There are plenty of ways to make some of your money back by selling or trading in your old iPhone. One of the easiest is to sell it right back to Apple in exchange for a gift card. The big downside is that Apple’s trade-in values are never going to compete with those of third-party buyback sites. In fact, as MacRumors noted this week, Apple has recently dropped the maximum trade-in prices for the iPhone and other devices. Now you’ll get even less if you decide to sell your phone back to Apple.
Apple lowers iPhone trade-in prices
Here are the new trade-in values for all of the iPhone models Apple will let you trade in. If your device is eligible for trade-in, Apple will give you credit toward your next purchase or an Apple Gift Card. And if not, Apple will recycle your device free of charge. Here are the eligible models:
- iPhone 12 Pro Max: Up to $700 (was $790)
- iPhone 12 Pro: Up to $600 (was $640)
- iPhone 12: Up to $450 (was $530)
- iPhone 12 mini: Up to $350 (was $400)
- iPhone SE (2nd generation): Up to $160 (was $170)
- iPhone 11 Pro Max: Up to $450 (was $500)
- iPhone 11 Pro: Up to $400 (was $450)
- iPhone 11: Up to $300 (was $340)
- iPhone XS Max: Up to $280 (was $320)
- iPhone XS: Up to $220 (was $240)
- iPhone XR: Up to $200 (was $230)
- iPhone X: Up to $200 (unchanged)
- iPhone 8 Plus: Up to $160 (was $180)
- iPhone 8: Up to $100 (was $110)
- iPhone 7 Plus: Up to $100 (was $110)
- iPhone 7: Up to $40 (was $50)
- iPhone 6s Plus: Up to $50 (was $60)
- iPhone 6s: Up to $30 (unchanged)
Apple wants to pay you less for your old devices
In addition to the iPhone, Apple lowered the maximum trade-in prices of iPad and Mac models. Apple will now buy your iPad back for up to $550, which is down $30 from $580. If you want to trade in a Mac computer, the most that Apple will pay is $2720, which is down from $3240. The only product line that hasn’t suddenly lost value seemingly overnight is the Apple Watch.
This is yet another reminder that if you have the time, you should look elsewhere to sell an old device. You will almost always get more money selling an old phone, tablet, or computer on eBay. Plus, third-party marketplaces like Decluttr, Gazelle, and Swappa will almost always offer better prices. It took a few seconds to find an offer of $754 for an iPhone 12 Pro Max in good condition on Decluttr’s site. That’s $54 more than Apple would give you for the same model in perfect condition.
