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The iPhone Upgrade Program is being replaced by Apple Upgrade

• OrangeDelonge 2mo ago
  Makes sense they discontinued it given that the last 5 iphones have been almost exactly the same
  • deleted 2mo ago
    [deleted]
  • xp84 2mo ago
    Hey that's not fair, there has been one actually useful "innovation" -- switching to USB-C like the rest of the world has been using for 10 years. Literally nothing has made me feel the slightest craving for a new iPhone since getting my 15 Pro Max.
    • Danox 2mo ago
      The rest of the world should switch speed up and use thunderbolt five and tandem oled in return. :)
  • meatmanek 2mo ago
    Indeed. I used to be on the upgrade program so I could upgrade every year, but decided to skip the 16 and keep my 15 until the 17 came out. Even if you are upgrading every single year, it works out roughly the same to just buy every phone outright and then trade in last year's model -- you typically get ~half your purchase price back as trade-in value after a year anyway.
  • Havoc 2mo ago
    Yeah a 3-4 year cadence seems optimal now Esp if you can swing a battery replacement at 2 years
• viccis 2mo ago
  They're switching to a lease model. Almost certainly because of the cost of components, but also in their interests to continue the "you'll own nothing" trend. They're even using Klarna as the leasing provider.
  • iscoelho 2mo ago
    The Apple Upgrade lease model isn't even a replacement as you have to wait 24 months before upgrading. The entire point of the iPhone Upgrade Program was to make it painless to swap to the newest iPhone every year. Without that, there's no value proposition.
    • smith7018 2mo ago
      They have 12 month options for the Apple Upgrade program. I just checked how much it would cost to get an iPhone 17 PM + AppleCare+ with theft protection like I currently get from the IUP and it's $3 more a month.
      • iscoelho 2mo ago
        I stand corrected! This doesn't look too bad then.
        • smith7018 2mo ago
          I mean, it is $36 more a year but I guess that's not terrible. What will be interesting is the tax paid up front. IIRC, I paid tax on the entire device every time I renewed rather than just paying it during each month. So I always thought it wasn't the best deal because I paid tax on a device that I only ended up paying off half of before renewing and starting the process again. I could be wrong, though. I'm not the best with finances.
          • iscoelho 2mo ago
            I don't think iPhone Upgrade Program was ever the best deal to be honest. It's just convenient.
• IAmGraydon 2mo ago
  So they're going to subtract the residual from the price and divide that by some term, just like leasing a car. Doesn't seem like a bad way to get a phone and in the end, they just automatically own the residual instead of buying it from you. It seems like a more predicable way to do the same thing most people are already doing.
  • xp84 2mo ago
    I think "most people" have been shifting towards longer than 24-month replacement cycles. Leasing with a fixed end is probably predicted in their financial models to do a better job of getting more people onto a strict 24 month cycle. Nobody will want to actually buy out their lease on a 2-year-old phone, so they'll turn it in and lease another one, so Apple can throw it into the shredder[1] and show an additional sale on their books. [1] https://www.ifixit.com/News/94386/the-truth-about-apples-free-iphone-recycling-program-the-earth-deserves-better https://www.ifixit.com/News/94386/the-truth-about-apples-fre...
    • pishpash 2mo ago
      They won't throw it into the shredder. They'll capture the residual by wholesaling it second-hand, same as with trade-in's.
      • xp84 2mo ago
        They already do shred as many as they can (as my link documented) because used iPhones merely existing compete with Apple's offerings. Think of it from Apple's perspective: You sell a phone for $1,100 and get a 37%[1] margin on it, so that's a $407 profit margin, and a $693 cost to make it. That phone gets Apple $768 in lease payments according to their site. Then they take the phone back from the user at 2 years old. EBay shows 2-year-old iPhone 15 Pros going for about $400 so let's assume the wholesale prices is $300. So Apple has the old phone and can sell it for $300 pure profit before tax or $237 after 21% federal tax, but they know that its existence will displace a new iPhone sale somewhere. Or they can declare it as "too damaged to resell" and shred it, probably take a tax deduction (for the official residual of $332? I'm not sure) for that loss, offsetting $70 of taxes elsewhere, and (very very important point here) because they know they'll sell one incremental new phone, they can expect to have an additional $1100 of topline revenue to show, and another $407 gross profit that they get to book. Sell it: $237 - $70 opportunity cost of tax deduction they don't get = +$167 to gross profit, Shred it: +$1100 topline, +$407 in gross profit, +$70 in EBITDA. I'm not a real accountant so I'm sure a few of these figures are off, but I think my main point is valid: Since Apple's main motivation is to increase their stock price, they may benefit more from shrinking the aftermarket than they would from harvesting the value of the old iPhone. This logic does depend on an additional working semi-late-model iPhone finding its way into the hand of a person, or there being a chain of people, at the end of which having someone who won't buy a brand new iPhone this year, but I think it's hard to argue it doesn't. [1] https://axis-intelligence.com/apple-statistics/ https://axis-intelligence.com/apple-statistics/ [2] https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-17-pro?purchaseOption=poi&warm=true https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-17-pro?purchase...
