iPhone Upgrade Program Temporarily Unavailable at Apple Stores in England Due to Lockdown Restrictions - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iPhone Upgrade Program Temporarily Unavailable at Apple Stores in England Due to Lockdown Restrictions

by

Apple today informed customers that its iPhone Upgrade Program is temporarily unavailable in England due to new COVID-19 lockdown restrictions that have gone into effect across the country starting today until December 2.

iphone trade in 202010 FMT WHH
In the United Kingdom, the iPhone Upgrade Program requires visiting an Apple Store, but England's lockdown restrictions have forced these retail locations to operate on a click-and-collect basis only with Express Pickup windows at the entrance. Due to these restrictions, Apple cannot allow customers inside the stores to complete their iPhone upgrade at this time, according to an email shared with MacRumors by several readers.

As noted by 9to5Mac's Michael Steeber, all Apple Stores in England are closed today and will reopen Friday with click-and-collect service.

Note: Due to the political or social 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.

Tag: Apple Store

Popular Stories

Apple Store Logo

New Apple Store Reportedly Opening in Idaho

Wednesday August 19, 2026 12:46 pm PDT by
Apple plans to open a new 10,000-square-foot store at The Village at Meridian, an outdoor shopping complex near Boise, Idaho, according to building permits reviewed by BoiseDev. Apple is aiming to open the store in time for the iPhone 18 Pro launch this September, a tipster claimed. The company's only other store in Idaho is located at the Boise Towne Square shopping...
Read Full Article • 31 comments
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Pre-Orders and Release Date

Thursday August 20, 2026 8:00 am PDT by
Apple has yet to reveal when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be announced and released, but the dates usually follow a familiar pattern. As usual, the iPhone event is expected to take place in the first half of September. Labor Day falls on September 7 this year. The last time the holiday was on that day was in 2020, but the iPhone event that year was delayed until October due to...
Read Full Article • 20 comments
macOS 27 next to MacBook Pro Running macOS 27

macOS Golden Gate Marks the End of an Era

Thursday August 20, 2026 2:19 pm PDT by
macOS 27 Golden Gate is not compatible with any Macs with Intel processors, marking the end of an era. The update, which is currently in beta ahead of a release later this year, is limited to Apple silicon Macs with an M1 chip or newer. Last year, Apple said that macOS 26 Tahoe would be the final macOS release compatible with Intel-based Macs, so this was an expected development. Intel...
Read Full Article

Top Rated Comments

jarman92 Avatar
jarman92
76 months ago

better than labour, I dont think Boris has done the best but he isn't as bad
I don't live in the UK so I don't have skin in the game, but how can you say Boris is doing "better than Labour" if Labour hasn't been in power for like 10 years?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
User 6502 Avatar
User 6502
76 months ago
Tories or Labour have zero relevance with the topic. There is a lockdown and a pandemic, apple and Barclays should have found some agreement on how to avoid unnecessary travel or store visits. If Barclays can’t accept any alternative, Apple should stop using Barclays moving forward. Personally I will just pay off my loan and quit the iPhone upgrade programme, as it didn’t respect the promise of allowing an upgrade after 11 months, and I will not be getting iPhone 12 as I don’t think Apple deserves a sale considering how badly they handled this issue.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
VermontsFinest Avatar
VermontsFinest
76 months ago

this is a scam its not fair the whole idea for the plan is to get a new phone each year and not pay full, now ive payed much more than I needed to and cant even get it soon, so will end up paying 4 extra months and to clean the balance its only £460 I can sell the handset private for more
While this is super frustrating and something Apple should have thought of (ie. allow trade in via mail as in the US), there is and has been nothing stopping you from selling privately and paying off the remaining loan balance at any time. Then you can decide to purchase your new phone however you like. I know the upgrade program is your ideal way to do it, it is for me as well, but we have to remain flexible.

You still have options and COVID is certainly at fault here, though calling it a 'scam' is a stretch.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PinkyMacGodess Avatar
PinkyMacGodess
76 months ago
*sigh* People are frightened of lockdowns, and pushing against mask requirements, but then the virus does what viruses do: Infect people.

If the UK, and America had dealt with the pandemic as adults, they could be like New Zealand and Australia. Both have been able to control the pandemic, and reduce the deaths among their citizenry. It's a crying shame that the elections are so close in this country. Let's reelect the person that has allowed far too many Americans to die. Insanity. And now armed groups are demanding that the counting of votes be stopped. Armed groups demanding that one of the tenants of American Democracy be trashed, drowned in the swamp...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
Kylo83
76 months ago



This is what happens when your country is governed by a fascist buffoon who has led a virus go so out of control compared to other countries with real democracy that it has not only lead to the death of so many loved ones but also to the complete annihilation of so many functions that are imbued in the fabric of our society. I pray for the UK and the others like it that are walking on the same road.
better than labour, I dont think Boris has done the best but he isn't as bad
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
Kylo83
76 months ago
so what they gonna do ive already paid over 2 months extra and now it will be another month it wont be worth me giving it in im paying to much for it now
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments