Apple Launches iPhone and Mac Rental Program Starting at $17.99 Per Month

Available for Lease in 12, 24, or 36-Month Terms

Apple, the manufacturer of the iPhone, has introduced a device rental program in the United States, allowing customers to lease iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches for periods ranging from 1 to 3 years.

Yonhap News Agency

On July 28 (local time), Apple announced the launch of the 'Apple Upgrade' program, which enables customers to use its devices by paying a monthly rental fee through a partnership with the payment company Klarna.

The iPhone and Apple Watch can be leased for either 12 or 24 months, while the Mac and iPad can be leased for 24 or 36 months.

The minimum monthly rental fees are set at $17.99 for iPhone, $11.99 for iPad and Apple Watch, and $24.99 for Mac. For higher-end models, the iPhone 17 Pro is priced at $31.99 per month, the iPad Pro and Apple Watch Ultra each at $24.99 per month, and the MacBook Pro at $38.99 per month.

When the rental period ends, customers can either upgrade to the latest device, purchase the product by paying the remaining balance in full, or return the device and end the program. Apple explained that a simple credit check is conducted during enrollment; however, it does not affect credit scores.

Apple's new rental program is viewed as an effort to lower the burden on consumers and prevent a slowdown in demand, especially amidst rising device prices due to the surging cost of memory and other semiconductors.

Last month, Apple raised the prices of MacBooks and iPads by $100 to $300, citing supply shortages of memory as one of the reasons. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, described the memory market conditions at that time as a "once-in-a-century flood," saying that price hikes were unavoidable.

Although the iPhone was excluded from the price increases at that time, the market expects that Apple is likely to raise iPhone prices as well when it unveils its new products in September.

Meanwhile, Apple's market capitalization surpassed $5 trillion during intraday trading for the first time on this day. The company regained its position as the world's most valuable company for the first time in 15 months the previous day, and now has become the second company in history after Nvidia to reach a $5 trillion market capitalization milestone.

Apple shares climbed as high as $342.89 during the session, pushing its market cap to $5.036 trillion. However, after giving up some of those gains, the market cap slipped back below $5 trillion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.