• paxys 2mo ago
  Replaced by a lease program - https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade Pay $32/mo (so $770 total) to use an iPhone for two years and then give it back to Apple. This is truly the most dystopian timeline.
  • applfanboysbgon 2mo ago
    The most dystopian thing about this timeline is how completely normalised corporate propaganda is. > While our customers have loved the iPhone Upgrade Program, we’re always looking for ways to give them more flexibility, better value, and a more seamless experience. If I were malicious dictator for life, there would be a special section in my gulags for the people who write copy that entails telling customers it's raining while pissing on them.
  • Aurornis 2mo ago
    > This is truly the most dystopian timeline. Why? Leasing has always been an option that some people and businesses prefer, depending on the circumstances. It’s commonly done with cars. In business situations leasing can be very common because it works well with your cash flow and doesn’t require taking more debt on your books. You can buy out the item at the end of the lease term. Some people like this optionality because they get to defer the purchase decision into the future and benefit from any new information, like whether or not a new iPhone is worth upgrading to or how the battery is holding up.
    • paxys 2mo ago
      The fact that we need to use the financing models of cars for basic consumer electronics is the dystopian part.
      • fckgw 2mo ago
        You can still just buy it. This is another payment option.
        • 2mo ago
• Aurornis 2mo ago
  Interesting decision. As far as I can tell, the iPhone Upgrade Program was structured like a loan where you owned the device but kept making payments. You then had the option to trade up to a new phone and add more months to the loan, or to pay out the remainder of the loan (24 months?) They’re discontinuing this and replacing it with Apple Upgrade, which is structured as a lease. Apple owns the device and you make payments. You either return the device or buy it out at the end. The distinction probably doesn’t matter much to the typical consumer, other than the final price differences. Some people have an emotional attachment to knowing they own the phone instead of leasing it (I’m emotionally attached to this position, however illogical) but in the end it comes down to having a device in your hand for a monthly payment.
  • rurifjciri 2mo ago
    The big distinction is whether the lease/loan ends with the requirement to pay a lump sum or not. Your monthly payments stopping and you own a device is a world apart from your ability to pay monthly ends, and, unless you can find $x hundred dollars, you need to roll onto a new monthly lease. Mathematically there might not be much in it from a $in/out perspective, but for people who don’t have large disposable incomes the reality is they are vastly different
• acmnrs 2mo ago
  The iPhone Upgrade Program was a 24-month 0% financing program for iPhones. The replacement Apple Upgrade<https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade> is a leasing program that also covers iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches. Instead of automatically owning the device after making all payments, you can choose return/upgrade/buy it at the end of the lease. The new program is backed by Klarna instead of Citizens Bank, uses a soft credit check, and no longer includes AppleCare+ by default. The fact that the page is not particularly clear about any of this should tell you everything you need to know about this change.
  • bdcravens 2mo ago
    Additionally, the loan program was administered by Citizens Bank, not Apple.
  • 999900000999 2mo ago
    More tricks to hide rising prices across the board. Looks like a recession indicator to me.
    • ahmd-sh 2mo ago
      perhaps even a... great depression indicator? (ref: wvfrm ep. 364)
    • kgwgk 2mo ago
      I wish we got some shrinkflation and they brought back the iPhone mini.
      • cloudfudge 2mo ago
        Yes please. I can't really believe it but I'm researching android phones because I will not upgrade to something larger than my 3rd gen iPhone SE.
  • monocularvision 2mo ago
    Yes, this appears to be entirely about raising the price of iPhones without raising the cost of iPhones. Most people don’t buy it out right so they need a way to ease the prices raised by keeping the monthly payments around the same. The difference is you have to return the phone at the end instead of owning it.
• philamonster 2mo ago
  This is my last iPhone/smartphone (13 mini).
  • recursivedoubts 2mo ago
    legit could be your last phone ever, why upgrade?
    • alonzomorning77 2mo ago
      apple upgrade forced obsolescence maybe?
      • recursivedoubts 2mo ago
        if you are willing to run an old OS (and the OS's are getting worse too) then I think you should be OK
        • cloudfudge 2mo ago
          It's not a great option. My "old" phone that I use to install junk apps (e.g. I buy some hardware that requires an app to set up) and which mostly sits in a drawer is a 2nd gen iphone SE, and it's getting to the point where I'm going to be forced to replace it, because the OS hasn't been upgraded in a while (it errors) and some apps won't install on it now.
          • recursivedoubts 2mo ago
            I am running an iphone 12 mini without problems. I expect I will eventually run into them but at that point I'll just stop upgrading apps.
