Apple introduces a leasing program for iPhones and other devices

Apple on Tuesday unveiled a program that lets people lease its iPhones and other devices as an artificial intelligence boom creates a shortage of memory chips that has led consumer electronics companies to raise prices for their products.

As part of the Apple Upgrade program, consumers in the United States can make monthly payments for certain iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch models instead of buying the device directly from Apple or financing it. Klarna, known for buy-now-pay-later loans, will arrange the leases. After the lease ends, people can upgrade to a new version of the device, buy it, or return it and exit the program.

Apple introduced a narrower version of the program in 2015, allowing consumers to trade in their iPhone for a new smartphone each year. The company said it has been working on expanding the program for more than two years. Now, a $1,999 MacBook Pro can have a monthly payment of $38.99 over 36 months.

Apple Upgrade will be a “more flexible way” for consumers to pay for products, said Karen Rasmussen, who heads Apple’s digital business.

The leasing program is a bid to make products more affordable as AI drives up the prices of memory and storage chips. Memory and storage chips are used in everything from phones and laptops to cars and boats.

AI chipmakers such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices have requested more of these components for their own chips, which are used in data centers to develop and operate AI. This has led memory chip makers like Micron to focus on AI chips and produce fewer consumer-grade chips that have become more expensive.

Memory and storage chip prices have quadrupled over the past year, according to Counterpoint Research, which tracks the smartphone and semiconductor markets. Consumer electronics companies have begun to pass the cost on to consumers.

In recent months, Apple’s peers have raised the prices of their products or planned to raise prices, including Samsung’s Galaxy phones, Google’s Pixel phones and Microsoft’s Surface laptops. A shortage of memory chips is also driving up the prices of video game consoles, including Nintendo Switches, Microsoft Xboxes and Sony PlayStations.

In June, Apple raised the prices of some iPad and Mac models by $200 or more, citing soaring costs of memory and storage chips.

Apple will also “absolutely” raise iPhone prices this fall, said Richard Kramer, an analyst at Arete Research, an investment advisory firm. The company’s leasing program, he said, allows it to tell consumers, “By Sunday, we’ll have seven ways you can get it if you want to buy it.”

The leasing program could also help Apple make further inroads in the market for refurbished devices, which are used devices that are repaired and cleaned to make them work like new, Mr. Kramer said. Apple said it refurbishes and sells devices that have been replaced through Apple Upgrade in good condition, or recycles them if not.

“Apple’s new upgrade program should mitigate the risk of price increases by offering more affordable options for people who want to buy new,” said Ron Johnson, who led retail at Apple from 2000 to 2011. “It’s kind of inevitable that we’re in this place. People are getting more comfortable paying monthly bills.”