MacRumors

Apple Card has a new Monthly Installments financing option that allows customers to purchase an iPhone with the Apple Card and pay for it over two years with no interest or fees in the United States.

Apple has shared a new support document explaining how the monthly installment plan works, which we've detailed below.

When using Monthly Installments, the cost of your new iPhone is divided into 24, interest-free monthly installments. Each installment is included in your Apple Card minimum payment and is due every month for 24 months. Monthly Installments are billed to your Apple Card statement on the last day of the month.

You can use Apple Card Monthly Installments to buy more than one iPhone. The number of iPhones you can buy is only limited by your available credit.

For each iPhone purchased with the Apple Card, you will receive 3% Daily Cash. If the iPhone is purchased between December 10 and December 31, it is eligible for a doubled 6% Daily Cash as part of a holiday promotion.

AppleCare+ can be bundled with the iPhone as part of the monthly installments.

How to View and Pay Apple Card Monthly Installments

Paying for an Apple Card Monthly Installment is as simple as paying off your minimum payment or higher each month.

To see and manage your Apple Card Monthly Installments, update to iOS 13.2 or later. Then, open the Wallet app, tap on your Apple Card, tap the button with three-dots in the top-right corner, and tap Installments.

The installments screen shows the total amount paid off so far, the remaining balance, the due date and amount of your next monthly installment, and a history of your monthly payments. There is also a Pay Early option that can reduce the number of payments, but this requires paying off your entire Apple Card balance first.

If you tap Total Financed, you can review other details like a description of the iPhone you purchased and how much Daily Cash you received.

As a shortcut, when you purchase an iPhone with Apple Card Monthly Installments, you will receive a notification on the iPhone or iPad you use to manage your Apple Card that can be tapped to view installment details.

Apple Card Monthly Installments are available for purchases made at Apple Stores, Apple.com, and through the Apple Store app.

Apple already offered interest-free iPhone financing through its iPhone Upgrade Program, but the Apple Card plan has a few advantages, including cash back, managing payments in the Wallet app, and no late fees.

Apple Card's interest-free monthly installment plan for the iPhone is launching in the United States today, as noted by TechCrunch.

The plan allows customers to purchase a new ‌iPhone‌ with ‌the Apple Card‌ and pay for it over 24 months with no interest. Customers will continue to get 3% Daily Cash back for the iPhone purchase as well, or an increased 6% Daily Cash until December 31 as part of a holiday promotion announced today.

When paying for an iPhone with Apple Card Monthly Installments, each month's installment is included in your minimum payment amount. And unlike other purchases with the Apple Card, the installments are not subject to interest unless there is an outstanding balance beyond the 24-month grace period.

Apple Card Monthly Installments are available for purchases made at Apple Stores, Apple.com, and through the Apple Store app.

Apple already offered iPhone financing through its iPhone Upgrade Program, but the Apple Card plan has a few advantages, including cash back, managing payments in the Wallet app, and no late fees.

Apple has shared more details in a support document.

Apple's Twitter account for the Apple Card today announced that customers can get six percent Daily Cash back on most Apple products purchased through December 31.

The six percent savings will be delivered as Daily Cash in Apple's Wallet app, transferred to the Apple Cash card. Apple highlights products like the iPhone 11, Apple Watch, MacBook Pro, and AirPods Pro as part of the promotion.

Outside of the holidays, Apple offers three percent Daily Cash back for Apple product purchases. Partners like Uber, Uber Eats, Walgreens, Duane Reade, T-Mobile, and Nike also now support three percent Daily Cash back. Apple says additional partners will be added over time, while all other purchases made with the ‌Apple Card‌ via ‌Apple Pay‌ will continue to receive two percent Daily Cash.

To apply for an ‌‌Apple Card‌‌, simply open the Wallet app on an ‌iPhone‌ running iOS 12.4 or later, tap the plus button in the top-right corner, and follow the on-screen steps. The process takes just a few minutes, and if approved, your digital ‌‌Apple Card‌‌ will be ready for purchases immediately. Daily Cash is unlimited and paid out daily to your Apple Cash account. For more details, make sure to check out our Apple Card guide.

Apple today asked a federal court to continue monitoring two Chinese-born former employees accused of stealing trade secrets, citing "deep concerns" that the two could attempt to flee the country before their trials.