            • cloudfudge 2mo ago
              12 mini is pretty old. I have considered going to a 13 mini, but I sort of hate the idea of spending money on a phone that is already well on the path to unsupported. Then again, the compact options for grapheneos are limited to old stuff too. Sigh.
• xp84 2mo ago
  Seems like a good place to also mourn the canonical best iPhone financing method - the blissfully simple Apple Card payment plan. They got rid of it[1] (except if you're engaging in the postpaid carrier contract foolishness) in 2023, which coincidentally was the last time I felt the need to get a new iPhone. I know a lot of people use postpaid, but I can't understand why. I'd challenge anyone to justify that decision, given that the phone "deals" are rarely even much of a subsidy as opposed to a financing scheme that acts as a contract, and the plans cost about triple what I pay every month, for fewer features and equivalent at best priority and speeds. [1] https://9to5mac.com/2023/06/15/apple-card-financing-sim-free-iphones/ https://9to5mac.com/2023/06/15/apple-card-financing-sim-free...
  • electriclove 2mo ago
    Do family plans require them to be postpaid?
    • js2 2mo ago
      The 0% financing fine print is as follows: > Financing available to qualified customers, subject to credit approval and credit limit, and requires you to select Citizens One Apple iPhone Payments or Apple Card Monthly Installments (ACMI) as your payment type at checkout at Apple. In order to buy an iPhone with ACMI, you must select one of the following carriers (but you cannot use a prepaid carrier plan): AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. An iPhone purchased with ACMI is always unlocked, so you can switch carriers at any time, subject to your carrier’s terms.
  • alexjplant 2mo ago
    > I know a lot of people use postpaid, but I can't understand why. Two reasons: data caps and device cost. People want iPhones but they cost $1000 outright which isn't a small amount of cash these days so they roll the cost of the device into their monthly bill. The average consumer also doesn't understand how mobile data versus 802.11 works - their kid doesn't activate Wi-Fi on their phone or download anything, they see a large number with "GB" on the end, and they pay whatever is necessary to keep the Instagram scrolling and Disney+ flowing. Buying an iPhone outright, flipping the old one every few years (they hold their value well) and using a $30 a month 10GB plan is doable if you have money and are savvy enough to download podcasts and use your home's AP for data. Carriers certainly aren't incentivized to educate consumers better since they'd rather make money on device installments and milk them for hundreds of dollars a month because they "have a large family and need a lot of data". Home broadband marketing is even worse - why a family of four "needs" 500 Mbps down is absolutely beyond me. In an ideal society this type of consumer literacy would be taught in school but I'm not holding my breath.
• wxw 2mo ago
  > To make way for Apple Upgrade — a new experience that offers more products and terms that work for you — we’re saying goodbye to the iPhone Upgrade Program. https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade It looks like this leasing program is just moving into a more generic/Apple-wide offering... not sure if the fine print changes. [edit: from the comments, it sounds like the difference is it was previously 0% interest financing and no longer is]
  • fckgw 2mo ago
    The new Apple Upgrade is also 0%, but has lower monthly payments and a balloon payment at the end, like a typical lease. It's not just cost / 24mo.
  • bri3d 2mo ago
    It's "just" a restructuring; the previous setup was a really bizarre financial product where Citizens Bank gave you a 24-month 0% personal loan to buy an iPhone, but Apple would also buy your phone and loan out and sell you a new one every 12 months. Now it's just a normal lease product with a 0% money factor through Klarna, that also works across Apple. What this does is gives Apple more "price flexibility" (aka, they can raise prices more easily, which was probably a lot of the driver for this), but also gives consumers more buying power flexibility since it's a simple product that works across the board rather than a bizarre iPhone specific optimized financial instrument.
    • bredren 2mo ago
      Citizens was the worst part of the prior program
    • wxw 2mo ago
      Makes sense, thanks!
• r0fl 2mo ago
  Leasing isn’t “I can’t afford to buy it.” It’s about capital allocation. Why would I tie up $1,200 upfront in a device that’s going to be obsolete in a couple of years when I can spread the cost over time, preserve cash flow, and (if it’s a legitimate business expense) deduct the lease payments? Keeping $1,200 in my business earning a return is often worth more than prepaying for a depreciating asset. People happily lease $80,000 vehicles for exactly these reasons. Applying the same logic to a $1,200 phone isn’t irrational, just the same financing decision at a much smaller scale.
  • thewebguyd 2mo ago
    Yeah everyone's naysaying this but it seems like a no brainer? There's no interest, no fees. The total lease price (if you buy out at the end) is the same as the retail price. There's no downside to it at all. If you are someone who upgrades annually, you're now paying ~$599 split over 12 payments vs. ~$1199 up front and either trading in or trying to sell your last gen privately. It works out to about even on a trade-in->upgrade every year cycle, only you don't have to fork over the $600 up front.
