Apple Introduces 'Apple Upgrade' Leasing Program for Devices

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.

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