Apple has officially unveiled Apple Upgrade, the leasing program that lets users rent phones for smaller monthly payments instead of buying them outright at full price. What’s not so known, however, is that Apple apparently planned a much more luxurious option for the program that ultimately didn’t make the cut because of privacy concerns.
Apple Upgrade’s delivery service never got finalized
Setting up a new phone is usually an exercise in patience. | Image by PhoneArena
According to Apple insider Mark Gurman in his newsletter Power On, the company originally planned a delivery service as well.
Though Apple Upgrade can offer installment plans of over a year, customers are eligible for upgrading to the newest device annually. Apple’s delivery option would have brought said newest device to customers’ doorsteps.
What’s even better is that the new device would have arrived pre-configured with all of the user’s data, so you could just pull it out of its box and start using it immediately.
Would you have subscribed to Apple Upgrade's delivery option?
Privacy concerns stopped it in its tracks
Though there might be other reasons for Apple not finalizing this service for the Apple Upgrade program, Gurman reckons that privacy concerns played a large role here. Some customers would not have been comfortable with Apple having access to their data.
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As Gurman points out, the company often boasts about how secure user data is for iPhone owners, so it probably wanted to keep that image intact.
A missed opportunity, perhaps
Some of you would have probably loved this service. | Image by PhoneArena
Not everyone finds Apple Upgrade to be the great deal that Apple is selling it as. In fact, some users have gone as far as to calculate how much money they might theoretically save, and the results aren’t as exciting as they hoped.
Whether Apple Upgrade will actually save you money is questionable. | Image by Reddit
The delivery option that Gurman mentions would have probably helped sway more customers toward Apple Upgrade. Such convenience is hard to beat, and some users would have been willing to overlook potential data breaches for it.
I would have loved to see it in action
The thought of getting a pre-configured phone delivered each year does sound very enticing. | Image by PhoneArena
Personally, I would have loved to see this make the cut. I can’t imagine anything more convenient in the smartphone industry than literally getting your newest phone shipped out to you all set up and ready for use.
If Apple could have ensured user privacy and shown us how, this would have been a very popular option, in my opinion.
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Abdullah loves smartphones, Virtual Reality, and audio gear. Though he covers a wide range of news his favorite is always when he gets to talk about the newest VR venture or when Apple sets the industry ablaze with another phenomenal release.
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