    • luisln 2mo ago
      When you return the device, it needs to be in mint condition. You now have a credit obligation with Klarna, whereas on the pervious system, there was also 0% financing but it was bundled AppleCare+. I don't think anyone will ever excercise the buyout option since the phone will never be worth more than the buyout price. And like you're saying, this program does not make sense unless you are upgrading every single year. I mean in any case, every option looks defensible once you've accepted the premise that you need a new phone every 12 months. Any minute differences in costs are just rounding errors. Like I really don't think someone upgrading every year is going to have a significantly different retirement income because they saved $1200 every year by not buying the iphone outright. It's really just a convenience thing, not a financial decision.
    • kart23 2mo ago
      the other problem is if it’s stolen or damaged. they literally say you will pay large fees in those cases. it’s basically self insuring.
• tamimio 2mo ago
  So this new one seems like hardware-as-a-service subscription, the hardware is basically rented out, and since everything is linked to apple account it’s easier to lock it remotely if you don’t pay that month. They are probably planning to increase the prices and are introducing this model so it looks less of a payment method, except you don’t even own it.
  • deleted 2mo ago
    [deleted]
• nerdjon 2mo ago
  The math for the new program is kinda perplexing, my guess is that they are hoping that most people just will send in the device and upgrade. If I am reading the FAQ here properly: https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade. > If you decide to buy the device, the purchase option fee is the list price minus any lease payments you’ve made minus any remaining discounts or trade-in credit. (excluding tax and any damage fees). Lets look at a couple examples: iPhone 17 pro max would be $1199 to buy (~1273 with tax) or $34.99 for 24 months totaling $839.76. So would cost 433.33 at the end of the lease to keep it The cheapest 16" MBP would be 2,999 to buy (3186.44 with tax) or $57.99 for 36 months (or 80.99 for 24 months). 2087.64 or 1943.76. So around ~1k to buy it at the end. It looks like you can keep making payments for 6 months to lower the buyout price a little bit. So worst case scenario this is a 3 and a half year interest free loan with a higher payment at the end. Seems not terrible? As long as you treat it as a loan and not a lease you can end at any point it seems fine and nothing really shady about it. You still have the option to own the device for the original cost. Other than the loss of the iPhone upgrade program and the yearly upgrades, am I missing something here? I guess the biggest thing is you likely can't just pay it off and be done with it if you had the money.
  • fckgw 2mo ago
    They still have a 12mo lease term if you want to upgrade yearly.
    • dgellow 2mo ago
      Wait, do people actually upgrade yearly? I always thought it was hyperbolic
      • fckgw 2mo ago
        It's not common (I think average upgrade cycle on iPhone is a little more than 3 1/2 years now, and getting longer every cycle) but it's not unheard of. The iPhone hold value well enough that you can often trade it in at something like a $200 discount and just get the new one. Considering the cost of a battery replacement, it's not the worst value proposition in the world.
• likelybot 2mo ago
  [flagged]
• mmooss 2mo ago
  Are the prices competitive with the used market? Just one datapoint: I know someone who tried to trade in a laptop; Apple offered ~$200, eBayers were buying for ~$400.
  • paxys 2mo ago
    No there’s a big gap, but it is meant for people who want a guaranteed amount without going through the trouble of selling it privately.
  • pishpash 2mo ago
    eBay takes a 13%+ cut, then there's shipping, so you're looking at $300 after cost of business. If you're selling a lot, sure, capture that $100 difference. If you're selling one and dealing with buyers, you'll spend at least one hour taking pictures, writing the ad copy, doing client management, going out to ship + gas to get to the post office, risk of buyer return/fraud. Say you're worth $50/hour and you're being very efficient and do all that in one hour, you may end up with a net economic gain of $40-50 after all that. Is it worth it?
    • Marsymars 2mo ago
      Whenever I sell used good, I use ebay to set the price, but I sell locally, so there's no shipping/fees involved. Local prices around me always seem weirdly high - I sort ebay by cheapest price+shipping, match that, and that usually puts me cheaper than 90% of local listings and gets me plenty of interest. TBH I'm not clear on why anybody outside of rural areas is selling on ebay for non-niche things.
      • pishpash 2mo ago
        I can think of a few reasons: 1) Digital goods, so very little friction. 2) No liquidity locally so you go to the large market. 3) Selling large volume. 4) Some third party to verify payment when it's not cash. There are more and more alternatives though.
• likelybot 2mo ago
  [dead]
• kotaKat 2mo ago
  question, since I couldn't find it anywhere in the terms yet: Does iPhone Upgrade Program also require the iPhone be placed into the new "partner financial lock" status, seperate of the SIMlock status (which will remain unlocked)? https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/21/ios-27-code-suggests-apple-could-restrict-leased-devices-after-missed-payments/ https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/21/ios-27-code-suggests-apple-co... It will be curious to see if the first Klarna defaults will start triggering a future Restricted Mode on the phone and the parts get blacklisted from re-use. I assume certain apps will get an entitlement from Apple to enable/disable this on the device. edit: confirmed they aren't... yet. https://www.theverge.com/tech/972063/apple-upgrade-program-no-restricted-mode https://www.theverge.com/tech/972063/apple-upgrade-program-n...
