Apple will partner with Klarna to launch a lease-to-own program called Apple Upgrade, covering iPhones, iPads, and Macs. The program starts on July 28, 2026. Lease terms run up to 24 months for iPhones and up to 36 months for Macs and iPads. At the end of the lease, customers can keep the device, return it, or upgrade to a new one, though some transactions will incur an additional fee TechCrunch.

Bloomberg first reported the partnership on July 21, 2026. The initiative arrives as Apple plans to stop new customer sign-ups for its existing iPhone Upgrade program, shifting customers toward the broader Apple Upgrade ecosystem instead. The iPhone Upgrade program was narrower in scope, limited to Apple's smartphone lineup. The new program extends financing across the company's primary hardware categories.

Klarna is a major European buy-now-pay-later provider, a type of financial service that lets consumers split a purchase into smaller installment payments instead of paying the full price up front. By choosing Klarna as its financial partner, Apple places this kind of installment provider at the center of its hardware purchasing flow. The shift from a phone-specific upgrade cycle to a multi-device leasing model creates a single payment pathway for consumers buying Apple's full hardware lineup.

The inclusion of Macs and iPads in a 36-month leasing cycle aligns the payment terms with longer device replacement patterns typical of computers and tablets. People tend to keep laptops and tablets longer than phones, so the longer payment window for those devices mirrors how people actually use and replace them. iPhones get the shorter, 24-month cycle, matching their faster upgrade pattern.

The ability for customers to keep, return, or upgrade at the end of the lease provides a built-in mechanism for hardware retention and trade-in flow. The additional fees attached to some transactions introduce a variable cost that consumers and business buyers will need to compare against buying outright or financing through a phone carrier.

The broader context here is the evolution of hardware ownership models. As device prices for flagship phones and professional-grade Macs have increased, paying in full up front has become a heavier expense for both consumers and businesses. A unified lease-to-own framework spanning Apple's primary product lines offers a formalized alternative to carrier financing, letting people buy unlocked devices on terms set by Apple and Klarna rather than a telecom provider.

For business IT administrators, the 36-month lease terms for Macs and iPads map directly to standard hardware replacement cycles. A three-year leasing window on computing equipment lets organizations align device returns or upgrades with typical warranty expiration and performance slowdown, potentially simplifying asset management. The upgrade option at the end of the term also provides a structured way to give employees current-generation hardware without dealing with the resale market for old machines.

By partnering with Klarna rather than building its own financing system from scratch, Apple uses Klarna's existing regulatory and risk-management infrastructure for credit underwriting. The additional fees on certain transactions likely reflect the operational costs of processing device returns, refurbishment, or early upgrades.

The transition away from the iPhone Upgrade program signals the end of a smartphone-specific financing era for Apple, replacing it with a comprehensive hardware subscription model. By integrating Klarna's infrastructure, Apple positions itself to capture recurring revenue across its ecosystem while giving consumers a flexible, lower-cost way to get into its most expensive devices.