Apple stealthily rolled out changes to its trade-in payout ranges this week, resulting in some net gains — or losses — for people seeking to upgrade to the latest iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple Watches.
Any figures you see are the maximum payout you could receive for a used device. The actual trade-in value depends not only on the model but also on the configuration (such as the amount of memory or storage), the condition of the tech and other factors.
There’s no change to the overall pattern of the trade-ins. Newer products still have a higher overall estimated trade-in value than older models.
Some phones didn’t receive any price tweaks at all. And while all the iPads are showing a higher payout, some products — including the second-gen iPhone SE, the original Watch Ultra, the iMac Pro and the Mac Pro — are seeing a lower trade-in value.
Some of the largest percentage bumps for iPhones include:
- iPhone 15 Pro Max: up to $490 (increase of $25)
- iPhone 16: up to $460 (increase of $25)
- iPhone SE 3rd generation: up to $80 (increase of $5)
- iPhone 14 Pro Max: up to $375 (increase of $25)
- iPhone 13 Pro: up to $260 (increase of $20)
- iPhone 14 Pro: up to $320 (increase of $25)
- iPhone 15 Pro: up to $410 (increase of $35)
Select other devices:
- MacBook Air: up to $520 (increase of $35)
- Mac Mini: up to $375 (increase of $35)
- Mac Studio: up to $1045 (increase of $70)
- iPad: up to $235 (increase of $15)
- iPad Mini: up to $265 (increase of $15)
- Watch SE 2nd generation: up to $60 (increase of $5)
- Watch Ultra 2: up to $305 (increase of $10)
- Watch Series 9: up to $130 (increase of $10)
The changes are all within 10% of the original maximum values. The Pro models of the iPhone 13, 14 and 15 received the largest percentage adjustments of all the phones: $20 (8.3%), $25 (8.5%) and $35 (9.3%), respectively. Of all the affected products, the Mac Mini received the biggest windfall: 10.3%, or an increase from $340 to $375.
The Mac Mini received the largest percentage increase of trade-in value.
I was somewhat surprised the company’s still taking trade-ins for Intel-based systems rather than recycling them, given that Apple switched to its own silicon with the launch of its M series processors in 2020, which it’s used exclusively since 2023. But there still seems to be a market for used models with Intel architecture, or at least sites like BackMarket still offer them.
Apple’s Mac operating system will stop supporting Intel processors natively with the next version, MacOS 27, and then only through its Rosetta emulation software through MacOS 28. (If you’re still using an almost 10-year-old iMac Pro, as a computer reviewer, I urge you to trade it in before Apple drops it entirely.)
But more interesting, and possibly depressing for some, is that Apple has also reduced what it’s willing to pay for Android trade-ins. The most recent Samsung Galaxy phones, the S23 and S24 lines, have been dropped entirely from Apple’s trade-in program. None of the remaining Samsung phones received an increase, and several even dropped by $5. I’ve reached out to Apple for clarification on some of the decisions.
Apple periodically reassesses trade-in estimates for used devices. In this case, however, the payout adjustments are occurring before the tech giant’s annual developer conference, WWDC, on June 8, so the timing could be strategic. At those major events, Apple debuted new hardware to showcase updated capabilities of its operating systems. It’s been a while since Apple’s done that, though — not since 2023, when it rolled out multiple devices, including the Vision Pro headset and 15-inch MacBook Air.
Price volatility for consumers could be another factor. AI’s ravenous demand for components — and the resources needed to make them — has created severe shortages of memory, processors and SSD storage, driving computer and phone prices higher and even affecting available configuration options.
Perhaps Apple’s updates to trade-in estimates are intended to distract budget-conscious buyers (a little) from the sticker shock of upgrading our hardware.