• drnick1 2mo ago
  This kind of business model is just another manifestation of "you'll own nothing and be happy." Unless you are happy with Apple or Google literally owning your phone and everything in it, the solution is to buy a Pixel, with cash, unlock the bootloader, and flash GrapheneOS.
  • thewebguyd 2mo ago
    Except in this case, you can still choose to own it at the end of the lease. The total lease price (if you buy it at the end) is the exact same as the retail price, there's no interest and no extra fees.
    • drnick1 2mo ago
      The issue is deeper than than. Even if you buy, not lease, the iPhone, you don't control the software. Apple is still the effective owner, and tells you what you can and can't run on your own device. Worse, Apple is able to remotely inject user-hostile programs, such as the planned CSAM scanner that was planned but ultimately abandoned[0]. [0] https://9to5mac.com/2023/09/01/csam-scanning-flaw/ https://9to5mac.com/2023/09/01/csam-scanning-flaw/
      • compiler-guy 2mo ago
        All of that is true, but has nothing to do with the new payment plan apple just released.
    • MagicMoonlight 2mo ago
      [dead]
• deleted 2mo ago
  [deleted]
• socalgal2 2mo ago
  I'm not sure I understand all the hate in this thread. I had a friend who bought a new Mac every year, selling his old Mac. His calculation was that it was about the same price as keeping one Mac and upgrading every 5 years. I'd consider leasing a Mac through this program. I priced one out, with the options I chose it's $8149, lease for $177 (6372 for 3yrs, 8496 for 4yrs). Yes, at the end of those 3 years I don't have a mac, I have to keep paying, but I'd prefer a new Mac every 3yrs and it's just easier than trying to sell it for $1777. It doesn't seem like a bad deal to me, plenty of people lease cars. Plus, if you consider you can keep your moneny in interest earning account, then at 3% you'd end up with $2256 I'm not saying that makes it a good deal for you, but I personally like the idea of not paying out $8149 day one, especially for something I know has a shelf life. I'm on an 2021 M1 Mac. It works great. But I've also tried to run 70b LLMs and run out of memory (64g), so I think about upgrading to 128g which, being Apple, I can only do by buying a new mac.
  • swat535 2mo ago
    I don't see the point for consumers. Perhaps a minority will buy a new model every year but many people keep their devices for years to come. Companies that require frequent hardware refreshes would benefit from this, though Apple already had has programs for those.
    • Aurornis 2mo ago
      > Perhaps a minority will buy a new model every year It’s not just a 1 year program. The comment you replied to had numbers for the 4 year option.
    • criddell 2mo ago
      > I don't see the point for consumers. Isn't it this: >> His calculation was that it was about the same price as keeping one Mac and upgrading every 5 years.
    • alsetmusic 2mo ago
      Assisted a an internal-client with a 12 yo Dell all-in-one yesterday. I recognized his voice, as this was the third or fourth time. Knowing the landscape ahead of assisting him allowed me to be a super-star. He already seemed to like me, but I cleared a lot of BS by telling him what was possible from memory of the setup. Learning how bad it was was a different conversation, less fun.
• ChrisArchitect 2mo ago
  Official post: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-upgrade-launches-in-the-united-states/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-upgrade-launche... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49083020 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49083020)
• LoganDark 2mo ago
  "Leases are provided by Klarna". Great. Klarna doesn't want to give me a high limit, so this is actually worse. My MacBook Pro was over $6,000 refurbished, and this was before Apple raised prices. There's not really a point in financing smaller purchases that you can just buy outright.
• amazingamazing 2mo ago
  People whine about everything. This is a free loan compared to Apple MSRP.
  • pishpash 2mo ago
    First-party MSRP at that. What's a few % free loan discount in comparison to almost any other retail pricing out there that is periodically 10-15% off.
    • amazingamazing 2mo ago
      Where can you consistently get 10-15% off apple products?
      • pishpash 2mo ago
        Like every holiday sale? Costco and Amazon discount Apple products all the time, and of course there is EPP and student pricing.
        • amazingamazing 2mo ago
          I cannot buy a 17 Pro at 15% off right now. And there are never discounts day one, so your point is moot, with this you get 0% interest on day 1
• squirreljak 2mo ago
  I don’t see what’s the big deal about this tbh. They’re probably making this financing program for the soon to be announced iPhone and MacBook ultras, which will be more expensive than we expect
• arjie 2mo ago
  This sounds like an incredible deal, doesn't it? Transforming a capital cost to an operational cost is fantastic. The total cost to use over 2 years is also much lower on this kind of thing. I suppose the reason not to use it is that you can use an old device for much longer. My wife and parents are on an iPhone 13 and I'm on an iPhone 16. The cost over that period is consequently much lower. In any case, doesn't this sound like an insane contract for Klarna to have signed? It's freaking Apple. Mind blowing deal for a buy-now-pay-later company to sign. Imagine being in the chain for an Apple product. What a coup.
