Apple killed the iPhone Upgrade Program today. It has been taken over by Apple Upgrade, a new leasing plan built with Klarna that starts at $17.99 a month for an iPhone.
This is not a rebrand with a new coat of paint. The financing structure changed. You no longer buy an iPhone on installments and own it outright. You lease it, and at the end of the term you hand it back unless you pay to keep it.
Here is exactly how the new iPhone upgrade program works, what happened to the old one, and what to actually check before you sign up.
TL;DR: Apple Upgrade replaces the iPhone Upgrade Program starting today, July 28, 2026. It is a Klarna-backed lease, not a purchase plan. iPhone leases run 12 or 24 months starting at $17.99 a month, require an eligible carrier plan from AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon, and you do not own the device unless you pay it off at the end. Existing iPhone Upgrade Program members can move to Apple Upgrade, switch to Apple Card Monthly Installments, buy outright, or use carrier financing instead.
What actually changed today with the upgrade program?
Apple confirmed in its own newsroom announcement that the iPhone Upgrade Program and iPhone Payments are both discontinued in the United States, effective immediately. Apple Upgrade takes over as the only Apple-run financing path for a new iPhone bought directly from Apple.
The core difference is ownership. The old iPhone Upgrade Program was a 24-month installment loan through Citizens Bank. You made monthly payments and owned the phone once you finished, or you could upgrade early after 12 payments and roll into a new device.
Apple Upgrade, on the other hand, is structured as a consumer lease. You are renting the phone from Klarna, not financing a purchase, and the fine print on Apple’s own page says plainly that you will not own the device at the end of your lease unless you pay the purchase fee.
| Detail | Old iPhone Upgrade Program | New Apple Upgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | 24-month installment loan | 12 or 24-month lease |
| Lender | Citizens Bank | Klarna |
| Starting price (iPhone) | Around $42/month with AppleCare included | $17.99/month, AppleCare separate |
| Ownership at term end | You own the device | You do not own it unless you pay the purchase fee |
| Carrier requirement | None, works with any carrier or unlocked | Must select AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon, no prepaid plans |
| Early exit | Pay off remaining balance | May incur substantial early termination fees |
Why does the starting price look so much lower?
The headline number is the part getting the most attention. $17.99 a month sounds dramatically cheaper than the roughly $42 a month iPhone Upgrade Program members were paying, which included AppleCare bundled in.
That comparison is not apples-to-apples. Apple Upgrade’s advertised price excludes AppleCare entirely, which is now a separate add-on.
It also reflects the lowest-tier device and the longest lease term, and Apple’s own fine print gives a clearer real-world example. A 256GB iPhone 17 Pro, listed at $1,099, runs $31.99 a month on a 24-month lease or $45.99 a month on a 12-month lease, both before tax and before any trade-in credit is applied.
That $31.99 figure is close to what iPhone Upgrade Program members paid before, just without AppleCare folded in. The headline $17.99 price point applies to the cheapest eligible device, the iPhone 17e, not the Pro models most upgrade program members actually choose.
If you are timing this against the next generation, our breakdown of the expected iPhone 18 Pro price increase is worth reading before locking into a new lease term.
The requirements most people will trip on
Leasing an iPhone through Apple Upgrade requires selecting an eligible postpaid plan from AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon at checkout. Prepaid carriers and MVNOs like Mint Mobile or Visible do not qualify, even though the leased phone itself ships unlocked and you can technically switch carriers later.
You also need a Klarna account in addition to your Apple Account, a valid Social Security number or ITIN, and the ability to receive a text verification code, on top of the standard soft credit check Apple has always run for financing.
This carrier requirement is also why checking active iPhone 18 launch timing rumors matters before committing to a 24-month lease term that could outlast the current generation.
The eligibility list matters just as much as the requirements. iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are explicitly excluded from Apple Upgrade, along with the Apple Watch SE, MacBook Neo, Mac mini, base iPad, and Studio Display. If you were hoping to lease a slightly older, cheaper iPhone model to save money, that option is not on the table.
What happens if you were already in the iPhone Upgrade Program?
Existing members are not being cut off mid-contract. According to Apple’s announcement, once eligible, current iPhone Upgrade Program members get four options going forward: move into a new Apple Upgrade lease, switch to Apple Card Monthly Installments at 0% APR, buy their current device outright, or transfer to standard carrier financing instead.
None of those four paths is automatic. Each requires you to choose it actively, and the terms differ enough that comparing your specific numbers before doing anything is worth the ten minutes.
According to MacRumors’ full breakdown of the launch terms, canceling a lease early can trigger substantial fees, a detail that did not apply the same way under the old installment structure.
Why the timing here is not a coincidence?
Apple Upgrade launches roughly six weeks before the iPhone 18 Pro is expected to be unveiled, at a moment when supply chain analysts are converging on a likely price increase driven by memory chip costs.
A leasing model that gets people used to smaller monthly numbers, rather than a device price they have to reckon with all at once, is a convenient structure to have in place right as that increase potentially lands.
None of that is confirmed strategy on Apple’s part. But the sequencing is hard to ignore. If the iPhone 18 Pro does launch at a higher price this September, a monthly lease payment framed against $17.99 headline pricing will read very differently than the same increase stacked onto a one-time purchase price.
Anyone weighing whether to wait for the new hardware or lock in current iPhone 17 Pro pricing now should also compare active carrier deals before choosing a lease, since those can undercut Apple’s own leasing terms entirely for the right customer.
