'Apple Upgrade' Program Launching on Tuesday

[MacRumors]

In his newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that a new "Apple Upgrade" program is set to launch in the U.S. on Tuesday, July 28. Apple will stop accepting iPhone Upgrade Program sign-ups on the same day, but he said customers who are already enrolled will be able to remain in the program "for the time being."

Apple is partnering with buy-now, pay-later company Klarna on the program, he said.

The program will allow you to lease most iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models, with a 24-month term for iPhones and Apple Watches and a 36-month term for iPads and Macs. Customers will have various options, including returning their device after the term, upgrading to a newer device, paying a fee to keep the device, and so forth.

Some lower-priced devices, including the Apple Watch SE, the entry-level iPad, the iPhone 16, and the MacBook Neo, will not be eligible, he said.

Unlike the iPhone Upgrade Program, Apple Upgrade plans will apparently not include AppleCare+ coverage bundled into the monthly price.

Apple plans to advertise the program as a way to have lower monthly payments compared to current financing programs, according to the report, so it sounds like Apple Upgrade will be focused on leasing rather than traditional financing, and it will apparently replace the iPhone Upgrade Program for new purchases going forward.

Article Link: 'Apple Upgrade' Program Launching on Tuesday

 

[superarijit]

Apple upper management to its fashion victim customers: "Please keep our bonuses coming."

 

[turbineseaplane]

Klarna being the service in use here makes me want to vomit.

 

[dontwalkhand]

For the same reason I tell people not to lease cars, Don’t do this either.

“you’ll own nothing and be happy”

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Its official name will be the iUpgrade Pro subscription service.

 

[triumvirate]

“You will own nothing … and we think you’re gonna love it!”

As a reminder, this move is not a final step for the endgame. Baiting people into becoming more and more comfortable with leasing tech/media versus owning tech/media is gonna be a decades-long road unless the market refuses.

 

[ClaraStahlbaum]

This is kind of how I operate with my devices. I usually keep them for a year, and then sell / trade in the old ones for new ones. So something like this isn't something that would be out of the norm for me.

 

[kenny911]

Further signs the economy is unhealthy. People can't afford $3k laptops then people can't afford to finance a $3k laptop, now we are into computer leases. Rent A Center Apple

 

[Paulie Paulie Paulie]

In his newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that a new "Apple Upgrade" program is set to launch in the U.S. on Tuesday, July 28. Apple will stop accepting iPhone Upgrade Program sign-ups on the same day, but he said customers who are already enrolled will be able to remain in the program "for the time being."

Apple is partnering with buy-now, pay-later company Klarna on the program, he said.

The program will allow you to lease most iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models, with a 24-month term for iPhones and Apple Watches and a 36-month term for iPads and Macs. Customers will have various options, including returning their device after the term, upgrading to a newer device, paying a fee to keep the device, and so forth.

Some lower-priced devices, including the Apple Watch SE, the entry-level iPad, the iPhone 16, and the MacBook Neo, will not be eligible, he said.

Unlike the iPhone Upgrade Program, Apple Upgrade plans will apparently not include AppleCare+ coverage bundled into the monthly price.

Apple plans to advertise the program as a way to have lower monthly payments compared to current financing programs, according to the report, so it sounds like Apple Upgrade will be focused on leasing rather than traditional financing, and it will apparently replace the iPhone Upgrade Program for new purchases going forward.

Article Link: 'Apple Upgrade' Program Launching on Tuesday

Some folks like to buy cars, some folks like to lease cars and some folks want to complain about cars.

 

[contacos]

Wild that this leasing doesn't automatically include AppleCare+ since the item technically remains in the ownership of Apple?

 

[PatriotInvasion]

You can replicate all of this simply by using Apple Card Monthly Installments. 0% APR is free money and you'll own the device outright at the end. If you can't afford the payments of a product when divided by 12 or 24 monthly payments, you probably shouldn't buy it.

 

[hovscorpion12]

Its official name will be the iUpgrade Pro subscription service.

A subscription would be that you're paying Apple directly per month without any cost of your credit score.

Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) If Apple did this, it would be more appealing.

