Is leasing an Apple product
actually cheaper than buying it?
Step 1 — Configure
Your scenario
Step 2 — Result
Buying the iPhone 17 Pro beats the lease by $338 at 60% resale.
Chart 1 · Break-even
Net cost after you sell — where the lines cross
The blue line is flat: leasing costs the same no matter what the device ends up being worth, because you hand it back. The red line falls as resale value rises. Where they cross is the only resale value at which the two are equal. Tap or drag anywhere on the chart to move the resale marker.
Chart 2 · Cash flow
Cumulative money out, month by month
Leasing wins on cash flow early and loses on total cost later. The dashed orange line shows lease payments plus the buyout fee — note it sits exactly on the buy-outright line the whole way, which is the giveaway that this is 0% financing with a walk-away option. Tap or hover the chart for month-by-month figures.
Chart 3 · Whole programme
Break-even resale value, every eligible product
How far a device must fall in value before leasing it pays off. Anything to the left of the shaded band is a bad lease, because real Apple hardware almost never depreciates that fast in the term. Tap a bar to load that product into the calculator. Every figure is also in the table below.
Reference
Every eligible product
Fourteen models across four categories. “Break-even” is the resale percentage below which leasing becomes the cheaper option. Click any column heading to sort, or any row to load it.
| Product | Retail | Term | Monthly | Total payments | Buyout fee | Break-even | Typical resale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone | |||||||
| iPhone 17 Pro | $1,099 | 24 mo | $31.99 | $767.76 | $331.24 | 30% | 45–58% |
| iPhone 17 Pro | $1,099 | 12 mo | $45.99 | $551.88 | $547.12 | 50% | 45–58% |
| iPhone Air | $999 | 24 mo | ~$28.99 | ~$695.76 | ~$303.24 | 30% | 42–55% |
| iPhone Air | $999 | 12 mo | ~$41.99 | ~$503.88 | ~$495.12 | 50% | 42–55% |
| iPhone 17 | $799 | 24 mo | ~$22.99 | ~$551.76 | ~$247.24 | 31% | 42–55% |
| iPhone 17 | $799 | 12 mo | ~$32.99 | ~$395.88 | ~$403.12 | 50% | 42–55% |
| iPhone 17e | $599 | 24 mo | $17.99 | $431.76 | $167.24 | 28% | 38–50% |
| iPhone 17e | $599 | 12 mo | ~$24.99 | ~$299.88 | ~$299.12 | 50% | 38–50% |
| iPad | |||||||
| iPad Pro | $1,099 | 36 mo | $24.99 | $899.64 | $199.36 | 18% | 40–52% |
| iPad Pro | $1,099 | 24 mo | $31.99 | $767.76 | $331.24 | 30% | 40–52% |
| iPad Air | $599 | 36 mo | ~$13.99 | ~$503.64 | ~$95.36 | 16% | 35–48% |
| iPad Air | $599 | 24 mo | ~$17.99 | ~$431.76 | ~$167.24 | 28% | 35–48% |
| iPad mini | $499 | 36 mo | $11.99 | $431.64 | $67.36 | 13% | 38–50% |
| iPad mini | $499 | 24 mo | ~$14.99 | ~$359.76 | ~$139.24 | 28% | 38–50% |
| Mac | |||||||
| MacBook Air | $999 | 36 mo | $24.99 | $899.64 | $99.36 | 10% | 40–55% |
| MacBook Air | $999 | 24 mo | ~$33.99 | ~$815.76 | ~$183.24 | 18% | 40–55% |
| MacBook Pro 14″ | $1,599 | 36 mo | $38.99 | $1,403.64 | $195.36 | 12% | 45–58% |
| MacBook Pro 14″ | $1,599 | 24 mo | $53.99 | $1,295.76 | $303.24 | 19% | 45–58% |
| MacBook Pro 16″ | $2,499 | 36 mo | ~$59.99 | ~$2,159.64 | ~$339.36 | 14% | 45–58% |
| MacBook Pro 16″ | $2,499 | 24 mo | ~$83.99 | ~$2,015.76 | ~$483.24 | 19% | 45–58% |
| iMac | $1,299 | 36 mo | ~$31.99 | ~$1,151.64 | ~$147.36 | 11% | 35–48% |
| iMac | $1,299 | 24 mo | ~$43.99 | ~$1,055.76 | ~$243.24 | 19% | 35–48% |
| Mac Studio | $1,999 | 36 mo | ~$48.99 | ~$1,763.64 | ~$235.36 | 12% | 40–55% |
| Mac Studio | $1,999 | 24 mo | ~$67.99 | ~$1,631.76 | ~$367.24 | 18% | 40–55% |
| Apple Watch | |||||||
| Watch Series 11 | $399 | 24 mo | $11.99 | $287.76 | $111.24 | 28% | 30–42% |
| Watch Series 11 | $399 | 12 mo | $21.99 | $263.88 | $135.12 | 34% | 30–42% |
| Watch Ultra 3 | $799 | 24 mo | ~$23.99 | ~$575.76 | ~$223.24 | 28% | 35–48% |
| Watch Ultra 3 | $799 | 12 mo | ~$43.99 | ~$527.88 | ~$271.12 | 34% | 35–48% |
Starting prices
What it starts at, and on which model
The cheapest way into the programme is $11.99 a month. Two products share that entry point: the Apple Watch Series 11 42mm ($399 retail) on a 24-month lease, and the iPad mini ($499 retail) on a 36-month lease. The cheapest iPhone is the iPhone 17e at $17.99/mo over 24 months, and the cheapest Mac is the MacBook Air at $24.99/mo over 36 months.
