How to save on new Apple gear

When you get yourself a new piece of tech, like the newest and best iPhone, the only thing you want to do for quite a while is simply play around with it. Checking out new features, getting to know the shiny, new device, there’s scarcely anything better than that.

However, when the first excitement goes away, it’s worth coming back to your previous phone, tablet or laptop. The question now is — what should you do with it?

Fortunately, nowadays, many manufacturers and retailers offer trade-in programs that take care of the old device for you, and you get a nice discount on your new tech in the process — that surely is a win-win situation. Among these programs, Apple’s trade-in scheme is probably the most well-known, offering to take your Apple devices off your hands.

Especially now that the newest M3 MacBook Air has hit the shelves, it’s a great time to trade in your well-worn laptop and get a nice discount on the new, shiny one. Here’s everything you need to know about the Apple trade-in program.

What to do with your old tech?

Some people tend to chuck it in a drawer somewhere just in case, and some throw it away (remember to recycle your electronics if you do). Of course, you can also pass it on to a child or a friend.

You also have to remember that your older tech still has quite a lot of value left in it. Electronics do not age as quickly as they used to, and a two or three-year-old phone or a PC is still in its prime.

So you can also sell your older device and get some money back from it. Of course, selling it on your own is how to get the most money back, but some people don’t have the time or patience to do it. If you’re not into that, you can also opt for a trade-in program and exchange your older device for a discount on the new one.

How does Apple Trade-In work?

One of the most popular trade-in programs is offered by Apple. It works in an extremely straightforward way. When buying a new device on Apple’s website, you can opt in to trade your current device for a new one. Interestingly, Apple offers trade-ins for Apple devices and even some manufactured by other producers (although their trade-in value is much lower than comparable Apple products, so keep that in mind).

Once you check that you want to trade in your device, you’ll need to provide more info — its serial number and the state of the device. Based on this preliminary info, Apple will provide you with the estimated value of your phone. If you agree to go along with the trade-in, you can also choose how to get that value — either as a store credit for your new device or as an Apple Gift Card.

The rest of the trade-in process is really straightforward. With your new device, you’ll receive instructions on getting your device ready for trade-in. You can either mail it in or bring it to the Apple Store. You’ll need to log out of your iCloud account and back up your data, but you’ll get an email with detailed instructions on how to do all that, if that sounds unfamiliar.

After bringing the device to the Apple Store or mailing it in, you’ll have to wait around 2-3 weeks for your device to be examined and the final trade-in value to be confirmed. After another 3-5 days, you should get your credit or a gift card.

How often are Apple trade-in prices adjusted?

Of course, as technology progresses and Apple introduces new devices to the market, the trade-in values are also bound to change, along with the devices that are accepted into the program.

In general, you can expect trade-in values to change a few days or weeks after every major hardware announcement that Apple makes. That means, once a new Apple product drops, the company will probably soon change trade-in values to reflect the new product stack.

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Interestingly, that doesn’t mean that all the prices are immediately going down. For example, the latest adjustment happened on 7 March 2024, and while a few items got their value lowered, some (such as the iPhone 14 Pro Max) got their value increased a little bit.

When it comes to dropping devices altogether, a good rule of thumb is: if Apple stops supporting the device with software updates, you can expect it to soon be dropped from the trade-in program as well. It might take a generation or two if the particular device was especially popular, but it’s a good general rule to keep in mind.

What devices are eligible for a trade-in?

Apple’s trade-in program is robust and offers credit for many devices. The no-brainers are that you can easily trade in your iPhones and Macs, the two main categories of products that Apple sells, but that’s not all.

Other Apple products are eligible for trade-in. The two other big groups of devices that make the Apple ecosystem so robust are iPads and Apple Watches, which can be traded in. If you want to freshen up your ecosystem, you can get store credit for almost every part of it.

Remember that Apple allows you to trade in still-supported devices, which means they still get OS updates. If your device is already EoL, you won’t be able to get any store credit for it.

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Products from Apple that cannot be traded in are mostly accessories, such as AirPods, Apple Pencils, AppleTV, or HomePod. With these, the only official way to go is to recycle them, so if you want to get some money out of your older Apple accessories, eBay or sites like that are the way to go.

Interestingly, Apple also allows you to trade in some Android devices, mostly from Google or Samsung. So, if you want to switch from Android to iOS, you can do that while getting some store credit to boot. However, remember that Android phones’ values in Apple’s trade-in program are quite low, and you can get much more when selling them elsewhere. Granted, it’s also true for iPhones, but the discrepancy in price is much bigger for Android-powered devices.

This might not be worth it if you have a device that Apple does not accept, as you can get some money out of it elsewhere. If you’re making a switch from quite a venerable machine, this might be the easiest and most hands-off recycling process available.

Which Apple devices are worth the most when trading in?

When trading in your Apple devices, their value depends on a few factors. The most obvious one is their age. Generally, the older the device, the less valuable it is. However, some additional factors impact their price:

• Specific model — iPhone 14 Pro Max will generally be more valuable than iPhone 14, even though they were released at the same time.
• Storage — iPhone 14 with 512GB of storage will be worth more than the same phone in the same condition with 128GB of storage.
• Specifications — this applies mostly to Macs. There are many variants of CPUs, GPUs, and RAM available, and each of these will impact the trade-in price.
• Condition — this mostly applies to your iPhones, as cracked or significantly scratched screens will fetch a much lower price than phones in pristine condition, but this also applies to all other devices to some degree as well.

What is my iPhone worth at Apple Trade-In?

Here are the values of all iPhones eligible to trade in. As you can see, the most valuable now is the iPhone 14 Pro Max, but you can still trade in even the venerable iPhone 7.

What is my Apple Watch worth at Apple Trade-In?

You can also trade in your Apple Watch. You’ll get the most credit if you decide to cash in your Apple Watch Ultra (1st gen), but the trade-in program accepts devices as old as the Apple Watch 4.

What is my Mac worth at Apple Trade-In?

With Macs, prices will vary significantly, as these devices are much more varied in specs than Apple Watches or iPhones. Generally, you’ll get the most money out of your top-spec Mac Studio, but each category will have a lot of variation depending on your device’s processor, GPU, RAM, and storage.

What is my iPad worth at Apple Trade-In?

You can also trade in your iPads. The iPad Pro will be the most valuable for now, but remember that the price below is for the newer iPad Pro models. You can also expect to trade in your 2018 or 2020 versions, and they’ll fetch a lower price. The same applies to other iPad model, many variants under the same name often vary regarding their trade-in price.