As soon as you walk out of a store with a new smartphone, most of its value is already gone. Trading a smartphone back in to a retailer or the company that made it can be incredibly demoralizing, but in a surprising turn of events, Apple has actually raised the trade-in value for a wide selection of its products, according to MacRumors.
As MacRumors notes, Apple last updated the trade-in value of its hardware lineup in December, but adjusted the values once again over the weekend. In order to determine the amount of money you can potentially receive for your old device, you’ll have to answer some questions on Apple’s website about the brand, model, and condition. If your device is in perfect condition, chances are that you will receive most or all of the maximum value listed on the website. And as of today, those maximum values have changed for select iPhone, iPad, and Mac models.
Starting with Apple’s family of tablets, the maximum trade-in value of the iPad Pro has gone up $45 from $535 to $580, representing the most significant increase for any eligible device. As for the standard iPad, the maximum value actually dropped by $15 from $250 to $235, going to show just how popular the Pro model has been.
Moving on to the Mac family, virtually everything has taken a dip, with the MacBook Air dropping from $600 to $530, the discontinued 12-inch MacBook dropping from $380 to $340, the discontinued iMac Pro dropping from $3,040 to $2,940, the iMac dropping from $1,180 to $1,050, and the Mac mini dropping from $830 to $770.
Finally, as for the iPhone family, the maximum trade-in value of the iPhone 11 Pro Max jumped from $500 to $515, the value of the iPhone 11 Pro rose from $460 to $465, the iPhone 11 went up from $360 to $380, and the iPhone 6S Plus increased from $60 to $65. Good news for iPhone owners looking for a few extra bucks.
“If you accept the trade-in estimate online when you purchase a new Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, we’ll arrange for you to send us your old device,” Apple explains in an FAQ on its website about the trade-in program. “Once we receive it, we’ll inspect it and verify its condition. If everything checks out, we’ll credit your original purchase method and send you any remaining balance on an Apple Gift Card by Email. If you choose to trade in your old device online for a gift card, we’ll also arrange for you to send it to us. When everything checks out, we’ll send you an Apple Gift Card by Email.”
In addition to adjusting the trade-in values on a number of its own products, Apple also recently expanded the program to include Google’s Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 as well as Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20.