According to Reuters, prosecutors argued that Xiaolang Zhang and Jizhong Chen should have their locations monitored because they are flight risks.

Zhang was charged with theft of trade secrets back in July 2018 after he attempted to steal data on the car project that Apple has in the works. Prior to when he was caught, Zhang worked on Apple's compute team, designing and testing circuit boards to analyze sensor data in autonomous vehicles.

Zhang had "broad access to secure and confidential internal databases," and after announcing his plans to leave Apple for China-based XMotors, an investigation was launched due to suspicious behavior. Just ahead of leaving, Zhang accessed sensitive content that included prototypes, power requirements, low voltage requirements, battery systems, and more. Zhang was ultimately arrested at the airport in July 2018 attempting to leave for China.

In a separate incident, Apple caught Jizhong Chen, another Apple employee, taking photographs "in a sensitive workspace." After launching an investigation, Apple security officials found that Chen's personal computer contained "thousands" of Apple Car-related files, including manuals, schematics, photographs, and diagrams.

Chen had recently applied for a position with a China-based autonomous vehicle company and was arrested for theft of trade secrets one day before he was set to fly to China. Recently, it was also discovered that Chen had classified files from the Patriot missile program that belonged to Raytheon, his ex-employer.

Both men have been monitored electronically after being released on bail ahead of their trials, and they are now seeking to have that monitoring end. The lawyer for the men has said that they have not shown signs of violating pre-trial conditions thus far and did not actually share Apple's intellectual property with a third party.

The lawyer has also argued that each man was going to China to visit relatives, not to escape prosecution, and that both have strong ties to the United States. Chen and Zhang are both facing multi-year prison terms and hefty fines if convicted.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple will have a presence at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that's set to take place in January, but the company won't be showing off new products.

Apple will instead be discussing consumer privacy, as Bloomberg points out. Jane Horvath, Apple's senior director of privacy, will be attending a "Chief Privacy Officer Roundtable" alongside privacy executives from Facebook, Procter & Gamble, and the FTC.

The roundtable will focus on "what consumers want" when it comes to privacy. It will be held on Tuesday, January 7 at 1:00 p.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center's North Hall, room N257. Attendance is included with CES registration.

Privacy is now a strategic imperative for all consumer businesses. "The future is private" (Facebook); "Privacy is a human right" (Apple); and "a more private web" (Google). How do companies build privacy at scale? Will regulation be a fragmented patchwork? Most importantly, what do consumers want?

Apple stopped attending CES in the 90s, and Apple's last official appearance took place in 1992 at the Chicago show, where then CEO John Sculley introduced the Apple Newton.

While Apple doesn't officially attend CES, it does send its employees to the show for meetings and to check out emerging technology. Last year, Apple also touted its privacy policies through a huge privacy-focused billboard right near the Las Vegas Convention Center that read "What Happens on your iPhone, stays on your ‌iPhone‌."

Apple's wearables shipments nearly tripled in the third quarter of 2019 due to the growing popularity of the Apple Watch, AirPods, and Beats headphones, according to research firm IDC.

IDC estimates that Apple shipped 29.5 million wearables last quarter, up from 10 million in the third quarter of 2018. Apple remained the world's largest wearables vendor, and the launch of the AirPods Pro and discounts on Apple Watch Series 3 models should keep the company in the lead, the research firm said.

Apple does not disclose wearables sales on a product or unit basis, so emphasis should be placed on IDC's figures being estimates, but all signs do point towards the Apple Watch and AirPods selling very well.

Apple's "Wearables, Home and Accessories" revenue was a record-setting $6.5 billion in the third quarter of 2019, up 54 percent from $4.2 billion in the year-ago quarter. In addition to the Apple Watch, AirPods, and Beats, the category includes the HomePod, Apple TV, iPod touch, and both Apple-branded and third-party accessories.

AirPods Pro are currently estimated for delivery in January for orders placed on Apple.com, demonstrating how popular the new earphones are, although they remain available at select resellers.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been touring Tokyo, Japan over the last few days, meeting with local employees, developers, healthcare experts, and others. Cook has been documenting the trip on his Twitter account.

Cook has traveled to several countries for meets and greets during his eight-year tenure as Apple CEO, including France and Germany in September. He has also visited Canada, China, Ireland, Italy, and the United Kingdom.