{"id":570321,"date":"2026-07-27T12:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/570321\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T12:00:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:00:27","slug":"apple-could-turn-your-iphone-into-a-dumb-phone-for-missed-lease-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/570321\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Could Turn Your iPhone Into a Dumb Phone for Missed Lease Payments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, a program allowing prospective Apple consumers to lease new iPhones and Macs<\/a> was leaked by Bloomberg\u2019s Mark Gurman. New details of the \u201cApple Upgrade\u201d program\u2014rumored to launch July 28\u2014point to what essentially amounts to an app cut-off system for users who miss their financing payments.<\/p>\n

The latest iOS 27 beta contains code for a framework called \u201cApp Managed Features,\u201d which would allow Apple to monitor a user\u2019s payments and turn off certain apps if too many payments are missed, as reported by 9to5Mac<\/a>. And by certain apps I mean most of them\u2014all but nine, that is. With enough delinquent payment, your phone will be put in Restricted mode, allowing access to just the Phone, Wallet, Clock, Settings, Health, Passwords, Magnifier, Accessibility Reader, and App Store apps. That\u2019s one way to turn your smartphone into a dumb phone.<\/p>\n

And yes, you will still be paying for all those app subscriptions, even if you can\u2019t access the apps themselves.<\/p>\n

See iPhone 17 Pro at Apple.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"M5You can bet Apple will bring similar restrictions to Mac leases, too. \u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

The Apple Upgrade program will likely be positioned as an easier way for consumers to afford Apple\u2019s price hikes<\/a> rather than skipping out on upgrading because devices have become unaffordable. But as with a lease on a car, financing an iPhone or Mac on a long-term financing plan would mean you never actually own your device. Apple Upgrade devices won\u2019t be eligible for AppleCare, either, so good luck to you if you\u2019re a chronic phone-dropper.<\/p>\n

Klarna is rumored to handle the lease payments, meaning you\u2019ll need to undergo a soft credit check to be approved. The App Managed Features framework points to the lender itself setting a threshold for how many payments you\u2019ll have to miss before you\u2019re locked out. And yes, Apple has a second layer of security built in that would prevent users from factory resetting their devices or selling them while in Restricted mode.<\/p>\n

The ability to cut off app access for missed payments is just another reminder that choosing the Apple Upgrade program really takes so much control of your iPhone out of your own hands. As Gizmodo staff reporter Kyle Barr posed it to me this morning: Can you imagine if your carmaker nuked your brakes if you missed a few payments?<\/p>\n

See iPhone 17 Pro at Apple.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yesterday, a program allowing prospective Apple consumers to lease new iPhones and Macs was leaked by Bloomberg\u2019s Mark…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[936,61,4178,60,202,575,80],"class_list":["post-570321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-apple","tag-ie","tag-iphone","tag-ireland","tag-mobile","tag-smartphones","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}