Apple Upgrade is the future of phone ownership, and Google and Samsung need to follow suit

Jul 30, 2026 — 5:30 AM ET

Earlier this week, Apple fundamentally shifted how it expects people to buy high-end tech. With the official launch of Apple Upgrade, its hardware-as-a-service model, Cupertino replaced its legacy iPhone Upgrade Program with a true-blue leasing option.

Leasing high-end silicon across iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches for predictable monthly fees acknowledges a truth that most of us have felt over the last few years, and more so recently. Dropping well over $1,000 upfront for a depreciating asset like a smartphone is becoming harder to justify.

And if Google and Samsung want to keep their flagship Pixel and Galaxy devices competitive amid rising component costs, they cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. The traditional buy-and-hold ownership model isn’t on its way out just yet, but I can see a future where leasing your hardware becomes the default, especially as carrier schemes grow increasingly restrictive.

First-party leasing is the logical next step for smartphone ownership, and Android manufacturers need to follow suit before Apple locks in an even larger share of ecosystem loyalists.

Would you consider leasing your next smartphone instead of buying it?

The myth of smartphone ownership in 2026

For almost its entire existence, the tech industry has operated on a simple premise — you buy a phone, you own it for two or three years, and then you trade it in to offset the cost of your next upgrade. But that formula isn’t quite as straightforward anymore.

For one, premium flagship smartphones now sit squarely above the four-figure mark, driven up by expensive mobile AI chips, advanced camera optics, and broader supply-chain pressures. Asking consumers to shell out $1,000 to $1,500 every couple of years is not easy, especially when annual generational leaps feel more iterative than revolutionary, not to mention the broader economic uncertainties.

I'd rather invest my money than sink $2,000 into a phone that will inevitably lose value.

At the same time, smartphones are depreciating assets with limits on how long they remain a viable option. A couple of years of heavy daily use later, lithium-ion batteries start losing their maximum capacity, the hardware starts showing wear and tear, and trade-in valuations drop significantly. While seven-year software update promises from Google and Samsung are great for longevity, the physical reality of daily wear means few enthusiasts actually keep the same device for that entire duration, not to mention the rapid pace of AI enhancements coming to smartphones. A flagship from two years ago just isn’t all that relevant today, not for an enthusiast anyway.

Buying a phone outright often means tying up significant personal financial liquidity in a tool that steadily loses value from the moment you bring it home, and a significant number of people are choosing not to do so. In several markets like Latin America and India, no-cost payment plans have gained widespread acceptance.

In fact, Apple’s new Upgrade Program reflects a broader global shift in consumer psychology in which liquidity is more important than day-one ownership. Even among affluent buyers who can easily afford to pay $1,200 upfront, there is a growing preference to route purchases through predictable, interest-free monthly installments.

I’d count myself in the same bucket. I’d rather invest my money in the markets than spend it outright on a phone, especially when it costs me basically nothing. Apple Upgrade simply formalizes what consumers have been doing informally through third parties for years.

While traditional carrier financing tried to fix this problem, it came with heavy strings attached. Three-year credit structures have effectively brought back the carrier lock that nobody likes, and subscribers are tied to expensive postpaid plans just to realize the full value of their promised discounts. If you decide to switch carriers or pay off your device early, you are obviously on the hook for the remaining balance.

How Apple cracked the Upgrade formula

Apple Upgrade changes the conversation by turning hardware access into a structured, transparent lease managed directly through first-party channels. You can grab a new flagship iPhone for a manageable monthly fee, keep your money in your bank account, and swap out the phone for the newest model when your term ends without negotiating carrier traps.

What makes the program particularly compelling is its carrier flexibility. While an iPhone leased through Apple Upgrade requires activation on a postpaid plan from AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile at initial checkout, the physical device remains completely unlocked. That means users are free to add secondary eSIMs, switch networks later, or travel internationally without jumping through carrier unlocking hoops. It balances the flexibility of a fully unlocked phone with the benefits of carrier-based financing.

Apple is turning hardware into a predictable monthly utility instead of an expensive one-time purchase.

Apple has also gotten the trade-in mechanics right by distributing a user’s trade-in value across the initial lease term. Instead of giving you a lump sum, your old hardware directly slashes your recurring monthly bill, bringing entry-level lease prices down to incredibly aggressive levels. I get it; in some cases, selling a phone outright might net you a few extra dollars, but for the vast majority who do not want to deal with the hassle, this is a pretty compelling alternative.

Beyond consumer smartphones, high-end Macs are where Apple’s Upgrade Program starts to make a lot more sense. If your livelihood depends on a powerful Mac, whether you’re editing video, writing code, or running local AI models, spending $3,000 to $5,000 on new hardware every few years is a painful upfront investment.

Turning that purchase into a monthly subscription fundamentally changes the equation, reducing the initial financial hit while giving you a much easier path to keeping up with Apple’s rapidly advancing silicon. This becomes even more relevant once you consider Apple’s breakneck speed of silicon upgrades, its focus on advancing local AI, and the overall hardware improvements across its lineup. If you could get a new machine every two years at half the cost, why wouldn’t you opt for it?

