Apple Introduces 'Apple Upgrade' Leasing Program for Devices

SentiSense · Published Jul 28, 2026, 8:20 AM ET · Updated Jul 28, 2026, 11:29 AM ET

Apple has launched a new leasing program, 'Apple Upgrade,' allowing users to lease the latest iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch models. The program offers flexible upgrade options and pricing starting at $17.99 per month, available in the US via a partnership with Klarna.

AAPL launched Apple Upgrade in the United States, a hardware leasing program provided by Klarna covering iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad. Pricing starts at $17.99 per month for iPhone, $11.99 for Apple Watch and iPad, and $24.99 for Mac, with one and two-year terms on iPhone and Watch and two and three-year terms on Mac and iPad. At the end of a term customers can upgrade, buy the device outright or return it.

The more consequential detail is what Apple is retiring. Alongside the launch the company is discontinuing its in-house US financing and installment programs, including the iPhone Upgrade Program and iPhone Payments. That moves the credit underwriting and the receivables off Apple's own book and onto Klarna's, a structural change in how Apple finances hardware rather than a new promotional tier.

The timing is not incidental. The program arrives shortly after Apple raised prices on MacBooks and iPads in response to memory and storage shortages. Leasing lowers the monthly figure a customer sees at exactly the moment sticker prices are rising, which supports unit volumes and shortens the replacement cycle without discounting the device.

Trade-ins reduce monthly payments further and Apple Card users earn 3% Daily Cash on lease payments, both of which pull customers deeper into the services and accessories ecosystem. Watch whether leasing attach rates show up as a change in the iPhone upgrade cycle in coming quarters, and whether the shift to third-party financing affects how Apple recognizes hardware revenue.