In the latest move, Apple has integrated T-Mobile with its online iPhone Upgrade Program earlier this month; a change noticed by Redditors this Tuesday. Apple’s online storefront and Apple Store App now reads “You can join the iPhone Upgrade Program online with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon”, to intimate users of the change.
This option shall now allow T-Mobile subscribers to enroll in the iPhone Upgrade Program directly through Apple’s online storefront and the Apple Store app; instead of having to go to an Apple store to sign up in person. Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program was unveiled at Apple’s annual iPhone event back in 2015 and is a first-party service that provides members access to a new iPhone every year for a set monthly fee. While Apple required customers interested in the program to sign up for the same at an Apple store, in person; it opened up the option of online enrolment in 2016, of which AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon became members, while T-Mobile was left out until earlier this month.
The iPhone Upgrade Program was designed to boost the slowing sale of iPhone with the introduction of a new and affordable hardware replacement route. Last year, Apple offered a loan pre-approval process for iPhone X, which granted members an equal shot at acquiring a launch day handset, and the process is expected to be repeated this year.
The loan preapproval process was met with a glitch last year, with some members of the program being nearly denied an early unit altogether, due to an apparent problem in the loan application process handled by Apple financial partner Citizens One. Apple instructed customers who woke up early, or stayed up late, to order iPhone X to wait for a verification notification from the bank, which in certain cases resulted in a denial letter received hours later; by which time the launch day supply was already sold out. Apple did, however, manage to rectify the issue and reinstate the original ship-by dates reserved for early pre-orders.
