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Following the debut of the iPhone 12 series, Apple is offering U.K. customers pre-approval for its monthly payment plan ahead of when first pre-orders begin this Friday.

uk-monthly-payment-plan-pre-approval.jpg

Customers planning to make 24 monthly payments of £54.12 at 0% APR can use the Apple Store app on the ‌iPhone‌ to go through all of the pre-approval steps to get ready to purchase an 6.1-inch iPhone 12 or 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro on October 16.

"Get Ready" involves these three steps:
  • Choose your iPhone model and features, add a trade-in if you want, and select monthly payments.
  • Get approved now for a 24-month, no-interest loan from Barclays.
  • At 1:00 p.m. U.K. time on Friday, 16 October, use the Apple Store app on your iPhone to complete your order.
Pre-approvals are available until 05:00 a.m. U.K. time on Friday October 16.

Customers planning to pay in full can get ready by setting up Apple Pay or adding a payment card to their account, and adding their preferred iPhone to Favorites so they can check out quickly at pre-order.

The system Apple is debuting in the U.K. is similar to the U.S. iPhone 12 pre-approval for iPhone Upgrade Program, which has also gone live.

Article Link: Apple Offering iPhone 12 Pre-Approval for UK Monthly Payment Plan Customers
 
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Can this only work on iPhone app? As i I can’t get it to work on the iPad apple store app
 
For the max it’s not worth it I’m paying to extra months it’s better to sell it and start again
 
Presumably you still need to get a SIM only deal on top of that £39 a month? Sorry for being ignorant, I always get mine from Carphone Warehouse, mobilephonesdirect, that sort of thing.
 
I’m trusting that if I’m already on the iPhone Upgrade Programme then I’m good to go on Friday for an upgrade? I’m also assuming it’s a case of going into Account > IUP in the app, picking a phone, picking an Apple Store and that’s it?

Was on the IUP for the iPhone X but paid it off after 20 months without upgrade. Went back on the IUP for the 11 Pro last year and fancy a 12 Pro for the bigger screen, 5G and Dolby Vision video recording.
 
For the UK it feels as though Apple has abandoned the upgrade programme in favour of people choosing between outright purchase or fixed term finance. The upgrade programme is still there in the background if you know where to find it, but it isn't being promoted.

So Apple... I guess I am going to have to go to the store and run the Barclays loan approval gauntlet in person?

Edit: To clarify we have two phones on IUP for several years. Last year the first went through ok, but the second hit some sort of block in the loan approval and I had to spend an hour on the phone to Barclays so they could hand-hold the approval through the system.
 
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I did it on my phone. In the store on the homepage you can see a 'Get Ready' button for the devices you can get pre-approval.

Odd as all the option gives to me is to remind me when it’s available to pre order.
 
So how does this affect customers who are on the iPhone Upgrade Programme from last year, but don't want to go anywhere near an Apple Store?

Is it impossible to take part in the 'upgrade' part of the Programme?

If you instead took advantage of the pre-approval on the non-iUP (as MacRumors' post describes), am I correct in thinking you still have to keep on with the iUP payments (until this time next year)?

If this is the situation, it seems odd that Apple haven't considered or accounted for this and assumed customers will be happy visiting a retail store during the pandemic.
 
So Apple... I guess I am going to have to go to the store and run the Barclays loan approval gauntlet in person?
All the comms I've had with Apple suggest that this is the case. Ridiculous considering London is about to be a Tier 2 zone for COVID-19 which includes trying to minimize non-essential travel on public transport.
 
Absolutely insane that they aren’t doing this for iUP customers as well.

They’ve just proven that they have the technical capability to do pre-approvals in the UK so why the hell are we being made to go into a store that might become inaccessible at the drop of Matt Hancock’s hat?!
 
So how does this affect customers who are on the iPhone Upgrade Programme from last year, but don't want to go anywhere near an Apple Store?

Is it impossible to take part in the 'upgrade' part of the Programme?

If you instead took advantage of the pre-approval on the non-iUP (as MacRumors' post describes), am I correct in thinking you still have to keep on with the iUP payments (until this time next year)?

If this is the situation, it seems odd that Apple haven't considered or accounted for this and assumed customers will be happy visiting a retail store during the pandemic.

Unfortunately yes. You can trade you're IUPed phone in as part exchange towards the new one – but you're liable for paying the remaining term on that contract as well as the remaining cost of the new phone.
 
Unfortunately yes. You can trade you're IUPed phone in as part exchange towards the new one – but you're liable for paying the remaining term on that contract as well as the remaining cost of the new phone.
Wait so the upgrade plan doesn’t work now? I thought you give your phone in and it drops the remaining price you need to pay
 
No – it does. But Orbital was speaking about going the non IUP route, and using his IUP phone as the trade-in device.

The IUP seems unchanged this year – and we'll just have to reserve at a local store through the app tomorrow.
 
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No – it does. But Orbital was speaking about going the non IUP route, and using his IUP phone as the trade-in device.

The IUP seems unchanged this year – and we'll just have to reserve at a local store through the app tomorrow.
Ok cool my only issue is I’m going for the max so by the time I get it I will be paying 2 extra months, it could work out better to sell it privately and pay it off I dunno
 
Ok cool my only issue is I’m going for the max so by the time I get it I will be paying 2 extra months, it could work out better to sell it privately and pay it off I dunno

I've done this in the past – can't remember which device it was – maybe the X or XS Max – but it was delayed a month.
You just end up paying an extra month up front at trade in time 🤷🏼‍♂️
 
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I've done this in the past – can't remember which device it was – maybe the X or XS Max – but it was delayed a month.
You just end up paying an extra month up front at trade in time 🤷🏼‍♂️
True what’s the best thing to do, shall I just do the upgrade plan I have the 11 pro max 256 and going for the 12 pro max I’m stuck knowing what to do and next year in 10 months when the 13 comes will you still be able to upgrade or have to wait a year
 
True what’s the best thing to do, shall I just do the upgrade plan I have the 11 pro max 256 and going for the 12 pro max I’m stuck knowing what to do and next year in 10 months when the 13 comes will you still be able to upgrade or have to wait a year

You can upgrade whenever you like. You just have to pay up to the 11th month.

So if you bought the 11 Pro Max today – and then upgraded next week – you'd just pay the equivalent 11 instalments. There's no limit that you have to upgrade after the 11 month threshold, you just pay it off. 😉
 
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