Apple Upgrade puts an iPhone 18 Pro 256GB in your hand for $34.99 a month over 24 months, or $49.99 a month over 12, and Apple’s own footnote is blunt about what that is: “This offer is for a consumer lease, not a purchase or loan.” Apple publishes the monthly figure and names three ways the term can end. It does not publish the buyout price, the early termination charge, or the damage fees.
This is the first flagship iPhone launch since Apple retired the iPhone Upgrade Program on July 28, 2026 and replaced it with a lease run by Klarna. The monthly number is lower than Apple’s own installment plan. The end of the term is where the unpublished part sits.
| Item | What Apple publishes |
|---|---|
| iPhone 18 Pro 256GB, 24-month lease | $34.99 per month |
| Same phone, 12-month lease | $49.99 per month |
| Typical lease range in Apple’s footnote | $34.99 to $70.01 over 24 months, $49.99 to $100.03 over 12 |
| Lease provider | Klarna Inc. |
| Terms offered on iPhone | 12 and 24 months |
| First payment due | About 30 days after the device ships or is ready for pickup |
| AppleCare | Not included. Customers “can add an AppleCare subscription” |
| Buyout price at the end | Not published |
| Early termination charge | Described only as “substantial” |
| If you do nothing at the end | Converts to a month-to-month lease for up to six months |
What $34.99 a month actually buys
It buys 24 months of use. Apple’s figure excludes taxes and any trade-in credit, and the lease “requires selection of an eligible carrier,” the same condition Apple attaches to its installment plan.
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The arithmetic is worth doing once. Apple’s installment route on a $1,199 iPhone 18 Pro is $49.95 a month for 24 months, which is $1,198.80 and ends with the phone being yours. The lease is $34.99 a month for the same 24 months, which is $839.76 and ends with a decision. The $359.04 between those two totals is roughly the size of the thing Apple has not priced.
Apple publishes lease pricing across the rest of the range too: Apple Watch Series 12 42mm from $11.99 a month over 24 months, Mac from $24.99, iPad from $11.99, and iPhone Duo from $57.99. Watch and iPhone leases run 12 or 24 months. Mac and iPad run 24 or 36.
The four ways a lease ends, and what Apple says about each
| Route | Apple’s published wording | What is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade | Upgrade to a new device at the end of the term | No published condition schedule beyond returning the device in good condition |
| Buy it outright | Buy the device with “a one-time payment” | The amount of that payment |
| Return it | “Closing your lease and returning your device terminates your lease” | The damage fee schedule. Apple says only that fees “may apply” |
| Do nothing | “The lease will convert to a month-to-month lease for up to six months” | The monthly rate in that period, and what happens after six months |
Three of those four routes have an unpriced element. That is the practical case against treating $34.99 as the cost of an iPhone 18 Pro: it is the cost of holding one, and the cost of keeping it is a number Apple has not printed.
Leaving early is the expensive door
Apple’s lease footnote says: “You may incur a substantial charge if you terminate your lease before the end of the lease term.” Apple does not quantify substantial, does not publish a schedule of how the charge shrinks as the term runs down, and does not say whether it differs between the 12-month and 24-month plans.
An installment plan behaves differently here. On Apple Card Monthly Installments at 0 percent APR, paying the balance early is simply paying the balance. A lease is a commitment with a fee attached to breaking it, and Apple has priced the commitment but not the break.
What the lease asks of you before any of that
- 18 or older, US resident, with a valid Social Security number or ITIN.
- An accepted credit or debit card, an Apple Account in good standing, and a Klarna account.
- The ability to receive security texts, and selection of an eligible carrier at checkout.
- The device returned in good condition, with damage fees possible.
- Apple Upgrade is not available in Apple’s Veterans and Military storefront.
AppleCare is the other gap. The programme Apple retired bundled it. Apple Upgrade does not, and Apple has published no per-device AppleCare+ price for iPhone 18 Pro, so the add-on cannot be budgeted yet. The only coverage figures Apple has published for this launch are AppleCare One at $19.99 a month for up to three devices and AppleCare One Family at $49.99 a month, available from September 14.
What has not been confirmed
- The one-time payment that buys the phone at the end of the term.
- The size of the early termination charge, on either term length.
- The damage fee schedule, and what counts as good condition.
- The month-to-month rate after month 24, and what follows the six-month extension.
- AppleCare+ pricing for iPhone 18 Pro, and how trade-in credit interacts with a lease.
Pre-orders open at 5:00 a.m. PT today, Saturday September 12, with delivery from Friday, September 18. Apple says the first lease payment falls about 30 days after the device ships, which puts a launch-day order’s first bill in the second half of October, and our full iPhone 18 Pro breakdown covers the rest of what Apple confirmed.
