It would stand to reason that people in that small group would be perfect candidates for Apple’s new Upgrade program, which lets you lease Macs for either 24 or 36 months and then upgrade to a new model once all payments have been made. However, Apple and Klarna, the financial partner for the program, have seemingly set up nearly impossible terms for qualification.
There are numerous social media reports of people who have been declined for M5 Ultra Mac Studio leases, so I tried to get one and failed several times, with the following message:
Klarna could not approve your application.
Thank you for your interest in Apple Upgrade. Klarna was unable to approve your application at this time. Details about this decision will be sent to the email registered with your Klarna account. Your order wasn’t placed and you haven’t been charged.
If you’d still like to proceed with your order, you can continue shopping with a different payment option. Your device selections have been saved, but you may need to make a few of your decisions again.
I was also denied a lease for a fully decked-out 16-inch MacBook Pro, so it’s not limited to the Mac Studio. It just be noted that it’s been several hours and I haven’t received an email with any more details from Klarna.
It’s unclear why the system seems to be denying purchases of $10,000 or more. Klarna doesn’t run a credit check, and approvals are often made within seconds for iPhones or iPads. But if you’re looking to lease a very expensive Mac, you might be out of luck.