• deleted 2mo ago
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• _zie 2mo ago
  "If you’re leasing an iPhone, you’ll need to connect to AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon when you enroll." Damn, this is the dealbreaker for me. Leasing an unlocked iPhone and being able to use my current $25/mo MVNO of choice (US Mobile) may have actually tempted me (I currently buy outright and then tell myself I'll sell my current phone when I upgrade, but in reality I just have iPhone graveyard at home.)
  • deleted 2mo ago
    [deleted]
  • jborichevskiy 2mo ago
    It's a little unclear; they make you select a carrier, but buried in the fine print is: "For iPhone only: In order to lease an iPhone, you must select an eligible carrier (but you cannot use a prepaid carrier plan). A leased iPhone is always unlocked, so you can switch carriers at any time, subject to your carrier’s terms." So it... is unlocked? I am also on US Mobile and don't want to leave it
    • ben1040 2mo ago
      This is unchanged from the upgrade program terms before. The phone is unlocked, but when you take delivery of the phone you have to activate it on a Big 3 carrier's postpaid plan.
      • madeofpalk 2mo ago
        So, the phones arrived locked? You can't use them with any carrier you want?
        • musictubes 2mo ago
          Phone is unlocked but you have to put in carrier info when you buy the phone. You have to activate a line from one of the big three carriers to use the program at all.
• jjice 2mo ago
  This is probably just a personal lifestyle thing, but I'd rather have a cheaper, not as good thing that I own outright rather than lease (not own) a nicer, better thing. Cars, phones, computers, whatever it is. I don't like the idea of not owning the stuff I use every day, if I could just own something not as good instead.
  • thisislife2 2mo ago
    I have come to the realisation that it just makes more sense to buy repairable / upgradeable electronics / computers and cars, used. You save a lot of money that way, and the second-sales market has also become more organised so you don't really waste time too in the process.
  • amelius 2mo ago
    There's another side to this. If you don't own the phone, then it is in Apple's best interest to keep the phone running. No more planned obsolescence, or not caring if it breaks after the warranty period is over. Maybe not owning is the more environmentally friendly choice?
• cschep 2mo ago
  As an owner of Stripe stock should be I bummed that Stripe didn't get this contract? Or.. happy they are powerful enough that they must not have gotten favorable terms so they didn't bother?
• jghn 2mo ago
  Technically my current iPhone is part of the upgrade program, but I paid if off years ago. Why haven't I upgraded? Because there's no mini and all they make are phablets now.
  • imagetic 2mo ago
    Amen
  • JBAnderson5 2mo ago
    Will they ever come out with a new mini? If they don’t, is it possible to buy a new 13 mini anymore? Or just replace the battery?
    • layer8 2mo ago
      New ones don’t seem to be available any more, you probably need to go refurbished. Last year some third-party sellers still had new units available. Replacing the battery is always an option. It doesn’t look like Apple will be going back to something smaller than the 17e. Unless you count the upcoming foldable, which while shorter than the mini, however is also wider, thicker and heavier.
    • jghn 2mo ago
      Unlikely. I'm hoping when the foldable models come out that the folded version is a decent form factor. And then I can just not bother unfolding it.
  • isaachinman 2mo ago
    iPhone 15 Pro is a reasonable size, in my opinion. Still large compared to years past.
  • Daneel_ 2mo ago
    I was in the mini camp as well, but the reality is that even the mini can't be used one-handed with ease. Based on that, I switched to a pro max model and haven't looked back. If no one-handed option is available then I'll take the most useful two-handed option, even if it pains me to do so. The 4S was the last true one-handed option in my opinion.
• paxys 2mo ago
  I wonder what the reaction here would have been if Klarna had independently announced this program, instead of the current version which is Apple branded with a tiny “run by Klarna” in the footer.
  • lysace 2mo ago
    Haha!
  • dsl 2mo ago
    Seeing as Apple is sunsetting a program that is far superior as a consumer, the two are not unrelated.
  • RunSet 2mo ago
    I do not speak for anyone else, but whenever I encounter a phrase resembling "an entirely new payment option that we think you’ll love" I stop reading and throw the whole thing in the cognitive trash. Do not presume to anticipate my love, drone.
• user00005 2mo ago
  Well, Apple did just hit a 5 trillion market cap with a PE ratio of 41. With hardware prices increasing, selling financially challenged people on 'cheap' monthly payments seem like one way to keep the stock price pumped at these levels. I guess they are one of the good trillion corporations though? https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/article/apple-tops-5-trillion-market-cap-only-second-company-to-hit-the-milestone-134013795.html https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/article/apple-tops-5-tr...
