Using the Apple Upgrade program locks you into the big three mobile providers

Apple’s new device-leasing program has a strange (on the surface) rule attached to it.

Last week, Apple launched Apple Upgrade, a new Klarna-backed program that allows customers to lease new iPhones, MacBooks, and other devices for a small-ish monthly payment, rather than spending more than $1,000 up front. However, folks quickly noticed something in the fine print: You’ll need an account with AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile to lease an iPhone.

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So, while the phones are technically unlocked, you can only activate them with one of the big three mobile carriers.

Cybersecurity analyst John Gruber looked into this and, on his website, Daring Fireball, gave a couple of big reasons as to why that might be the case.

For starters, it’s a way to prevent fraud. According to Gruber, the three big carriers do enough risk assessment before letting anyone open an account that Apple can be fairly sure you’re not leasing an iPhone for nefarious purposes. Beyond that, though, a former Apple employee wrote into Gruber’s site to explain that Apple signs big-money deals with the carriers for prominent placement and other things like this rule. We can’t verify the former employee’s claims, but the report is interesting.

“Every year, the Carrier Teams at Apple negotiate a deal/program (hundreds of millions of dollars) with each of those Big 3,” the reader wrote. “In return for those dollars, Apple will make concessions exactly like this (or similar.)”

Regardless, if you want to lease an iPhone through the Apple Upgrade program, you can’t do it with an account on a smaller carrier.

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