Tier Name	Hardware Included	Upgrade Cycle	Bundled Services	Monthly Fee	Effective Annual Fee
Core	iPhone	12 Months	Apple One Individual	$65	$780
Power User	iPhone + Watch	12 Months	Apple One Family	$95	$1,140
Premier	iPhone + Mac/iPad Pro	12 / 24 Months	Apple One Premier	$145	$1,740

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

You can replicate all of this simply by using Apple Card Monthly Installments. 0% APR is free money and you'll own the device outright at the end. If you can't afford the payments of a product when divided by 12 or 24 monthly payments, you probably shouldn't buy it.

All of these are completely irrelevant to customers like me, because no matter what you have to sign with one of the big three carriers. You cannot purchase an unlocked iPhone and have it financed.

 

[transpo1]

You can replicate all of this simply by using Apple Card Monthly Installments. 0% APR is free money and you'll own the device outright at the end. If you can't afford the payments of a product when divided by 12 or 24 monthly payments, you probably shouldn't buy it.

Best financial rule for discretionary purchases I've ever heard: if you can't comfortably afford to buy something 3 times over, you can't afford it.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Klarna being the service in use here makes me want to vomit.

Post #4...not bad, but I would have bet, given the subject, you'd be in the top 3 posts! 😀

 

[All Taken]

I can't help but think capitalism is on its knees when I see this. The amount of credit pushing year on year is becoming extreme. Everything is credit and non-ownership. It feels like the death throws of everything becoming too expensive and CEO's trying every last option to extract cash in a high pricing environment.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

For the same reason I tell people not to lease cars, Don’t do this either.

“you’ll own nothing and be happy”

What do you tell people that rent apartments?

 

[hovscorpion12]

I can't help but think capitalism is on its knees when I see this. The amount of credit pushing year on year is becoming extreme. Everything is credit and non-ownership. It feels like the death throws of everything becoming too expensive and CEO's trying every last option to extract cash in a high pricing environment.

NONE of this is required. YOU ARE NOT FORCED TO DO THIS. You can pay your products in full and own it outright.

The target audience is those who

A. Upgrade frequently
B. Want peace of mind
C. Can't afford the full price

 

[Shollywood]

Love everyone’s “opinions” on leasing. If you don’t like it don’t do it. Next. There’s a use case here and it’s why they are doing it.

 

[Fred Zed]

Further signs the economy is unhealthy. People can't afford $3k laptops then people can't afford to finance a $3k laptop, now we are into computer leases. Rent A Center Apple

Yep all done by design.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Wild that this leasing doesn't automatically include AppleCare+ since the item technically remains in the ownership of Apple?

Does it? The program hasn't been announced yet. How do you know? Seems like Klarna might own it.

 

[leonremi]

You will not own anything.
Your masters will own everything.
Welcome to end stage capitalism, slaves.

 

[spamabyss]

This has already been discussed at length on a previous thread.

I understand that, for the sake of the business model MR follows, recycling news items or topics multiple times is necessary, but for the sake of convenience and basic decency, it would help if the article contained a link to the previous forum thread on the topic to avoid endless repetition of the same posts.

I also noticed an increase in recycled articles and list after list that doesn't really add any new info. It's silly enough to regularly check on rumors about Apple (I'm talking to myself here), but with this direction I notice myself losing interest in coming back to the site... Which again, might be a good thing on the grand scheme of things but I can't imagine it's in the interest of the people running the site.

 

[ricketysquire]

I can't help but think capitalism is on its knees when I see this. The amount of credit pushing year on year is becoming extreme. Everything is credit and non-ownership. It feels like the death throws of everything becoming too expensive and CEO's trying every last option to extract cash in a high pricing environment.

I feel like the underlying problem is deeper than that. I think people, especially in certain industries and roles are disconnected from reality. We've made "work" so abstracted, that we've forgotten the complexities involved in making things, and maintaining a functioning advanced civilization. The wealthy, powerful, and privileged (and these groups aren't just CEOs and executives, there's a lot of the middle class who could be lumped there) don't realize that we need to create things, real things, we need to not just hog money but it needs to spread across society as money is the lubricant of prosperity. We need to be invested in one another not just see each other as things to be used or resources to extract from. I don't think it's necessary capitalism thats the problem, it's humanism thats lacking and it used to be a control on our excesses.

 

[PatriotInvasion]

All of these are completely irrelevant to customers like me, because no matter what you have to sign with one of the big three carriers. You cannot purchase an unlocked iPhone and have it financed.

Buying an iPhone from Apple directly using Apple Card Monthly Installments gets you an unlocked device. It's not using carrier financing. But, you have to have an Apple Card and live in the US.