iPhone Upgrade Program pre-approvals for iPhone XR start Monday

Posted:
in iPhone edited October 2018
Apple will be opening up its loan pre-approval process for the iPhone Upgrade Program on Monday for customers wanting to acquire the iPhone XR, allowing participants to prepare their application before pre-orders for the smartphone commence on Friday.




Members of the iPhone Upgrade Program are able to apply for their iPhone XR at the same time as other customers, but due to a longer process involving loan approval, it can cause program participants to place their orders later than those not under the scheme. To combat this, Apple enables users under the iPhone Upgrade Program to pre-approve their application ahead of time, cutting out a lengthy section of the pre-order process.

A notice on the iPhone Upgrade Program page on Apple's website advises those looking to pick up the iPhone XR through the service to go through pre-approvals from 12pm Pacific (3pm Eastern) on Monday, so they can "speed through checkout" on Friday. The approval is conducted through the Apple Store app for iOS, and is expected to be similar to the experience program participants went through for the iPhone XS.




The process itself involves customers selecting their preferred model, color, and capacity of iPhone, then confirming their carrier, loan pre-approval, then completing the process by accessing the app during the iPhone XR pre-order period on October 19.

The iPhone XR normally starts from $749 when paid in full, but at a minimum will cost $37.41 per month under the iPhone Upgrade Program. Those looking to upgrade need to have been on the program for at least six months, to have paid the equivalent of 12 months worth of service to be eligible, and will also need to hand their existing iPhone back in good condition, or face repair costs or other extra charges.

An issue that may want to be addressed ahead of attempting to go through the pre-approval process is for customers to check if there is a security freeze on their credit file and to lift it where possible, as it could slow down or even deny applications. Credit freezes were an issue for pre-approvals at the time of the iPhone X's preorders, causing many who had self-imposed credit freezes to lose out until they could unfreeze the record.

Apple urges customers to complete their respective orders as soon as possible on pre-order day, with the preorder process itself typically starting at 12:01am Pacific.

A cheaper alternative to the iPhone XS and XS Max, the iPhone XR has a 6.1-inch LCD Liquid Retina display instead of an OLED panel used by its stablemates, has a single 12-megapixel wide-angle camera on the rear, and a wide array of bright color options.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    It's still true that if one has paid the entire amount, one is not required to turn one's phone in, correct?
  • Reply 2 of 9
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,861administrator
    It's still true that if one has paid the entire amount, one is not required to turn one's phone in, correct?
    If the entire amount is paid, that is correct.
    beowulfschmidt
  • Reply 3 of 9
    larryalarrya Posts: 606member
    Do Apple stores have dummy units or anything so I can pick my color for preorder?
  • Reply 4 of 9
    AF_HittAF_Hitt Posts: 143member
    larrya said:
    Do Apple stores have dummy units or anything so I can pick my color for preorder?
    Yeah, this is a sticking point for me too. I like the look of the blue one on the web site, but Apple’s devices sometimes look completely different in person.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    I’m not a member as yet but want to join for this phone. Can I get preapproved too or is this only for those already signed up?
  • Reply 6 of 9
    When you apply for the Apple Upgrade Program a credit check is one step you go through. You are given a yes or no during the process. The loan is zero percent through Citizen One. 
  • Reply 7 of 9
    This IUP pre order is the worst piece of shit I've seen from Apple in 40 years of dealing with Apple.

    1. You have to order thru the App Store app on your iPhone... Why Apple, my iMac 5K isn't good enough?
    2. If you leave the app on the iPhone, you have to start over... Why Apple, I only have 256GB on my iPhone?
    3. If you order for someone else the carrier approval passcode gets texted by apple to the target iPhone... Why Apple, I'm the one doing the ordering and paying... so much for a surprise gift?
    4. If you exit the App Store App in the iPhone, you must start over... Why Apple, don't your engineers know how to save/restore state data in an iPhone app (programming 101)?
    5. If you don't enter the passcode in 2 minutes you must start over or request a resend of another passcode... Why Apple, remember the passcode is sent to the target iPhone, not to the ordering iPhone (in my case, the person with the target phone was using her iPhone and could not respond)?
    6. If you don't time the resend/renter of the passcode just right, you get into limbo where the old passcode was not entered soon enough and the new one too soon... Why Apple... see comment on #4 above?
    7. Then the final insult and demonstration of incompetence... after two people fiddle-fart around for 10 minutes, you get a message: "We value the security of your information, so we limit the number of attempts that can be made to enter your one-time passcode. You can try again on 60 minutes..."

    WHY APPLE?


    Edit:

    Well, not to be outdone, Apple found another way to screw things up... I was using an older iPhone 7 that I have as backup... Got thru the carrier passcode/resend/retry loop, then the App Store App asked for TouchID, no way to enter AppleID, just TouchID...  This is my grandson's old iPhone, so I never bothered to setup TouchID...  So, leave Appstore App, setup TouchID, and start over in Safari/Appstore app...

    When I worked for IBM I did a study of how to shorten the release cycle of software... long story short, the Des Plaines Doctrine: "Expediting takes a little longer".

    Apple has surpassed this with the IUP Preorder Principle;  "Preordering takes a lot longer and [in some cases] it requires two people".

    ...Something about the quality of mercy...
    edited October 2018
  • Reply 8 of 9
    Ah this doesn't seem possible/necessary in the UK. That extra banner is on US store but not the UK. A different process or do you think we in the UK will just have to wait longer?
  • Reply 9 of 9
    lovemn said:
    When you apply for the Apple Upgrade Program a credit check is one step you go through. You are given a yes or no during the process. The loan is zero percent through Citizen One. 
    But be warned, like any loan, it will lower your FICO score for a while. There’s a ding for the credit check and a ding for the loan to balance ratio, and possibly a ding for too many credit inquiries depending on how many accounts you have opened in the past 25 months.  In any case remember to unlock your credit bureau file before applying!
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