Apple considered a “white‑glove” option for its new Apple Upgrade leasing program that would have delivered replacement iPhones already restored from customers’ iCloud backups, but the idea never moved beyond planning, reporter Mark Gurman wrote in his Power On newsletter.
Apple Upgrade launched in the U.S. on July 28, replacing the iPhone Upgrade Program and iPhone Payments. The plan lets customers lease an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch instead of buying outright or paying in installments. iPhone and Apple Watch leases run 12 or 24 months, while Mac and iPad terms are 24 or 36 months. At the end of a term, customers can return the device, pay off the balance and keep it, or trade up to a new lease.
Apple Upgrade white‑glove idea and why it stalled
When the concept was discussed years ago, Apple weighed having each year’s replacement arrive ready to use, restored from the customer’s iCloud backup before shipping. The version of Apple Upgrade that launched last month does not include that feature. Gurman said the technical side was not the obstacle; instead, Apple may have been put off by the privacy optics of sending a new device already loaded with a customer’s personal account data. He wrote that receiving a phone preloaded with personal information could be unnerving for some customers and raise questions about how the data was transferred and whether anyone could have accessed it.
