Apple to let people subscribe to iPhones, report claims

(Apple)

Apple could offer the iPhone in a new subscription plan that allows people to pay monthly for their devices, according to new reports.

The deal would allow people to subscribe to a hardware service that would mean they would get hold of an iPhone or iPad, according to Bloomberg.

Such an offering would be in keeping with a push into services that has happened at Apple in recent years, which has seen it launch a range of monthly subscriptions including Apple Music, Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade. Customers can already pay for the ‘Apple One’ deal that includes many of the company’s offerings – apart from the device to run them on.

Apple has also been offering similar products for some time. It runs the iPhone Upgrade Program that allows owners to pay for their phones monthly and gives them the option to trade in phones after 12 months.

The new report suggests that Apple would look to bundle those two offerings together, allowing customers to pay one monthly fee through their iCloud account for both services and the hardware.

The deal would allow customers to pay on an ongoing monthly basis for access to an iPhone or iPad, which could potentially be upgraded when new products are released.

But it is unclear how exactly ownership would work, and whether Apple would continue to own the devices and if they would need to be given back if the subscription is cancelled.

The service could arrive in 2022 or 2023, wrote Bloomberg’s Mark German, who first reported the news. Rumours that Apple has been working on a similar offering have been continuing for some time.