What if you never owned your phone?
Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program allows customers to spread the cost of a new phoneA problem faced by Apple and other phone makers is that high-end phones like the iPhone Pros and Galaxy S Ultras are now so expensive that amid the cost-of-living crisis, many people simply can't afford to buy the latest model each year.
And they don't need to either. These phones are built to last years , and the latest model often introduces only incremental upgrades to performance. A subscription service that costs less than current monthly instalment plans could be a way of convincing people, making Apple more money in the process .On the face of it, that sounds like a good thing for customers, but it's likely that it would only work out as a saving for those who already buy a new iPhone every year.
Meanwhile, Apple would benefit from locking people into monthly payments, both by tying them into software and because they would no longer own their phone. By turning the iPhone into a service rather than a product, the Cupertino giant's hope would be that people pay for iPhone rental every month for the rest of their lives.
That's kind of disturbing, but I have to admit there are features that Apple could include that might make the subscription plan tempting. For example, if it includes repairs or replacement if your phone is broken, lost or stolen. Removing that risk of having to pay a significant sum upfront if your phone dies, could make iPhone rental worth paying for, like back when TV rental was commonplace.There's nothing official from Apple about the rumoured iPhone subscription service.
To be attractive the pricing would need to work out as a cheaper monthly fee than Apple's existing iPhone Upgrade Program, which simply spreads the cost of a new phone over one or two years .
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