Apple has reportedly stopped working towards plans to offer iPhone hardware as a subscription service.
In a new paywalled report, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman wrote on Wednesday that people close to the project indicate the company recently wound down the efforts. Those on the team have since been reassigned to other projects, according to Gurman’s anonymous sources.
Gurman first detailed the plans in 2022. He believed the service would allow customers to ‘subscribe’ to iPhone like an app on their Apple Accounts for a monthly fee and get a new iPhone every year.
Gurman once indicated that the service could be ready for rollout by the end of that year, but software concerns and concerns of regulatory pushback led to delays. Executives worked to revamp the project before ultimately scrapping it.
Company executives hoped that the service would encourage more frequent iPhone upgrades and bring in more consistent revenue. But, Gurman writes, the service would have also come at odds with wireless carrier companies that rely on conflicting installment plans to keep customers on their own service.
The company already offers two similar programs. The iPhone Upgrade Program allows iPhone customers to purchase their phones in payments over two years with financing from Citizens Bank. Apple Card Monthly Installments allows Apple Card holders to finance Apple Store purchases through interest-free monthly payments.
This comes as Apple executives dial back their interest in consumer financial programs. The Apple Pay organization, under Jennifer Bailey, once sought to expand internal offerings in the finance industry and reduce reliance on partners with “Project Breakout.”
In recent years, Apple has most notably expanded financial offerings with Apple Card and the Apple Card savings account, but project partner Goldman Sachs is now looking to exit the deal, leaving Apple to find another partner.
Most recently, ‘Apple Pay Later’–with loans made by Apple itself–shut down amid tougher regulation for ‘buy now, pay later’ services from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Competing service Affirm replaced it in the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 updates.
Gurman suggests the plans could one day revive the talks through a partnership, but that they would no longer look into such a program without a financial backer.
