Apple is reportedly working on a new subscription service that would provide customers access to iPhones and other devices for a monthly fee. The information comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who believes the project could officially launch in late 2022 at the earliest.

According to the report, Apple’s plan is to allow customers to use the same Apple ID they use to make App Store purchases or pay for services like iCloud to subscribe to hardware. However, the service would differ from Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program, which the company launched back in 2015 to sell iPhones on installment plans.

“The program would differ from an installment program in that the monthly charge wouldn’t be the price of the device split across 12 or 24 months. Rather, it would be a yet-to-be-determined monthly fee that depends on which device the user chooses,” explained Gurman.

The iPhone remains Apple’s most important product by far, representing more than half of the company’s $192 billion revenue last year. Offering iPhones via a new hardware subscription service could make the devices even more appealing for consumers, especially in an era where flagship phones now cost more than $1,000.

The leasing aspects of the program revealed by Bloomberg are another thing that may be very attractive for iPhone fans. “The company has discussed allowing users of the program to swap out their devices for new models when fresh hardware comes out,” Gurman wrote. There’s no doubt that phone upgrades have become more incremental in recent years, but the perspective of getting a new iPhone every year via a subscription is certainly something many gadgets fans could be looking forward to.

Tagged with Apple, iPhone