Apple killed this iPhone plan in 2024, and it just came back bigger and with a twist

The new Apple Upgrade went live in the US last week to a mostly negative reception. However, Bloomberg's lead Apple reporter Mark Gurman reports that this new iPhone leasing program is only step one to a much bigger play that Apple spent five years building in-house. The endgame is reportedly one bill covering everything from the iPhone 17 Pro Max to your services.

Apple built this once, then shut it down

Gurman's latest Power On newsletter fills in the backstory. Apple started work on a hardware subscription about half a decade ago, led by the Apple Pay team, and the plan was to launch as early as 2023.

Two years later the company shut the effort down and reassigned the engineers, worried about regulatory scrutiny of its financial ambitions, which is the same concern that ended Apple Pay Later. However, the version that shipped last week fixes that by handing the financing to Klarna while Apple keeps the customer experience.

It's a way to get into a product on a fairly affordable basis.

Tim Cook, outgoing Apple CEO, Apple Q3 2026 earnings call, July 30, 2026

That framing matters, because renting hardware is not how Apple has sold anything for most of its history.

Do you prefer leasing an iPhone every year or owning one outright?

Three plays running at the same time

The first is regulatory. Klarna carries the credit risk and the compliance burden, so Apple collects recurring revenue without becoming a lender itself.

The second is psychological. An iPhone 17 Pro with 256GB costs $1,099 outright or $31.99 a month on a 24-month lease, and almost nobody sits down to run the total. They just ask whether they can afford a dollar a day.

The third is the one Gurman keeps circling. Executives had discussed folding device costs together with iCloud+, AppleCare and streaming into a single bill, and much of that scaffolding already exists, since Apple One bundles the services and AppleCare One covers up to three devices for $20 a month.

If you are on a Galaxy S26 Ultra or a Pixel 10 Pro and financing through your carrier, you are familiar with the second strategy. Still, Samsung and Google are watching a rival test whether people will rent an entire ecosystem.

This is a lease, and the terms matter

The pushback since launch has been fairly one-sided. Informal polls run on Threads and X right after the announcement had 80% and 78% of voters saying they would pass, according to a new report, and a lot of the frustration in forum threads is aimed at Klarna rather than at Apple.

iPhone 17 Pro Max in dark blue beside iPhone 17 Pro in orange

The iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone 17 Pro, both of which you can lease instead of buy outright. | Image by PhoneArena

It should be noted that a lease is not a payment plan, so you do not own the device at the end unless you pay the purchase fee. Apple's own terms warn of substantial fees for ending a lease early, and doing nothing when the term runs out converts it to a month-to-month lease for up to six months, with payments that may go up.

Leasing an iPhone also means picking AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon at checkout, though the phone stays unlocked. If you tend to keep a handset for four years, buying outright still costs less, and our iPhone 17 Pro Max review covers what you would be living with.

Renting a whole ecosystem gives me pause

I understand the appeal of one predictable number, of course, especially with memory prices pushing hardware costs up this year. But a single bill covering an iPhone, a Mac, an iPad, a watch and every service is also the strongest lock-in Apple has ever built, since leaving would mean returning hardware and unwinding subscriptions at the same time.

I'm assuming Apple sees that as a feature rather than a side effect. I'd personally love the one-bill version to arrive with a plain breakdown of what each piece costs so we can still see the parts even while paying for the whole.

Before you sign anything, these are worth a read: