Apple Upgrade for college students, reviewed by someone who got the aid letter
In May 2020, I opened an email from my university’s financial aid office. It said my tuition assistance had come through for the year. I remember going back over the message because I’d spent weeks trying to work out what I could borrow if the aid did not come through.
Most American students never get an email like mine. About 43 million people in the US carry federal student loans, 7.7 million of them have defaulted on $181 billion, and borrowers aged 24 and under owe an average of $13,569 apiece before they have a steady paycheck. Apple launched a leasing program on July 28 with a Mac advertised at $24.99 a month, and I knew within a minute which wallet it was aimed at.
The lease terms that matter on a student budget
A four-year degree makes Apple’s lease terms a little awkward for students. The Mac and iPad options go out to 36 months, so a student could carry one through most of college before having to make another decision. The iPhone and Apple Watch plans last 24 months, which means they end before the degree does.
I’d have a hard time putting $1,199 into an iPad during orientation week. College expenses don’t stop once classes start. A charger can die, a flight home can get expensive, and the money I spent on the iPad is gone. Apple’s 36-month plan comes to $24.99 a month, so I’d have more cash available if something went wrong later in the semester.
A soft inquiry is all Apple uses when you apply for the lease, meaning your credit score doesn’t take a hit from the application. I’d worry about adding another payment to a budget that already has tuition, rent, and food.
Selling an old device takes time. You have to pick a price, take photos, post the listing, and deal with buyers. With the lease, the device goes back to Apple or stays with you after the buyout.
Best for a four-year degree on a 36-month term: MacBook Air with M5
The MacBook Air has the lease term that makes the most sense for a four-year degree. A freshman who starts the 36-month plan at orientation will finish the payments during junior year. That leaves senior year open for the next decision.
Mac leases open at $24.99 a month. Apple’s published worked example puts a 14-inch MacBook Pro with 16 GB at $38.99 a month over 36 months against a $1,999 list price, so about 70% of the purchase price gets spread across the term, and the rest waits at the end as your buyout. Apple charges no interest on the remainder. Pay it, and the machine is yours.
An 18-hour battery helps when you spend most of the day moving between classes and the library. You may not find an outlet when you need one. The aluminum body also makes more sense for a laptop that will spend four years in a backpack. Apple leaves the MacBook Neo and Mac mini out of Apple Upgrade, though.
Cheapest way in, with a carrier bill hiding behind it: iPhone 17e
$17.99 a month is the figure Apple put on the launch page, and the iPhone 17e is the phone behind it. Doubling the starting storage to 256 GB is the change that counts for a student, since four years of lecture recordings and camera-roll chaos fit without a monthly iCloud charge underneath the lease.
The iPhone lease only works with a postpaid AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon plan. That creates a problem for a student on prepaid service. Someone paying $15 a month could end up spending more on the required phone plan than on the lease itself. The phone comes unlocked, so you can switch carriers later, but the same issue comes back when you upgrade.
The iPhone 17 Pro costs $45.99 a month on the 12-month term and $31.99 on the 24-month option. I’d lean toward the iPhone 17e for a student already paying for postpaid service. Its lower payment and included storage leave less room for the phone bill to squeeze the rest of the budget.
Best second screen for a lecture that moves too fast: iPad Air
I can see the appeal of having an iPad Air next to a laptop during class. The slides can stay open while you write notes on the tablet. Apple Pencil Pro also works for equations, graphs, and diagrams that are awkward to type. Apple’s lease starts at $11.99 a month.
Apple gives the Air M4, 12 GB of unified memory, and Magic Keyboard support, so a student who cannot afford both a laptop and a tablet can make the tablet do double duty for a semester or two. Damage is where the arithmetic turns. AppleCare+ came bundled with the old iPhone Upgrade Program and does not come bundled with this one, and a leased iPad returned with a cracked screen gets assessed by Apple and billed by Klarna.
AppleCare One at $19.99 a month covers three devices, which is the version worth buying if you are leasing a Mac and an iPad together. Skipping coverage on a device that lives in a backpack between four classes a day is a bet against your own semester. I would not take it.
Worth the bigger payment for CS and film students: 14-inch MacBook Pro
A CS project can get uncomfortable on an Air once Docker, a local database, and an IDE are open at the same time. Add a large codebase and a browser full of documentation, and waiting on builds becomes part of the work. A film student has a similar reason to step up when a 4K timeline starts carrying multiple effects. Apple quotes $38.99 a month over 36 months for a 14-inch MacBook Pro with 16 GB, vs. $24.99 for the entry-level Mac.
For college students in computer science or film, the 14-inch MacBook Pro is the best long-term lease in the program, because the M5 family still holds up in year three when the Air has started to labor. Up to 24 hours of battery and the Liquid Retina XDR display come with it. The nano-texture option deserves a mention only because glare in a south-facing studio ruins color work.
What to walk past
Students can get a lower price on some Macs through Apple’s education store, but that discount doesn’t apply to Apple Upgrade. Refurbished Macs are excluded too. A refurbished MacBook Air bought outright could end up costing less than the lease and buyout combined.
The final scheduled payment isn’t the end of the lease. Klarna can extend it month to month for as long as six months, with a possible change in the payment, before charging the purchase fee. I’d put the end date on the calendar rather than let the lease run. The Apple Watch Series 11 costs $11.99 a month, and Klarna doesn’t accept Chase, Capital One, or American Express cards.
Check the Education price before signing up
The Education price is worth checking before committing to the lease. Compare it with the 36-month total with the buyout included, and the cheaper route becomes clear. Klarna also displays spending power in the app. If the number falls short of the device price, the lease is off the table.
