According to the latest edition of the Power On newsletter, Apple had reportedly been considering a feature for Apple Upgrade that would’ve made setting up your iPhone nearly seamless: where Apple would’ve already copied your data over. This feature never ended up seeing the light of day, though.
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The new Apple Upgrade program has a key piece of fine print: “If you’re leasing an iPhone, you’ll need to connect to AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon when you enroll.”
In a new post today, John Gruber at Daring Fireball has a likely explanation for this requirement.
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This week, Apple launched Apple Upgrade, its new leasing program for most Apple products. It replaces the iPhone Upgrade Program entirely, and for the most part, it’s an incredible deal.
The deal is so good that largely, there isn’t a great reason to use Apple Card Monthly Installments (ACMI) anymore. You still get 3% cash back using Apple Upgrade, similar to ACMI – and the leasing terms are a lot more generous than ACMI. You also don’t have to lease forever. At the end, you can purchase the device by paying the difference between the leasing cost and the MSRP.
So, it’s left me wondering – will Apple Card Monthly Installments go away?
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Apple Upgrade launched this week, and the iPhone Upgrade Program is being discontinued as a result. But despite some similarities, the two offerings are not the same. Here are the key differences.
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Apple has told The Verge that missed lease payments will not activate the “Restricted Mode” system currently under development in iOS 27. What the new system is meant for remains uncertain. Here are the details.
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Apple today officially announced its Apple Upgrade leasing program, and it works in the way we expected. While it does make products more affordable on a monthly basis, it leaves people at risk of being trapped into a never-ending lease cycle.
That’s because, unlike the iPhone Upgrade Program it partly replaces, you don’t own the device outright at the end of the term …
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A Bloomberg report yesterday suggested that Apple is about to launch a new Apple Upgrade leasing contract to replace the iPhone Upgrade Program.
There appear to be two significant differences between the two, and one of those is potentially very worrying …
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