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

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.

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26 Available Tomorrow With These 8 New Features

Sunday September 14, 2025 8:46 am PDT by
Following three months of beta testing, iOS 26 will be released this Monday, September 15. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, and it will be available to install via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features included in iOS 26. Even more new features and changes are outlined in Apple's release notes for the...
Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple Reportedly Plans to Launch These 10 Products in 'Coming Months'

Sunday September 14, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple's annual September event is now in the rearview mirror, with the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple Watch SE 3, and AirPods Pro 3 set to launch this Friday, September 19. As always, there is more to come. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple plans to release many products in the...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Didn't Pre-Order a New iPhone Yet? Here's How Long the Wait is Now

Friday September 12, 2025 6:11 am PDT by
iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air pre-orders began at 5 a.m. Pacific Time in the U.S. and many other countries today. If you have yet to place a pre-order, you might face a longer wait now, depending on your desired configuration. As of shortly after 6 a.m. Pacific Time today, nearly all iPhone 17 Pro Max configurations on Apple's online store in the U.S. are facing ...
apple n1 chip

Apple's New N1 Chip in iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Has a Wi-Fi 7 Limitation

Saturday September 13, 2025 10:01 am PDT by
The latest iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air models are equipped with Apple's all-new N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread connectivity. However, the chip has a Wi-Fi 7 bandwidth limitation. According to FCC documents reviewed by MacRumors, the N1 chip in all of the new iPhone models supports up to 160 MHz channel bandwidth for Wi-Fi 7, short of the...
airpods translate

AirPods Live Translation Blocked for EU Users With EU Apple Accounts

Thursday September 11, 2025 4:01 am PDT by
Apple's new Live Translation feature for AirPods will be off-limits to millions of European users when it arrives next week, with strict EU regulations likely holding back its rollout. Apple says on its feature availability webpage that "Apple Intelligence: Live Translation with AirPods" won't be available if both the user is physically in the EU and their Apple Account region is in the EU....
iphone 17 lineup

iPhone 17 Models Launch on September 19 With These New Features

Friday September 12, 2025 7:58 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 lineup and ultra-thin iPhone Air in stores on Friday, September 19, and the company has already shown off the new devices at its fall event, which ran with the the tagline "Awe dropping." The iPhone 17 series brings a host of new features and enhancements. Here's a rundown of the biggest upgrades and changes: iPhone 17 Display Changes The iPhone...
iphone air all colors

iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Now Facing Extended Delivery Estimates

Saturday September 13, 2025 11:43 am PDT by
iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air pre-orders began on Friday in the U.S. and many other countries. iPhone 17 Pro Max delivery estimates quickly slipped beyond the Friday, September 19 launch day for those who had yet to place an order, and now the rest of the new models have started to follow suit. As of shortly after 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time today, select iPhone 17, ...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Models Are eSIM-Only in These Countries

Tuesday September 9, 2025 12:23 pm PDT by
Apple continues to phase out the physical SIM card tray on iPhones, with the latest models relying solely on eSIM technology in more countries. The new iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max support eSIMs only in these countries and regions, according to Apple: Bahrain Canada Guam Japan Kuwait Mexico Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Un...
iPhone 17 Air Battery

Apple Reveals iPhone Air Battery Replacement and Repair Fees

Friday September 12, 2025 9:33 am PDT by
Apple today disclosed its out-of-warranty repair fees for all of the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air models, ahead of the devices launching next week. First and foremost, Apple's battery replacement fees did not increase for the latest iPhone models in the U.S., with Apple charging a flat $119 to replace the battery inside an iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, or iPhone Air. This is the same fee it...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

Skipping the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What's Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Wednesday September 10, 2025 8:33 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. If you are skipping the iPhone 17 Pro and want to know about what to expect from the iPhone 18 Pro models, we have recapped a few of the key rumors below. Under-Screen Face ID In April 2023, display industry analyst Ross Young shared a...

Top Rated Comments

jarman92 Avatar
64 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
64 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
64 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
64 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
64 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
64 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)