# Apple iPhone Upgrade Program

34 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple iPhone Upgrade Program and 52 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for no interest and an option to buy the phone out at the end; the most common caveat is that it keeps people on a perpetual upgrade cycle.

## Why people recommend it

- No interest or fees (5 comments): "There's no interest, no fees. The total lease price (if you buy out at the end) is the same as the retail price. There's no downside to it at all." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49087997)) "There's no interest or fees, and you get to buy it out at the end if you want to own it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49087940)) "What is more positive about it is just that there’s no interest or money factor." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49223135))
- Convenient way to spread cost (4 comments): "But this is great for you the buyer, because it means instead of spending your cash now, you spend it over three years." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49098948)) "I don't think iPhone Upgrade Program was ever the best deal to be honest. It's just convenient." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49089377)) "Transforming a capital cost to an operational cost is fantastic." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49089025))
- Easy regular upgrades to new phones (4 comments): "With the previous iPhone upgrade plan, I upgraded yearly and it was seamless." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49221552)) "being able to just give it back after 2 years is pretty reasonable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49090925)) "I see no reason not to do if you know you going to upgrade." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49090419))
- Fair price compared to retail (4 comments): "What's a few % free loan discount in comparison to almost any other retail pricing out there" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49089338)) "It's effectively a guaranteed 50% trade-in, which came out to about $200-300 in actual money" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49090763)) "the implied depreciation of the lease is pretty fair" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49089766))

## What people warn about

- Encourages a constant upgrade cycle (3 comments): "keeping people on a perpetual new-phone treadmill of monthly payments" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49089295)) "It’s a forcing function for an upgrade. You pay 75% of the cost of the device for each 2 year cycle and many people will keep doing that in perpetuity." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49089316)) "people will be unwilling to shell out $433 for two year old device, if they have an option to renew it for a shiny new model" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49089263))
- Buyout costs more than alternatives (4 comments): "the buyout price is never going to match depreciation, and in almost all cases keeping the device doesn't make sense" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49092929)) "it works out roughly the same to just buy every phone outright and then trade in last year's model" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49087865)) "If you don't buy it at the end of the 24 month, you've been paying for a very costly lease." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49093582))
- Lower payments hide total cost (3 comments): "that is a way to hide a price increase" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49088109)) "Pay $32/mo (so $770 total) to use an iPhone for two years and then give it back to Apple." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49087699)) "a lot of people will see a lower payment and not realize that they're getting the phone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49093350))
- Interest and fees if not bought out (2 comments): "they need to essentially buy the iPhone outright or they get start racking up interest and fees" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49090329)) "If you don't buy it at the end of the 24 month, you've been paying for a very costly lease." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49093582))

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Apple iPhone Upgrade Program", https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone-upgrade-program/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).