  • nozzlegear 2mo ago
    > With hardware prices increasing, selling financially challenged people on 'cheap' monthly payments seem like one way to keep the stock price pumped at these levels. I feel like some people are ignoring the fact that "financially challenged people" have always been paying monthly payments for their phones via their carrier's lease programs, which are very popular and have been a thing since the first iPhone. People need phones, this is a good program. > I guess they are one of the good trillion corporations though? This but unironically
  • r0fl 2mo ago
    “Financially challenged” people never paid for their phones with cash They were probably using credit cards at 29% to buy the exact same phones that are now 0% Net net it’s a win
• zeristor 2mo ago
  I’ve bought my last two iPhones with the 0% 24 month installments, seems like an obvious thing to do. Does this replace that as well?
  • mrweasel 2mo ago
    We just get used iPhones, it's really the only reasonable option. If to many opt for Apples iPhone upgrade program that's going to put me in a bit of a spot. Ideally I think a reasonable price for a phone, for my use case, is around $200 (incl. my 25% VAT). That leave me with the option of getting a really shitty Android phone with an operating system from a company I have zero trust in or pay slight more than I'd like for a four year old and use iPhone with an operating system I trust ever so slightly more. For people like me, who view a smart phone as a necessary annoyance there are very few options. The few apps I have and need aren't running on open source operating system and modern society has decided to make my life rather hard with out those apps. Right now I'm using a 2nd generation iPhone SE, it solves the same problems that my iPhone 6 did and I don't see how an iPhone 17 would make parking, mobile payments or charging my car any easier. People keep talking about how good the cameras have become, yet they don't even bother switching to portrait mode when taking pictures of people close up. When we're out my photos are often then ones people ask for and use, because I actually spend a few minutes on it, yet my phone have the shittier camera!
• redsocksfan45 2mo ago
  [dead]
• b3ing 2mo ago
  If you stop paying do you just send the device back or drop it off at the Apple Store
• znpy 2mo ago
  interestingly, if you try and configure the lease for an ipad, the accessories are not bundled, and you have to buy them separately and pay them in full and upfront. or you can finance them separately via klarna (?) that's a bit of a deal-breaker for me, at least for the ipad.
• apparent 2mo ago
  Interestingly, Apple is apparently going to be able to nerf the devices if the customer misses a series of payments. [1] Presumably this ability means that Klarna has a lower risk of nonpayment, and is willing to accept a smaller cut of the total price from Apple. 1: https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/21/ios-27-code-suggests-apple-could-restrict-leased-devices-after-missed-payments/ https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/21/ios-27-code-suggests-apple-co...
  • cloudfudge 2mo ago
    Note that they already do this if you buy a mac on an Apple Card, and they even go so far as to link your AppleID that you may have had for decades. I bought a new mac last year and signed up for the 0% Apple Card financing and if I'd have known about this little bit of leverage they use, I would have created a brand new AppleID to partition it off.
    • apparent 2mo ago
      What do they do to your Mac if you don't make payments?
      • boston_clone 2mo ago
        they make you upgrade to Tahoe and force you to use liquid glass
  • blackqueeriroh 2mo ago
    I’m confused where it says they will be able to nerf them. Reads to me like there’s code that could be that, but it’s not certain.
    • apparent 2mo ago
      > If the contract is no longer in good standing, Apple’s system services can place the iPhone in “Restricted Mode,” which blocks access to most apps until the payment or contract issue is resolved, while keeping a small set of apps available.
• codesnik 2mo ago
  I wonder what apple will do with returned devices. Are they actually refurbishable, on average, to a condition that's resellable, or will they go straight to recycling just to keep numbers of new sales up?
• deleted 2mo ago
  [deleted]
• mgh2 2mo ago
  This is genius, I am sure the finance department saw the benefits of the leasing model: 1. New customers: lower barrier to entry, try, or switch into the ecosystem. 2. Loyal customers: Upgrade propensity is increased as friction decreases. 3. Innovators: offers options for those who want to try a model, but might later change their minds for something that better suits them. All this increases exposure and engagement to the brand, which translates to increasing sales and revenue.
  • enos_feedler 2mo ago
    I mean this isn’t rocket science. I feel ideas like these are always sitting on the back burner waiting to deploy. The same goes with product features. They know the upside and impact to finances and are just waiting for the right conditions to pull the trigger
• monk_grilla 2mo ago
  Can anyone explain why Apple needed Klarna for this? They have Apple Card so presumably they are capable of providing financial services like loans on their own, why bring in a third party who will take a cut and force your consumers onto their app with a bad reputation?
  • y1n0 2mo ago
    Goldman Sachs is the issuer for Apple Card.
