Last week 9to5Mac reported on code in the latest iOS 27 developer beta seemingly meant to restrict leased devices after the user had missed one or more payments. When engaged, Restricted Mode limits the device to the following apps:
Accessibility Reader
App Store
Health
Magnifier
Phone
Clock
Settings
Wallet
Passwords
And some limited access to apps like Messages or health-related apps that might have critical messages.
Many people reasonably speculated that this feature was related to Apple Upgrade, Apple’s new device leasing partnership with Klarna, which Mark Gurman spoiled a few weeks ago. But an Apple spokesman confirmed to Emma Roth at The Verge today that “There will be no restricted mode and/or there will be no limitations put on device functionality due to missed payments or default with the Apple Upgrade program.”
Writing again today, here’s 9to5Mac’s Marcus Mendes:
Apple, however, did not tell The Verge what Restricted Mode is
intended for. One possibility is that it was developed for
financing programs offered by carriers, retailers, or other
partners outside Apple Upgrade, potentially including markets
where device restrictions are already used to enforce installment
agreements.
In India, lenders have worked in the past with smartphone
manufacturers to remotely block financed devices after borrowers
missed payments. As The Economic Times reported last year,
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told non-bank lenders to stop the
practice in late 2024, amid concerns about lenders sharing
customers’ default information with device manufacturers.
The regulator may now permit a more limited version of the
practice. As Reuters reported in May, the RBI proposed
allowing lenders to restrict certain functions on financed phones
once a loan is at least 90 days overdue, provided the borrower
agreed to the measure in the contract and received advance notice.
★ Wednesday, 29 July 2026