Apple is preparing a device leasing program with Klarna that would let U.S. consumers spread payments for higher-end Apple hardware over two or three years, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The reported program, called Apple Upgrade, would arrive after recent Mac and iPad price increases that Tom’s Hardware linked to rising memory and component costs.
The plan matters for buyers staring at more expensive hardware and fewer cheap ways to pay for it. Tom’s Hardware previously reported that Apple raised prices on some Mac and iPad models, including a $400 increase that put the cheapest MacBook Pro at $1,999. Bloomberg’s report says Apple’s answer is not a price cut. It is a financing product.
Under the reported structure, customers would make monthly payments for 24 months on an iPhone or Apple Watch, or 36 months on a Mac or iPad. Pro models would be eligible, according to Bloomberg. Entry-level devices, including the MacBook Neo, would not be part of the program. Bloomberg also reported that education and business discounts would be excluded, which points the offer at regular retail customers rather than institutions or discounted buyers.
Klarna would act as the broker between Apple and the customer, according to the report. Customers would face a soft credit check before approval. Apple would offer the program both through its online store and at physical Apple Store locations, Bloomberg said. The rollout would start in the United States. No expansion outside the U.S. was described in the report.
How the lease would work
The reported mechanics are closer to a lease with a purchase option than a conventional installment plan. A customer would pay monthly for the device over the contract term. At the end, the customer could return the hardware or pay a remaining residual amount to keep it, according to the report.
Bloomberg also said customers who finish their payments early could move to a newer model before the original term ends. That would give Apple a cleaner path to keep customers cycling through upgraded hardware without making the upfront price look quite as ugly on the checkout page.
Apple already offers an iPhone Upgrade Program, but Bloomberg reported that Apple Upgrade would differ in two main ways: it would cover more product categories, including Mac and iPad, and it would not include AppleCare. Bloomberg said Apple eventually plans to replace the existing iPhone Upgrade Program with Apple Upgrade.
The report also says Apple would stop taking new enrollments for standard Apple Card financing. If that change happens, Apple would be steering more customers away from card-based installment payments and toward a Klarna-brokered subscription-style lease.
Apple’s pitch, according to Bloomberg, would focus on lower monthly payments. That framing is predictable. Leasing can make an expensive device easier to swallow month by month, but the tradeoff is in the details: credit approval, residual payments, return terms, and the loss of bundled AppleCare compared with the older iPhone program.
This story draws on original reporting from Tom's Hardware.
