Apple’s new Upgrade leasing program lets you pay a low monthly fee for an iPhone, Mac, iPad, or Watch instead of the full price upfront. Max Tech creator Vadim Yuryev ran the numbers on a $2,999 MacBook Pro and claims that leasing, buying out the residual, and reselling can leave you hundreds ahead of purchasing outright — with zero interest. Here’s how the math works (and the caveats that still apply).
Chance Townsend for Mashable:
In a post on X in response to Bloomberg’s Apple expert Mark Gurman, Yuryev walked through the math, using a $2,999 MacBook Pro as an example.
Explained this in today’s YouTube video. If you lease a $2,999 Mac, you pay $58 a month for 36 months. At the end, you owe $911 to pay it off or return it.
However, Apple gives you 6 more months to decide. Meanwhile, you continue paying monthly payments of $53.
You now have 6… https://t.co/ZFm37Bnc5t pic.twitter.com/hH45E2rWvg
— Vadim Yuryev (@VadimYuryev) August 2, 2026
He said a 36-month lease would run $58 per month, leaving a $911 balance due at the end — though Apple gives lessees six additional months to decide, during which payments drop to $53 per month. Yuryev argued that paying off that final balance makes sense because the device could then be resold for “$1,500+ on eBay or Facebook marketplace,” rather than the customer simply losing the amount paid in over the life of the lease.
Yuryev emphasized that “you never pay more” than the device’s MSRP, since Apple Upgrade carries no interest or lease fees. He added that the primary risk is failing to keep up with payments or falling short on the final balance, and noted that once a device is paid off, users can start a new lease while keeping the original one.
MacDailyNews Take: While, as AAPL shareholders, we wish Apple every success with their Apple Upgrade program via Klarna, in an age of zero-interest financing, “buy now, pay later,” and glossy leasing schemes dressed up as smart upgrades, a simple truth keeps getting buried (caution, soap box sermon ahead):
The surest way to build lasting wealth is to avoid debt entirely, buy only what you can afford outright, and live within your means.
Leasing expensive hardware, stretching payments over years, may feel painless month to month. It is still debt. You are paying for the privilege of using something you do not fully own, often while assuming residual balances, credit checks, and the risk that the used-market value collapses when everyone else is dumping the same leased devices. The math can be made to look attractive on a YouTube whiteboard. Reality is less forgiving.
Paying cash for what you can actually afford forces discipline. It prioritizes value over status. It eliminates interest, fees, and the quiet stress of monthly obligations. When the device eventually ages, you own it free and clear — you can sell it, keep it, or pass it on without a lender’s permission. That freedom compounds.
Financial success is not about maximizing monthly cash flow or chasing the newest model every two years. It’s not about keeping up with The Joneses. It is about keeping more of what you earn, avoiding the traps that turn consumers into lifelong renters, and building genuine ownership over time.
Debt is easy. Discipline is harder. The latter is the only reliable route to real financial independence.
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
MDN is confusing personal finance with wealth creation.
Nobody becomes wealthy because they paid cash for a MacBook instead of financing it at 0%. Wealth is created by owning appreciating assets, building businesses, earning a huge income, or investing successfully… it has ZERO to do with saving a few hundred dollars every few years on consumer electronics.
“Never finance a laptop” is Dave Ramsey moralizing.
As you know we’ve reached a point where technology has made life remarkably comfortable even for people of VERY modest means. You’ll be fine either way.
As MacBooks have become bigger and better over the years I’ve simply had to upgrade less frequently.
From PowerPC to Intel it bought Apple some time, but use them outdoor for 30 seconds and they are already overheating and over time just became slower and slower. Thermal paste wearing out, who knows…
Over time Apple was able to get the nits just bright enough to use outdoors. Can’t wait for OLED to finish the job out perfect outdoor display contrast.
And Apple moving from Intel to M-series. Brilliant.
I am still using my original M1 Pro 14” MBP w/16GB RAM and 1TB storage.
Renting a MBP, for me, makes little to no sense. I’m planning on riding that new OLED MBP at least another 5-6 years.
Leasing something that depreciates over time and using the saved upfront cash to make investments usually makes more sense than buying instead of leasing. Your sermon is not as accurate as you think.