  • ameliaquining 2mo ago
    Apple absolutely does not provide Apple Card in-house, and in particular is not loaning you the money when you use it. Among many other reasons, for that to be legal would require Apple to be a bank, which they're not and they definitely don't want to be, because being a bank is a huge pain, and in particular means signing up for an extremely heavyweight regulatory compliance regime. Apple Card is the result of a co-branding deal between Apple and Goldman Sachs (which is currently in the process of exiting the deal and being replaced in that capacity by JPMorgan Chase). Apple provides the branding and some minor fintech features; Goldman (or in the future Chase) issues the card and is on the hook if people don't pay their credit card bill. Presumably for this particular program using Klarna was cheaper because Klarna already specializes in precisely this kind of transaction.
    • Fluorescence 2mo ago
      > because Klarna already specializes in precisely this kind of transaction I think Apple gets sweetheart deals so their partners often lose money. Klarna likely sees this as a marketing coup to have their predatory sussness promoted by the Apple halo brand. If there was profit to be had, I'm sure Apple could buy a small bank and spin it off as a subsidiary with little drama, it's just not the best of their options.
• iphonemaxing 2mo ago
  Do you think Apple wants to control all the old iphones so in the near future people can't repurpose them for inference servers once all hardware gets jailbroken by AI? I forsee all software and hardware becoming unlocked by anyone since there is a will and the way is becoming so easy with AI assistance. The cat and mouse game is about to end!
  • rickdeckard 2mo ago
    Apple rather wants to make it unattractive for users who frequently change phones to 1. Consider trying other brands 2. Pass on their existing (still quite capable) phone to a family member (taking him/her out of the purchasing loop) 3. Stick with the existing model for longer as they don't find a compelling reason to upgrade.
• fny 2mo ago
  Holy hell--you can rent a 32GB M5 MacBook Air for $33 a month. You can stick that in your closet for one hell of an agent playground. A standard $33 server has trash specs by comparison.
  • TiredOfLife 2mo ago
    A shared vps with 8 core 9950x3d and 32gb of ram is twice that
    • Youden 2mo ago
      A 9950x3d has about double the multi-core performance though: https://browser.geekbench.com/v7/cpu/compare/53883?baseline=54187 https://browser.geekbench.com/v7/cpu/compare/53883?baseline=...
      • TiredOfLife 2mo ago
        That is the full chip. The quoted price was for 1/4 of it
  • deleted 2mo ago
    [deleted]
  • Havoc 2mo ago
    Seems solid. Though it’ll have to be mostly idle. The air doesn’t dissipate heat all that well
• DDayMace 2mo ago
  "For now, you can continue making your remaining monthly payments." Aww, thanks for the reminder Apple!
  • bartvk 2mo ago
    I hate this weird, manipulative and soft language.
• qwertyuiop_ 2mo ago
  You'll own nothing and you'll be happy - World Economic Forum.
• leoh 2mo ago
  The house never loses
• Noor004 2mo ago
  100% agree
• mattlutze 2mo ago
  An interesting lesson from the "certified pre-owned" programs in automakers and mobile network providers. Permanent "leasers" swap devices every few years, stocking the company's second-hand options and increasing average lifetime value of the participating products.
• t1234s 2mo ago
  I remember dell had a lease program for laptops many many years ago. This made sense for business tax reasons.
• rufjejriWirj 2mo ago
  A lot of people are talking about financially challenged people needing to lease but this enables wealthy developers to compare the (monthly) price of hardware that can run an open weight LLM locally to their Claude subscriptions… Getting very expensive Mac hardware leased is where the juice is. As well as normalising subscription revenue and you own nothing of course, but the interesting dynamic will be shifting 10k hardware to developers that wouldn’t have considered dropping 10k on their setup
• larodi 2mo ago
  I've tried at least several times to have an iPhone bought back by Apple - personally, at their certified stores (in Europe mostly I have to admit though), only to be told that the back-cover is broken, which effectively makes the device unusable. you see, an iphone becomes unusable the moment the glass breaks, this is what apple reps. think. so it is some packaging that in their opinion makes up critical part of the value provided by the device. not the chips inside, or cameras, but the stupid glass cover. and they wouldn't buy back. so this whole upgrade nonsense is perhaps valid only in very extraordinary situations. same for broken screen or broken camera. so what I do then is try to reuse, replace, and go to small shops for repairs with third party parts, for as long as I can, so that my CO2 footprint goes down or at least extend the life of the device. I'm pretty sure all my old iphones will at some point be running jailed servers and sandboxes, or perhaps even - claws.
  • tencentshill 2mo ago
    It was poor design on their part. The cameras bumps were welded over the back glass surface, so replacing it properly requires a whole new chassis and for every part inside to be moved over. Very labor-intensive and almost never worth doing. They did fix this in the iPhone 14 line. See their own repair pricing of $349 for an iphone 13 vs $159 for an iphone 14.