Due to “engineering and technical setbacks that have led to slow progress and missed deadlines,” the subscription was supposed to launch in 2021 with the iPhone 13 or in 2022 with the iPhone 14.
Apple is currently engaged in four fintech projects. Apple has announced two, Apple Pay Later and the Apple Card Savings Account, but is still working on “Apple Pay Monthly Installments” and the iPhone subscription service.
According to Gurman, the Monthly Installments project and the iPhone subscription are both still in progress at Apple, and it is evident that “the financial push has proven more difficult than expected.” This is due in part to Apple’s work on “Project Breakout,” the platform that will underpin its financial services and contain “checks, approvals, and transaction histories” typically handled by its other financial service partners.
Although the idea behind Monthly Installments and an iPhone subscription may seem similar, Gurman explains that they are distinct because the monthly fee for the iPhone hardware program “won’t be the price of the device split across 12 or 24 months.”
Instead, it would be a “yet-to-be-decided monthly fee that depends on which device the user selects,” rather than a charge that would inevitably lead to the user eventually owning the device.
Gurman thinks the iPhone subscription could be released by March or April if Apple is really still working on it.