hi, if I pay for my KrisShop purchase using Atome, will I still earn the full 2–4 KrisFlyer miles per S$1 under the KrisShopper programme?
how about shopee pay later? splitting the transaction across 12 months