Apple is launching a new program that lets customers lease its products rather than buy them outright, an approach compared to leasing a car. According to ABC News, users can pay to use a device for a set period of time instead of owning it, in a move aimed at helping cover the cost as prices climb.
The program is being run with the buy now, pay later provider Klarna and covers a new phone, watch, Mac or iPad. It arrives at a time when Apple products are not cheap, with the company having recently raised several prices, and it is presented as a way to lower the entry point for customers.
The reported figures illustrate how it works. For the iPhone 17 Pro, which retails for about $1,100, a 24-month lease would cost $32 a month, which the report says works out about $331 cheaper over two years than buying the phone up front.
A shorter, 12-month lease on the same phone would cost $46 a month, which the report calculates as $547 less expensive than paying for it up front. The structure spreads the cost out over time rather than requiring the full price at purchase.
At the end of the lease, customers are given three options. They can buy out the product by paying the outstanding balance, upgrade to a new lease, or simply return the device and walk away, in a cycle designed to keep users moving through Apple's products.
There is fine print attached. Ending a lease early could trigger a fee, and there is a soft credit check involved. Apple says customers do not have to pay any interest and there are no late fees, but if a user misses three months of payments in a row, the lease is terminated.
Some products are not included in the program, such as a new lower-cost MacBook. For Apple, the arrangement keeps people cycling through devices and coming back more regularly, while for customers it can be a lower-cost entry point, provided they are comfortable spreading out payments and not actually owning the device.