@apple.daily3: Apple considered a "white-glove" service for its Apple Upgrade leasing program. This would have delivered new replacement devices pre-loaded with customer data, but the idea never made it past the planning stage, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The Apple Upgrade program, which launched in the U.S. on July 28, replaced the iPhone Upgrade Program and iPhone Payments. It allows customers to lease an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch instead of buying outright or paying in installments. Lease terms for iPhone and Apple Watch are 12 or 24 months, while Mac and iPad terms are 24 or 36 months. Customers can return the device, pay off the balance to keep it, or upgrade to a new lease at the end of the term. Gurman reported in his latest Power On newsletter that during early discussions, Apple considered having each year's device arrive ready to use, restored from the customer's iCloud backup before shipping. The launched version of Apple Upgrade does not include this feature. Setting up a new iPhone can be a lengthy process, and this feature would have eliminated that step on launch day. Gurman suggests that privacy concerns might have deterred Apple from implementing the idea. He notes that the technical aspects were not the issue. Instead, Apple may have decided that receiving a new iPhone with personal account data pre-installed could make some customers uneasy, raising questions about data transfer and potential unauthorized access.

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Monday 10 August 2026 22:00:53 GMT