July 31, 2026

Apple Upgrade and Asset Value

LOOKING FOR THE CATCH IN APPLE UPGRADE

More than anything, the Apple products hold value in the long term. As an example, I recently recycled a 13 year old MacBook Pro. I probably could have held onto it and kept using it for verrry basic things. It was definitely showing its years though and I'd prefer not to horde things. The OS stopped receiving updates and having it logged into iCloud prevented me from turning on Advanced Data Protection. Apps stopped working because they couldn't be updated and surfing the web on Safari or Chrome felt more like dial up days than a modern laptop. But the thing booted up and worked.

Other than the obvious facts that:

1. "Upgrade" is in the program name (i.e. people want to get the latest and greatest), and
2. there are little to no financial downsides/penalties for enrolling

There is also the fact that Apple products are built to last.¹ And thus they have historically retained much better value than their peers in every product category. I would argue this is a major boon for Klarna and what helped make the partnership a reality. Because they own a class of devices that retain their value AND positioning this offer as the "Upgrade" program means they will be sitting on a sizable asset class that underlies the fact that they seem to be offering a decent discount / good value to the customer, too. This simply is not something Klarna could likely structure (or horse pill they could swallow) with any other brand.