Apple Card Monthly Installments financing terms are changing for iPhone and Apple Watch

How an iPhone is financed with Apple Card is changing

Apple is changing Apple Card financing terms for iPhone and Apple Watch in time for the new device season.

Apple Card Monthly Installments allow customers to pay for products with zero interest using a portion of their approved Apple Card balance. Apple Watch and iPhone are still eligible for this finance option, but the terms have changed.

Customers financing an iPhone via Apple Card Monthly Installments will be required to connect their device to a carrier at purchase starting August 15. This practice is already in place when buying an iPhone in a physical Apple Store location, but it is also being extended to online purchases.

Those carriers include AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

This is a different financing option from Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program, which is financed through Citizens One. It also doesn't apply to customers who pay without financing.

Apple Watch financing is being reduced from 24 months to 12 months on August 15. The 24-month option is still available until that date.

It isn't clear why these finance term changes have been made. It was first discovered by 9to5Mac via a footnote in the Apple Store iPhone order page.

An Apple support document detailing the Apple Card Monthly Installment options was updated on June 15. No additional details were provided on this page.

Apple tends to announce its new iPhone and Apple Watch during a September event. That would mean these financing changes go into effect just in time for the new device purchasing season.

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8 Comments

applebynature 116 comments · 9 Years

About 10 months ago

Connected

to one of the three carriers, but not locked to a carrier, because that would be some BS. I wonder why this change? Customers who use any mobile service other than the big 3 can no longer use this very useful financing feature.

PCMedia2 1 comment · 1 Year

I read elsewhere Goldman Sachs is loosing money on the Apple Card. Apparently, they’re pushing to cut these losses by reducing benefits.

goodbyeranch 247 comments · 9 Years

I’ll just pay in full. I like my $30/mo unlimited service through Mint Mobile and have for years.

Xed 2575 comments · 4 Years

Apple Watch financing is being reduced from 24 months to 12 months on August 15. The 24-month option is still available until that date.I have wondered why Apple does the financing the way they do. My Apple Watch is 24 months but my considerably more expensive MacBook Pro is 12 months.

Stabitha_Christie 441 comments · 3 Years

PCMedia2 said:

I read elsewhere Goldman Sachs is loosing money on the Apple Card. Apparently, they’re pushing to cut these losses by reducing benefits.

You probably read it here, AI has had several articles about it. But your phrasing is a tiny bit inaccurate. They spend more money to add a customer than they currently make off of said customer. Doing a large marketing push to launch a product even though it puts you in the red is different than losing money on the a product.

Also, cutting the financing timeframe doesn't really change the the financial situation much for Goldman. The financing is interest free so two ways is helps Goldman are 1. frees up capital to do other things with, 2. they expect the change to cause people to miss payments so they can charge interest.