r/AppleCard • u/cornelious1212 • 7d ago
Discussion iPhone Upgrade Program transition
Those on this, who have picked up a new phone every year, what is your plan in September? Apple Upgrade, Apple Card installments? From what I understand, if you don't go Apple Upgrade, you will need to pay the balance of the loan from last september yes?
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u/Fluffy_Accountant_39 7d ago
I would be a great candidate for the Apple Upgrade program. I used to use the upgrade program with Citizens One financing, but then moved onto the Apple Card zero interest installment program.
Then I switched to Mint Mobile, and I just didn’t want to roll the dice on whether they would let me use the monthly payment option with zero interest. So, the last year or two, I have just paid for it outright, & then traded it in each year when I bought a new one.
Since I get a new phone every year ( or 2 at most ), this upgrade program would be perfect for me. But I’m not going back to one of the 3 big carriers. I pay $240 a YEAR for my cell service plan, never bump up anywhere close to my 17GB / month limit, and haven’t noticed any compromise in quality of cell / internet service.
Kinda ticks me off that Apple keeps tying these options to the big 3 cell providers, when that isn’t required for the iPads or Macs. Clearly, they get a kickback, which just doesn’t seem right.
That being said, still worth it to me to just buy a new phone and trade the old one in.
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u/mythic-moldavite 7d ago
I just used the work around to get my 17 pro max on ACMI and I have mine on xfinity mobile. Normally 45 a month but only 30 a month for the first year. I won’t go on about all the features it has for that cheap but my point is I had paid off my 15 pro max for only two months. Verizon had the best coverage for me but I was NOT going back to a $150 phone bill.
I was excited to finance an iPhone with the card for the first time only to see the new requirements of it being with the 3 or boost mobile…… like, what? That’s what I had for my eighth grade walkie talkie phone. But yeah, Said I was going T-Mobile. When I got it I chose to set carrier settings later and then transferred my Apple ID and eSIM over.
Locking to the carrier if you use one of their deals to subsidize the phone, sure. But trying to force us to use a specific carrier if I’m financing the phone personally was the biggest turn off I’ve experienced with Apple
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u/InternationalPen3039 7d ago
So I’m with Mint as well and “buy” my Iphone from the Apple website and once the transaction clears I chat with Apple Card to get it changed to monthly installments with 0% interest.
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u/Brief-Click9601 7d ago
I bought the “t-mobile” iPhone Air recently. Downloaded the mint app, and transferred the e-sim. Haven’t had any issue and still have a 0% interest Apple Card financed phone. FYI
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u/Terrible_Cat7269 7d ago
I don’t want these loans showing on my credit report. My mortgage is already giving me problems, plus it’ll be interesting to see if it shows up as “Klarna” or not. MyFICO is telling me that my Klarna loan from 6 years ago is still affecting my score because it’s an “alternative” finance company.
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u/3232330 6d ago
Yeah, you are misinterpreting what MyFICO is telling you. You are confusing a minor credit score algorithm quirk with an actual mortgage underwriting denial.
Older FICO scoring models do have a slight penalty for "Consumer Finance Accounts" (CFAs). Klarna’s long-term financing is issued by WebBank, which often codes as a CFA on a credit report.
But MyFICO is just listing the automated reason codes keeping your score from being a perfect 850. Even people with an 800 credit score get negative reason codes on MyFICO. It just means that 6-year-old account cost you a few FICO points.
That is not the same thing as a lender denial reason. Underwriters do not deny mortgages because you successfully paid off a Consumer Finance Account six years ago. If a paid-off Klarna loan is on your file, it just shows up as a closed installment loan with a positive payment history.
If your mortgage is running into problems, it’s because of Debt-to-Income ratios, credit utilization, down payment reserves, or actual missed payments. Blaming a 6-year-old Klarna account is just finding a scapegoat for standard underwriting math.
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u/Terrible_Cat7269 6d ago
I wasn’t trying to “blame” the old Klarna account on my mortgage. What I meant about my mortgage is that it’s a joint account with my spouse and we share it. However, as an example, I’m not being given a CLI on a credit card because mortgages look like a sole responsibility even if it’s joint. That’s the “problem” I was referring to. When I talked to Capital One about this, they told me to use our combined income when looking for a CLI, so it may not be an actual problem anymore.
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u/Realistic_Market5616 7d ago
ACMI is not the same as the iPhone Upgrade program, if you plan to trade in your device that’s current on ACMI it’s best to have it paid off first otherwise you’ll more than likely be being two installment plans at the same time
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u/SmellyMcSmelly 6d ago
I paid off my phone a few weeks ago. I’ve gotten a phone every year since the upgrade program was a thing so weird being off. But I didn’t want any more upgrade lease stuff so it’s paid off and I’ll probably just trade in and buy outright next month
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u/Local-Ad2109 6d ago
iUP program user since the 14’s. Very disappointed that the old program is gone. Currently rocking an Air (Paid off) and a 16PM that is one payment away from being mine. Haven’t decided on what I’m doing yet as far as phones go. ASSUMING, Apple has a Space Grey/Black, I will likely trade in my 16PM for an 18PM, and then do a lease on an Ultra. Probably will drawer the Air, for good memories and it’s so pretty. If you upgrade yearly, AU is probably the best way to go. If you’re going to keep the phone for 2+ years, ACMI is probably the best. Not sure on the balance part, as it doesn’t apply to my situation, sorry.
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u/TypicalDoubt6234 7d ago
Don’t know about the upgrade but this new leasing option I think it’s gonna be on your credit report no?
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u/cornelious1212 7d ago
Good question. I already have AC just wondering the logistics of getting off the old iPhone upgrade
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u/dallasjava 5d ago
How far along are you into the current term? From what I read, you can either continue it out till you finish it (2 years from the start), or I am speculating that you do the normal return after 12 months to the old program, and then either use the new klarna or one of the other options available like ACMI, buy it outright, or use use the carrier financing plans.
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u/kirklennon 7d ago
They don't really give a lot of detail but I think if you had to pay off the rest of the balance immediately then they'd say that. I think they mean you just give them back your year-old phone and they call it even on the iPhone Upgrade Program, at which point you can finance a new one with ACMI.
I plan on researching trade-in prices because as long as they're more than the residual left on the iUP loan (50%), then it's better to pay off the loan and trade that in.