Apple has a new way for U.S. customers to get its hardware. Apple Upgrade is a leasing program run with digital payment provider Klarna, and it replaces the iPhone Upgrade Program outright.
What products can I get?
Apple Upgrade covers iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad. On the phone side that’s the iPhone 17e, iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Not everything qualifies. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are out, along with the Apple Watch SE, MacBook Neo, Mac mini, iPad (A16) and Studio Display. That last pair stings if you’re building an edit bay, since the Mac mini and Studio Display are two of the cheaper routes into a Mac-based suite.
You can lease online at the Apple Store, through the Apple Store app or at any U.S. Apple Store location.
How does it work?
iPhone and Apple Watch leases run 12 or 24 months. Mac and iPad stretch to 24 or 36. Apple says the application takes a few minutes and Klarna decides quickly, using a soft credit inquiry that leaves your credit score alone. No security deposit is required, and you track billing and remaining payments through the Klarna app.
How much does it cost?
Leases start at $17.99 a month for an iPhone and $24.99 for a Mac. Apple Watch and iPad both open at $11.99. Trading in your current device through Apple Trade In at enrollment lowers the monthly figure. Paying with an Apple Card earns 3% Daily Cash back on lease payments.
What happens at the end of the lease period?
Three options. Return the device and start a new lease on a newer model. Pay a one-time amount and keep the one you have. Or hand it back and walk away.
End of the iPhone Upgrade program
Apple Upgrade doesn’t sit alongside the old programs. It replaces them. Apple is discontinuing both the iPhone Upgrade Program and iPhone Payments. Current enrollees can move to Apple Upgrade if eligible, finance through Apple Card Monthly Installments, buy outright or go with carrier financing.
What we think
The monthly number looks better than what came before, and that’s the point. The iPhone Upgrade Program ran past $42 a month across 24 installments. Apple Upgrade starts at $17.99.
Read the fine print, though. Leasing isn’t buying. Klarna charges no fee, so a $1,099 iPhone that’s leased and then purchased still costs $1,099 beyond taxes, with the payoff calculated as the difference between what you’ve already paid and the retail price. The lower monthly payment isn’t a discount. It’s the same total split differently, with a balloon payment waiting if you want to keep the phone. Skip that payment and you own nothing.
The bigger catch is coverage. The old iPhone Upgrade Program included AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss, and Apple Upgrade doesn’t. Add that protection back and the cost difference largely disappears.
Timing tells you something too. This landed roughly a month after Apple raised starting prices on five MacBook and iPad models by $100 to $300, citing surging memory and storage costs. If you’re an editor pricing out a new Mac, a lease makes a bigger number easier to swallow without making it smaller.
Upgrade every couple of years and this works. Keep a machine until it dies, which describes most editors still running a healthy Mac Studio, and buying wins.
Availability
Apple Upgrade is available now online and in U.S. Apple Stores.
