Apple’s iPhone Trade-In Values Plummet Ahead of Black Friday

As Black Friday draws near, many of us are thinking about getting new Apple devices like an iPhone 13 and deliberating what sort of trade-ins would work best for our needs. Apple’s trade-in service is a very popular option. Apple tends to offer fairly competitive trade-in deals and makes the process incredibly easy when upgrading to a new device.

However, Apple also put limits on the maximum trade-in value for specific devices, which brings us to today.

iPhone trade limits have been lowered across the board, which means your trade-ins to Apple won’t get you as much at the high end.

What sort of decreases are we talking about? Well, it ranges from nearly $100 less to only $10 less per device.

Let’s take a close look at specific changes for the iPhone model you may have.

1. iPhone 12 Pro Max: Decreased $90 (to $700)
2. iPhone 12 Pro: Decreased $40 (to $600)
3. iPhone 12: Decreased $80 (to $450)
4. iPhone 12 mini: Decreased $50 (to $350)
5. iPhone SE (2nd generation): Decreased $10 (to $160)
6. iPhone 11 Pro Max : Decreased $50 (to $450)
7. iPhone 11 Pro: Decreased $50 (to $400)
8. iPhone 11: Decreased $40 (to $300)
9. iPhone XS Max: Decreased $40 (to $280)
10. iPhone XS: Decreased $20 (to $220)
11. iPhone XR: Decreased $30 (to $200)

Interestingly, the iPhone X was not changed at all, although older iPhones down through the iPhone 6s all took some kind of hit. Again, these are the maximum limits for trade-ins, so you need an iPhone in excellent condition to approach them, which means the iPhones with the biggest drops (iPhone 12 models) are probably the ones to feel this the most.

Prices have also dropped for other devices, including a huge hit for Mac computer trade-in limits (now $2,720 at the most), and a minor $30 decrease for iPad models.

Apple Watch trade-ins remain unaffected by these changes.

It’s normal for some trade-in adjustments to occur in all businesses based on age, inventory, demand, and proximity to the holidays. However, news like this shows why it’s important to trade in your devices sooner rather than later if you want to get as much value back as possible when upgrading.

And because we know you’re wondering, we also took a quick look at Amazon’s trade-in options for comparison. If you have a standard iPhone 12 with 256GB of storage and no problems, it will trade in for $450…exactly what Apple’s new figure is. This probably isn’t a coincidence.

We’ll keep you updated on any other important changes as you make your holiday purchases.