Apple Upgrade launches in the US: lease an iPhone for $17.99/month — but read the fine print
Apple has replaced its long-running iPhone Upgrade Program with a new leasing service called Apple Upgrade, launching in the US on July 28, 2026. Monthly payments start at $17.99 for an iPhone — but those headline numbers don't tell the whole story. The old program bundled AppleCare+ into the monthly price; Apple Upgrade makes it optional, which means the true cost is actually higher for anyone who adds protection back in.
The numbers
Pricing varies by device category, with terms of 12 to 36 months depending on what you pick:
- iPhone: 12- or 24-month lease, from $17.99/month - Apple Watch: 12- or 24-month lease, from $11.99/month - Mac: 24- or 36-month lease, from $24.99/month - iPad: 24- or 36-month lease, from $11.99/month
The full current lineup is eligible — including iPhone 17, iPhone 17e, iPhone Air, Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3, MacBook Air M5, MacBook Pro M5, Mac Studio, iMac, iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPad Pro M5. Applications take a few minutes online, in the Apple Store app, or in retail stores. Klarna runs a soft credit check — the kind that doesn't affect your credit score — and handles approval. As Apple Newsroom confirms, all payment tracking happens in the Klarna app.
The hidden cost shift
Here's the catch. The previous iPhone Upgrade Program cost around $42.41/month and included AppleCare+ — damage and theft protection. Apple Upgrade's base iPhone price is $17.99, but that's for a stripped-down lease without coverage. Add AppleCare+ back in and you're looking at roughly $44.98/month, per Macworld's cost analysis — about 6% more than the program it replaced. Apple is pitching this as a price cut. It isn't, if you want the same level of protection you had before.
Timing and what happens next
The launch comes weeks after Apple raised iPad and Mac prices by $100 to over $1,000 due to a memory chip shortage, and ahead of expected iPhone 17 price increases in September. Existing iPhone Upgrade Program members won't be automatically moved over; once their current terms end, they can switch to Apple Upgrade, use Apple Card Monthly Installments, go through a carrier, or buy outright.
As for the UK and Europe: no official announcement yet. Klarna operates in 26 countries, and Apple rolled out AppleCare One to the UK, France, Germany, and Australia the day before the US Upgrade launch — a signal that broader expansion is being built out. But there's no confirmed date, per AppleInsider.