Lowest monthly is not the same as lowest total. The smallest total commitment in the whole programme is the Apple Watch Series 11 on a 12-month lease at $263.88 — but that is 66% of the watch’s retail price for one year of use, which is poor value. The headline “$11.99/mo” figures also exclude tax, exclude AppleCare, and assume no trade-in.
iPad mini · 36 mo
$599 retail
$999 retail
estimates run higher for 16″ & Mac Studio
End of lease
What actually happens when the lease ends
You get four paths, and one of them happens automatically if you ignore it.
Apple notifies you when you’re eligible. You sign a new lease and return the old device using a prepaid kit or at an Apple Store. Upgrading early costs up to the value of your remaining payments. Upgrades aren’t guaranteed — they need fresh credit approval, and your new monthly payment may be higher.
Return the device at term end and you owe nothing further. Ending early instead costs a termination fee up to the sum of your remaining payments, and you still have to give the device back.
Pay the purchase option fee through Klarna: full price at signing minus everything you’ve already paid, minus remaining trade-in credit, plus tax. On a $1,099 iPhone 17 Pro after 24 months that’s $331. This is almost always the financially correct move — see the verdict below.
The lease rolls month-to-month for up to six months and keeps charging you. If a trade-in credit had been lowering your payment, your bill increases, because that credit only applies to the initial term. Take no action for six months and Klarna automatically charges you the full purchase option fee.
The device must come back in good working condition or Klarna charges a one-time damage fee. With AppleCare you may still pay a service fee once it’s assessed. This is the single biggest uncosted risk in the programme.
Fact check
Fact check on the ten things you’d heard
All ten hold up against Apple’s published terms. Several need a refinement that matters.
Confirmed outright in Apple’s FAQ. Ownership only transfers if you pay the purchase option fee. Otherwise the device must be returned.
Refinement: this question can’t arise during a lease, because it isn’t yours to sell. To capture any resale value at all you must first buy the device out — which, as the calculator shows, is exactly where the money is.
Correct. It’s billed separately by Apple, not by Klarna. You have 60 days from enrolment to add it, or you can attach the leased device to an AppleCare One subscription. Every device still carries the standard one-year limited warranty.
Correct. After the 14-day window the early termination fee equals the total of all your unpaid payments through the end of the initial term, plus tax. Cancelling therefore never saves money — it only stops you using the device.
Correct with a caveat: it is free at the natural end of your term. Upgrade early and you pay up to your remaining payments — upgrade at month 21 of 24 and you owe roughly three months.
Correct. Fourteen days from receiving the device. Return it and the lease is cancelled once Apple has it back. Separately, if you never collect a store order within 7 days the lease is cancelled and charges refunded.
Correct, and US territories are excluded too. You need to be a US resident, 18 or older, with a US credit or debit card (no prepaid cards) and an Apple ID.
Refinement: this applies to iPhone only. You must connect to AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon at enrolment, and prepaid plans don’t qualify. iPad, Mac and Apple Watch need no carrier at all. Importantly the leased iPhone ships unlocked, so you can switch carriers afterwards subject to their terms.
Correct. No down payments, and no way to pay the balance down faster. The only lever on your monthly figure is a trade-in, and only at initial enrolment — you cannot trade in again when you upgrade.
Nearly right, but the pattern is odd. Eligible: every iPhone except iPhone 16, MacBook Air and Pro, iMac, Mac Studio, iPad Pro/Air/mini, Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Series 11. The exclusions are the genuinely affordable models — base iPad, Mac mini, MacBook Neo, Watch SE 3 — yet the $599 iPhone 17e and $499 iPad mini are included. So it’s less “high end only” and more “whatever Apple most wants you on an upgrade treadmill for”.
The bottom line
Leasing loses for almost everyone — with one exception worth taking
Apple Upgrade is not profitable versus buying for anyone whose device holds more than roughly 30% of its value at term end on the iPhone leases — and the bar is even lower, roughly 10–19%, on the 36-month Mac and iPad leases. Apple hardware routinely retains 45–60% after two years. Across the fourteen products modelled here the break-even sits between roughly 10% and 50%, and the real-world resale market sits comfortably above it in every case.
The exception, and it’s a good one: lease, then exercise the buyout. Because lease payments plus buyout equal the retail price exactly, you get genuine 0% financing — and at the end you buy a device worth around $550 for $331 and sell it yourself. On an iPhone 17 Pro that’s roughly $220 of value you’d have thrown away by simply handing the phone back. You would never rationally return a working device.
There are three narrow cases where straight leasing is still the right call: you upgrade every single year and genuinely hate the friction of selling old devices; you want the option to hand back a product whose value collapses, effectively buying insurance against depreciation; or your cash flow can’t absorb $1,099 up front and the lower monthly is what makes the purchase possible at all.
Everyone else should either buy outright, or lease and then take the buyout. The buyout path is the only place in this programme where the maths actually favours you.