Financially, direct leasing isn’t necessarily going to save you much more than buying the phone outright, but it unlocks liquidity and convenience. Let’s take the $1099 iPhone 17 Pro as an example. Assuming similar resale prices as the iPhone 15 Pro after two years, you can expect to get back around $550 after two years of use. That leaves your out-of-pocket cost at around $549. Meanwhile, under Apple Upgrade, a 24-month lease runs $32 a month, totaling $768. That means buying the phone outright and reselling it after two years can save you around $218. However, that doesn’t factor in the convenience of holding on to your money for 24 months, potentially investing it or using it for other purposes, and avoiding market listings, negotiations, and resale risks. It’s effectively a convenience fee.

Where Apple Upgrade shines, though, is against traditional carrier financing. Standard 24-month carrier installments require you to pay the full price of the phone. All that to say, you’ll always come out on top if you buy the phone outright. But for those who value liquidity and zero-friction upgrades, Apple Upgrade is easily the smarter path.

There’s fine print to consider

While Apple Upgrade sets a powerful precedent, it is not without its flaws. The most glaring issue is the unbundling of hardware protection. Unlike the older iPhone Upgrade Program, which built AppleCare Plus directly into the monthly price, Apple Upgrade leaves insurance as an optional add-on. That leaves the onus of maintenance directly on the customer and can lead to hefty out-of-pocket damage penalties if you’re not too careful with your smartphone. For most people, that would be an added cost on top of the lease.

Similarly, if you want to upgrade early or switch platforms, you can’t just return the device or sell it off if you as if you own it. Instead, you’ll have to pay an early termination fee equivalent to your pending lease payments, terminate the contract, and then start a new one. If you like to switch phones around all the time, the Upgrade program wouldn’t be a very good choice for you.

Leasing isn't ownership, and that's a tradeoff many buyers won't be able to ignore.

The other flaw, if you want to call it that, is the entire concept of ownership. A lease isn’t the same as ownership, and not everyone is okay with that. Sure, you can just make the final buyout payment at the end of your lease and treat the lease as a no-cost payment plan, but it’s another thing to think about. Once you’re on the lease train, you don’t really have an option to just keep using the phone for a few years without making a bulk payment at the end of the tenure.

That said, Google and Samsung have a massive opportunity to take this concept and refine it for the Android ecosystem. By bundling robust protection plans like Samsung Care or Preferred Care directly into a lease, or by offering more flexible buyout mechanics, Android OEMs could address consumer anxieties around damage liabilities and ownership equity. There are opportunities here to learn from Apple’s move and give consumers an even better option — which brings me to my next point.

Why Google and Samsung need first-party leasing

Android manufacturers face a distinct challenge that makes having a first-party leasing option non-negotiable. That’s resale value depreciation. Historically, Galaxy and Pixel devices lose their market value significantly faster than iPhones.

Trading in a two-year-old Android device, by and large, nets you a lower amount than trading in an iPhone. First-party leasing offsets this by guaranteeing a predictable and fair, albeit slightly lower-than-free-market, return. Combined with the predictable monthly pricing, it takes resale market fluctuations out of the buyer’s hands, making it much easier to justify an upgrade.

Android doesn't need leasing just to compete with Apple. It needs it to solve Android's resale problem now that phones are getting even more expensive.

Furthermore, Android flagships are increasingly defined by expensive hardware innovations, from folding displays to advanced camera systems. A first-party lease lowers the barrier to entry for these premium devices, making it far less daunting to try a $1,800 foldable for a year or two instead of committing to years of ownership. It also gives buyers a guaranteed upgrade or exit path before long-term concerns like display wear or hinge reliability become a factor.

Apple’s upgrade plan is bigger than financing, and Android can’t risk losing out

Look, smartphones are no longer static products that we buy once and keep around until they fall apart. They are a dynamic canvas and entry points into digital services, generative AI tools, and connected ecosystems. As hardware costs remain high and AI capabilities evolve rapidly, holding onto a device for three or four years simply to maximize its resale value is, frankly, becoming less appealing if you’re an enthusiast. Apple Upgrade recognizes that consumers want hassle-free access to top-tier hardware without tied-down commitments. If you’re not too committed to the idea of outright ownership, the hardware leasing program makes a lot of sense.

If Samsung and Google don't build their own leasing program, Apple will own the future of premium hardware.

However, more than that, it is imperative that Android OEMs get their own variations on the program up and running sooner rather than later. The risk for Android isn’t just missing out on hardware sales; it’s the creation of an unbreakable Hardware-as-a-Service lock-in. When a customer stacks a monthly device lease alongside iCloud, Apple One, and AppleCare into a monthly bill, switching platforms becomes a hassle they just don’t want to take on. Apple isn’t just selling phones anymore; it is turning hardware into a utility bill, and everyone knows that the friction of switching utility providers is enough to dissuade all but the most ardent enthusiasts. Yes, I’m aware that the program is US-only so far. However, there’s really no reason why Apple can’t roll it out worldwide based on the response.

Google and Samsung cannot afford to let Apple stand alone in this space; it is time for Android to embrace the lease. It should never be the only option, but it definitely needs to be an option.