With the new Apple Upgrade program in the US, you can now rent an iPhone, but is it worth it? The answer is more complicated than a simple yes or no.
As an example, we will use the iPhone 17 Pro with 256 GB of storage on a one-year lease. In the US, the device costs $1,099 up front, but through Apple Upgrade you can rent it for $45.99/month for 12 months.
For a 12-month lease, your payments would total $551.88, which is less than the $1,099 you would have spent up front. However, it’s not that simple, as you have to choose from one of three options after your lease ends:
- Return your iPhone.
- Return your iPhone and upgrade to a newer iPhone.
- Purchase the iPhone by paying an amount equal to the retail price of the device minus any lease payments made.
We look at each of these options below.
Possibilities
Return iPhone
If you return the iPhone 17 Pro and simply exit the Apple Upgrade program, your total cost to own the device would be $551.88 after 12 months, plus sales tax if applicable. While that’s less than paying $1,099 up front, the catch is that you no longer have possession of the device after your lease ends and you can’t resell or trade it in.
Resale value is an important factor. If you paid $1,099 up front for the iPhone 17 Pro but resold it for, say, $650 via a private sale on eBay or Facebook Marketplace after 12 months, you only spent $450 to own the device for a year, compared to $551 if you leased it through Apple’s Upgrade Program during that time. But if you only managed to get $500 for the device in a private sale, then you spent $600 on the device and could have saved a little money by opting for the Apple Upgrade program.
$551.88 is about 50% of the price of the iPhone 17 Pro, so Apple is essentially betting that the device will retain more than 50% of its value after a year, to ensure the Apple Upgrade program pays off. Resale prices for used iPhones can vary widely, but Apple almost certainly expects to get away with it.
For example, Apple’s trade-in program is currently offering $560 for a used iPhone 16 Pro in good condition, and that device was released almost two years ago. Still, Apple effectively only “returns” you $547.12 on a used iPhone 17 Pro after just one year ($1,099 minus $551.88), so the math unsurprisingly works out in Apple’s favor.
Keep in mind that the Apple Upgrade program is partly about convenience, because you don’t have to worry about reselling your iPhone – not everyone likes dealing with eBay or Facebook Marketplace. That alone might entice some customers to consider the Apple Upgrade, even if they know it may not be the most financially optimal decision.
Upgrading to a New iPhone
If you return the iPhone and upgrade to a newer model, the process starts again.
For example, if the iPhone 18 Pro with 256GB of storage was priced at the same $45.99/month, you would pay an additional $551.88 over the next 12 months. That would bring your total cost to $1,103.76 over two years, and you’ll still need to return the iPhone 18 Pro or make a final payment to keep it.
If you had purchased the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro up front for $1,099 each, the total cost would have been $2,198. If you had successfully resold the devices for $650 each, you would have recouped $1,300, bringing your final cost down to $898, which would have been less than the $1,103.76 cost of leasing the devices after two years.
Of course, the resale values ​​we have provided are purely hypothetical. There’s no way to know for sure what a used iPhone will be worth, but Apple has surely done plenty of research on its rental prices to ensure it makes a profit.
Buy the iPhone
If you choose to purchase the iPhone at the end of your 12-month lease, paying an amount equal to the retail price of the device minus the $551.88 in lease payments made, you simply owe the remaining $547.12 to Apple’s financial partner, Klarna. That brings your total cost to $1,099, which is the original price of the iPhone 17 Pro.
In this case, you’ve finally purchased your iPhone 17 Pro with interest-free financing, spreading the cost of $1,099 over 12 months.
Is it worth it?
If you simply want to spend as little money as possible on iPhones over time, buying them up front and reselling them privately is most likely the best option.
However, the Apple Upgrade program may be worth it for customers who value convenience and predictability. If you want a new iPhone every year or two and want to avoid having to sell your existing iPhone through eBay or Facebook Marketplace, the program is worth looking into if the monthly payments fit your budget.
The option to buy back the iPhone at the end of the lease is simpler. Since the final payment is equal to the original retail price minus any payments already made, Apple Upgrade effectively becomes a 12-month interest-free financing plan. In this case, you would not have spent more than you would have spent in advance.
