Apple Upgrade Isn’t the Best Way to Buy an iPhone

Apple has spent more than a decade tending to its thriving walled garden of products. Outgoing CEO Tim Cook’s core legacy at the company was turning it into a subscription service, where devices and services sync and communicate seamlessly, locking customers in.

Apple Upgrade is the latest iteration of that vision. On Tuesday, Apple announced a new product leasing service that lets you rent products like a new iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch. (The news was leaked a week early by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.)

Apple Upgrade is a partnership with the financial company Klarna, known for its buy-now, pay-later services. If you sign up, you can pay a monthly fee to get a brand-new device. After a year or 24 months, you can keep paying the monthly fee but swap the hardware for something new. If you want something sooner, there’s a fee to swap devices before the 12-month mark.

Monthly plans start at $18 for iPhones, $12 for Apple Watches, $25 for Macs, and $12 for iPads. iPhones come unlocked, meaning your device isn’t tethered to a carrier and will work internationally with no issues. The program also offers device trade-in, which can lower the monthly amount you pay for the lease. Apple will also offer 3 percent daily cash back if you pay the lease with an Apple Card.

Paying $18 per month for 24 months is $432—that’s for the $599 iPhone 17e. But that’s not exactly a discount, because you don’t own the device. iPhones tend to hold their value well, so buying a phone outright and reselling it is a better option financially. The fine print of Apple Upgrade also requires you to return the device in the initial condition you got it, meaning the company could charge more for any wear and tear. (You can pay a little more per month to add AppleCare insurance to the plan.)

Apple Upgrade also means the end of the company’s iPhone upgrade plan, a similar system that let people pay installments to buy the latest iPhone models. If you’re still enrolled in the program, Apple says you don’t have to take any action, and payments will continue until the end of your 24-month term. If your plan allows you to get a new device, Apple says it will “make it easy to get it in a way that works for you.” Or, you can continue paying out the existing loan and keep the device. You can switch from the iPhone upgrade plan to Apple Upgrade through your Apple account.

Fundamentally, Apple Upgrade functions as yet another way to keep users loyal to its product ecosystem. It also limits what people can do with their devices once they have them, as they’ll need to return them to the company later. Kyle Wiens, CEO of the repair company iFixit, says this move incrementally erodes people’s ownership of their devices.

“Apple is using their huge cash advantage to turn us all into renters rather than owners,” Wiens wrote in a text to WIRED. “That will cost people both money and agency. They know how much these phones are worth after a year and are maximizing their profit.”

An Apple representative indicated to WIRED that the ongoing memory shortage did not inspire Apple Upgrade, though it arrives shortly after Apple raised prices on several of its products. As everything gets more expensive, renting could be seen as a way of easing those added costs—all while still being able to use the latest and greatest device.