Apple’s long-rumored iPhone subscription service has reportedly been scrapped

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So you'll have to buy your phone, rather than renting it

Apple iPhone 16 Review
The iPhone 16 (Image credit: Future)
  • Apple has reportedly abandoned plans for an iPhone subscription service
  • This was originally rumored to be launching in 2022, but apparently faced numerous setbacks
  • A similar service is already offered in the form of the iPhone Upgrade Program

We’ve been hearing talk of an iPhone subscription service since 2022, but now this rumored service – which would allow you to get new iPhones on a subscription – has apparently been abandoned by Apple before it could even launch.

This is according to Mark Gurman, writing for Bloomberg (via 9to5Mac) and citing “people familiar with the matter”. Gurman claims this decision is “part of a broader shift in how Apple approaches payment services.”

As a reminder, this iPhone subscription service would reportedly have let you pay a monthly fee, and then be able to swap your iPhone for a new one every year. But you likely wouldn’t ever have owned the iPhone – you’d have to return it to get a new one, and probably also have to return it if you canceled the subscription, so you’d essentially be leasing it rather than paying it off over time.

While this service may have proven useful for some buyers, this claim that Apple has abandoned the idea isn’t entirely surprising.

Bugs, regulations, and competition

Apple iPhone 14 yellow unboxing partially open

This subscription service was once thought to be launching with the iPhone 14 (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

For one thing, this service had already reportedly faced numerous delays and issues. Initial reports suggested the service would launch around the time of the iPhone 14, but Gurman claims that issues, such as software bugs and regulatory concerns, held it back.

Gurman speculates that the idea was ultimately abandoned due to the fact that it would have been in competition with – and potentially upset – Apple’s wireless carrier partners, as well as due to stricter rules by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Arguably though it’s not a service that’s even that needed, since Apple already offers an iPhone Upgrade Program. This allows you to pay off your iPhone in monthly instalments, and to optionally upgrade to a new model before you’ve finished paying it off if you trade your old one in.

So the end result would likely be similar for buyers, except with the iPhone Upgrade Program you can ultimately pay off and own the phone, which seemingly wouldn’t be the case with this rumored subscription service.

Of course, since Apple itself never announced this iPhone subscription service we’d take all of this information about it with a pinch of salt – it may never have been planned at all, or it may still be in the works, and exactly how it might work could differ from what we’ve heard too.

But Gurman has a superb track record for Apple information, so we’re inclined to believe that it was once planned, and now isn’t.

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James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.