The rumor: Before the end of 2022, you might be able to subscribe to an iPhone the way you do Apple Music, according to Mark Gurman (86.4% accurate, via Bloomberg).
- “The idea is to make the process of buying an iPhone or iPad on par with paying for iCloud storage or an Apple Music subscription each month. Apple is planning to let customers subscribe to hardware with the same Apple ID and App Store account they use to buy apps and subscribe to services today,” Gurman says
- Rather than an installment plan, this new subscription service will be a set price each month that will allow you to upgrade to new hardware as soon as products release
- There could be further integration with existing Apple One or AppleCare subscriptions, too
- Apple’s new subscription service is rumored to launch at the end of 2022, but could slip until 2023
Sam’s take: This is an interesting idea that I never thought about before…and it just seems like a lot of overhead for Apple (who already seems to be doing quite well with the current pay full cost system). But access wise, this could unlock a whole new sector of people who were previously priced out of Apple products: and I think that’s a good thing. Looking forward to seeing what Apple’s pricing on an iPhone subscription month-to-month would be, though.
