Why Apple Wants Your Old iPhone

Apple has heavily promoted their trade-in program in recent years, encouraging users to give up their old iPhone in exchange for a discount on a new model. Over a third of Apple Store customers now utilize this program, but it’s left many people wondering why Apple even wants our old iPhones. Which is what I’ll explain in this video.

[canitbechristine]

I love how Apple can say sorry we can’t fix your phone (when it really is something fixable) but will take that same phone and refurbish it for resell.

[jon]

It also has the fun side-effect of reducing the number of used models on the market, thus driving up price and thus leading more people to instead buy new from Apple.

[eaaeeeea]

We might be close to "peak smartphone" as in they're so good that new models every year hardly qualify as upgrades. I think that's precisely why Samsung invests heavily in foldable touch screen phones to introduce a new form factor. New form factors are needed for new sales.

[hRtkuojTtmk]

It also prevents people from having a backup iPhone to use should the new and more expensive one they bought from Apple suddenly get badly damaged or lost and, thus forcing the user to buy another expensive new iPhone instead of being able to revert to their older and already paid for iPhone.

[davidhughes]

It basically keeps Apple in control of their own markets, take someones old phone out of the market location (say USA or EU), they upgrade and if that phone is exchanged instead of being handed down to a family member or sold 2nd hand then that person would also need buy a new product.

[petersmith]

It also maintains brand loyalty as trading in for a new iPhone is more convenient for most people than switching to an Android phone.

[HarryPujols]

I clinged to an iPhone with a headphone jack until it couldn’t take it anymore, I would have bought one sooner if they didn’t take away the feature. They also said it was to “claim space” to add more tech, and literally every phone without a headphone jack is now much bigger.

[digestiveissue]

"benefits the environment"

As their business grows over the years, the amount of material they need to extract also grows. By doing this they do not extract less material, they just don't need to extract even more.

[callmejoc]

It also helps restrict the availability of spare parts, most of which can only be obtained from other donor devices

[flom]

Does apple really thinks I’m going to trade in my iPhone 11 (in mint condition) for less than £300? Absolutely not

[ValynPascual]

The first time I heard that 🍎 word in my life I was so excited

[Sacrypheyes]

i find it more likely that one of the reasons is that it improves their sales by limiting the amount of old iphones on the market : as people won't be able to find as much iphones on the used market, their only choices to get one is to either buy a refurbished one or a brand new one at full price, both of which totally benefit apple.

the same way supermarkets and big chains such as amazon prefer to destroy a large part of their unsold products rather than putting them on sale.

[peppeddu]

I never understood the benefits for selling an old iPhone back to Apple.
You get pennies for a still perfectly usable iPhone that you can use as a spare phone in case you need to send you "new" one for repairs.

[MegaSalad]

Ya lost me at “doing this makes apple products more affordable”

[oldtimefarmboy]

Plus, if you forget to format the memory several times to insure your personal information is completely erased, they can record and sell that information to ANYONE willing to pay for it.

[Zahra-ekoq]

I’m upgrading to the 13 Pro from the 7 and I would get less than £70 for it and it still works with no cracks on the screen so I’ll definitely be keeping it as a spare. It’s not much of a difference on a £949 phone

[PerpetualPreponderer]

The prices they offer for trade in are in many cases quite dramatically, and comically, significantly below market rates.

It’s often a good idea to cross check with stores that buy & sell used phones to see if you’re getting the most you can for your device.

[corey]

I tried to trade in my brother's mint condition iphone 11 to apple for the 12 pro max. Apple only wanted $350 for a brand new iphone the year prior, which is unacceptable. I sold it on the used market for $550 (US)

[georgeyatesjr]

I’m using an old 5s while watching this video. Instead of setting in my dresser drawer I now use it as an iPod for mostly music or watching YouTube. It’s only 16gb. I can still put enough of the music I need on It works great. My main phone is a 11 pro max.

[fenman]

Having just bought my first Android based phone I can honestly say will not be going back to Apple.