> A lot of people aren’t going to have that $433 at the end of the lease to purchase the device outright

I think you're looking at this too much from the perspective of someone who wants to own the phone, not as someone who wants to consider a lease.

Leases are not a new invention. A lot of people, including very financially savvy and well off people, choose to lease rather than buy depending on the circumstances.

It preserves optionality. If you get to the end of the lease period and there’s a new iPhone you want or the battery isn’t holding up, you can choose not to buy it. You don’t have to deal with selling it or trading in.

If someone doesn’t have $400 to buy out the residual then I doubt they would have had the cash to pay for the whole thing up front. I don’t understand what your argument is.

> So the goal of the program is the same as every other similar one - they want to turn a one-time device purchase into a perpetual monthly revenue stream, while keeping ownership of the asset at the end.

It’s an option. They’re not turning anything into anything. Anyone who wants to buy the device can buy it. You now also have the option to lease it for 12 or 24 months and then after that you can still buy it if you want. Or you can not buy it.

It’s options. You don’t have to use it.

> If someone doesn’t have $400 to buy out the residual then I doubt they would have had the cash to pay for the whole thing up front.

That’s the entire point. They would have bought a cheaper phone, or held on to their old one, but are now paying perpetual monthly payments.

There’s a reason car dealerships never ask “how much can you afford”, but “how much do you want to pay every month”.

There’s a reason Klarna is running the program for them.