This isn’t quite where we are yet; you still need at least three subscriptions to get close. But, after the better part of a decade, Apple has moved much nearer to the hardware-as-a-service idea.
There are some products reportedly excluded from the arrangement, including MacBook Neo, Apple Watch SE, the entry-level iPad, and iPhone 16. Clearly, Apple sees those products as sufficiently affordable.
Easy payments for RAM-ageddon
The new Klarna arrangement comes as Apple is forced to increase product prices as AI-driven memory price inflation becomes widely felt across every economy. In theory, I assume, Apple hopes to make its products available to cash-strapped consumers who need new hardware, while also navigating a time of deep economic tumult and uncertainty. It’s thought the company has previously rejected these plans to protect normal hardware sales, but normality is a kingdom we no longer seem to possess. Interesting times. Probable inflation incoming.
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