New Apple iPhone subscription plan is reportedly coming soon
You may be paying Apple for hardware, including the iPhone, over time
A new Apple iPhone subscription service is reportedly in the works, and it may extend to other hardware devices with similar monthly payments, dramatically changing the way in which you own and pay for your favorite electronics.
The surprising Apple news story today comes from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, and is said to be akin to paying a monthly fee for app software through your Apple ID, only this would be to defray the cost of much more expensive hardware. Apple has been promoting its digital subscription services like Apple One, which bundles Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple News, Apple Fitness and iCloud storage.
The iPhone can be bought through an installment plan called the iPhone Upgrade Plan, broken up into 12 and 24 months, and details about how this new iPhone subscription service compares to that existing plan are currently scarce. The fact that it could apply to the iPad and Apple Watch, however, is something new.
Apple subscription services make sense
An Apple subscription service for its hardware could make it easier to upgrade to the next device, like a lease, and, of course, keep customers on the hook. It’s not just going to be iMessage that has people locked into Apple’s walled garden.
The move would make sense for Apple and its customers, as inflation has caused price of technology to increase and the global chip shortage has made it impossible to find stock of anything even when you can afford it – to this day, the PS5 restock remains an issue. Price increases have been making new devices inaccessible for some people. Even the new iPhone SE 2022, the entry-level iPhone that Apple sells unveiled at the Apple event in March, received a price bump from $399 to $429 over its two-year-old iPhone predecessors.
And while there’s no indication that Apple’s Mac computers will be hooked into this Apple subscription service, just look at the new Mac Studio, for another great example of how much these tempting electronics cost. It starts at $1,999 and goes up to $8,000. Apple finding ways to make its tech more affordable is a wise move.
What this means for iPhone 14
The Apple iPhone 14 release date is expected to happen in September 2022, and costly changes are afoot. The iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are rumored to change the way the front camera is embedded inside of the display, finally ridding us of the camera notch cutout. The iPhone 14 Mini isn’t expected to launch in 2022, as sales for the cheapest non-SE model from the prior two years – iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 13 Mini – were reportedly weak.
These changes could make the iPhone 14 price start at more than $799 or push the iPhone 14 Pro beyond the steady $999 price point. New advancements, combined with year-over-year inflation, could be less of an issue if Apple were to push this iPhone subscription program tied to your Apple ID. Like you spend money in iCloud, Apple’s new approach may be to set it and forget it, only to remind you when the iPhone 15 launches and it’s time to upgrade.