Apple iPhone 16 trade-in guide: How to use your old phone to help buy a new one

Apple’s iPhone 16 series starts at $799, bringing the Action button to every model along with the new camera control button for quick access to pictures. You also have several options for buying a new iPhone, whether you want to buy it directly from Apple, from another store, or through your carrier. But the fact is that every iPhone is expensive. The “cheapest” new iPhone you can buy is still the one $429 iPhone SE that was last refreshed in 2022, or you can go the refurbished route to get a pre-owned iPhone that’s been refurbished by a manufacturer.

But the phone you already have could be the key to subsidizing the cost of a new iPhone. Trading in your device — especially if it’s in good condition — can get you credit that can cover a large portion of the cost of buying a new phone. Plus, there are a number of options you can take to achieve this, with possible payment scaling based on how much effort you’re willing to put into it.

We’ll go over a number of different routes you can take to get the most money out of your existing iPhone, based on how much work you’re willing to put in. You can start with the easiest route, which usually involves a trade-in agreement with your mobile carrier and reach websites where you personally sell the device, but you can reap a higher profit by doing the work yourself.

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iPhone trade-in deals with carriers: fast cash with strings

Long Apple’s iPhone 16 announcementthe company noted that credits toward the purchase of an iPhone 16 Pro can be up to $1,000 when traded in with an iPhone 12 Pro or newer. While these credits are real — and can go up to $1,300 with Boost Mobile — you have to be willing to put up with carrier finesse. Basically, this means signing up for specific rate plans in a carrier’s wallet, trading in your device (which the carrier will likely repair and resell for its own profit), and staying registered with a specific mobile carrier for two to in three years in order to get the full discount.

While it’s a lot of money in savings, it’s essentially a contract. And if you decide you don’t like your carrier anymore, you’ll need to pay off your device balance, losing any remaining credit. If you know you don’t feel like buying a new carrier during that particular time, then it can be tempting.

However, wireless carrier plan deals come up a lot, and sometimes it’s worth not signing a contract in order to remain flexible if the right deal comes along. For example, back in 2017 when Sprint was still an independent carrier, it offered a year of free service to anyone who wanted to try it. At the time, I was on a shared Verizon plan with my family, but my phone was paid off. I chose to take the promotion, move my line out of the family plan, and was able to get a year of almost free service with the airline, where I just had to pay about $6 a month in taxes. When that year was up, I stayed with Sprint for a few more months and then switched to Verizon’s Visible for its $25/month plan.

That said, I did indulge in a trade-in deal when I joined T-Mobile in 2021 while purchasing my current iPhone 12 Pro Max. The carrier offered just over $500 in bill credits when financing a new iPhone, both by switching carriers and trading in my Google Pixel 3 XL. It saved me a lot of money and my phone is now fully paid off, but now I’d rather extend the life of my iPhone a few more years and avoid committing to T-Mobile just in case a better deal comes along . Additionally, T-Mobile now only offers its best trade-in offers to customers using their more expensive Go5G plans, and I’d rather stay unbundled on my lower-rate Magenta Max plan. Without changing my plan, T-Mobile’s website claims that my iPhone 12 Pro Max could be worth up to $300, a far cry from the $1,000 if I agreed to upgrade my plan. It’s an exchange I just don’t like.

Verizon and Boost Mobile offer similar terms to get the higher credit, and if you’re going to lose a lower-rate plan to get the full credit, you’ll need to do some math to see if the price difference is worth it. you. . AT&T is offering its highest trade-in values ​​to customers on any of the carrier’s Unlimited plans, which can provide some flexibility. Personally, I’d rather lock in a lower monthly fee, but if you want to buy a more expensive plan anyway for the upgraded features, maybe the switch makes sense.

iPhone Trading Websites: Easy Money, But Less

There are many used appliance retailers and websites that offer to buy your used appliance for cash. And what’s especially nice about these websites is that these rewards are offered upfront, either as an instant discount on another device or as cash.

Apple itself offers a trade-in credit when you buy a new iPhone, which can be used in conjunction with the carrier offers mentioned earlier. For example, if I were to trade in my iPhone 12 Pro Max for the cost of an iPhone 16 Pro, Apple’s website says it would offer $300 toward the price of the new phone.

If you’re not specifically looking to buy a new phone, you can trade in your device for cash using services like Gazelle. On that website, Gazelle says it would offer $265 for the iPhone 12 Pro Max 256GB, as long as my device meets the criteria of appearing “as new” — meaning minor defects are acceptable.

The advantage of these websites is that you can get money or credit without having to sign a long-term agreement with an operator, but this means that you are not getting such a generous promotion. However, it’s important to note that whenever you trade in your device, the company you’re giving it to will likely refurbish the phone and resell it at an even higher profit. If you’re willing to put in a little more work, you can maximize the amount of money you get by selling it yourself.

Sell ​​your own iPhone

While selling your phone requires the most effort of these options, you can still get the most money for your device without having to sign a long-term contract with a carrier.

Websites like Swappa — a more gadget-focused marketplace — and die-hard eBay have guidelines for listing your device, noting its condition and setting a price. Both marketplaces will charge a seller fee for your listing; for example, Swappa takes a 3% fee while eBay has a scaling formula. However, finding out how much money you can get for your device is quite simple, as you can simply look up how much others are selling the same phone for. For example, in my quick search on both Swappa and eBay, other iPhone 12 Pro Max 256GB phones are selling for $400 to $500.

But while that’s significantly higher than the quotes I’ve gotten from Apple and Gazelle, it will ultimately come down to whether I’m willing to work to build the list, monitor it, and ship the device myself once it’s sold. But putting $500 toward a new phone — again, without having to sign any carrier deals — could be a worthwhile venture down the road.

Check this out: iPhone 16 review: All about the buttons

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Timing can be everything

Whichever option you choose to trade in your device — whether through a carrier promotion or trade-in through a marketplace — keep in mind that the longer you wait, the more your device ultimately depreciates in value. In particular, since Apple cuts the costs of previous iPhone models every September, it’s very likely that the value of your personal device drops around that time each year.

And if you’re running a profitable carrier promotion, those values ​​will also depreciate or go away entirely over time. For example, the $1,000 trade-in promotion I mentioned earlier is only available when using an iPhone 12 Pro model or newer. If you’re still holding on to an iPhone 11 Pro or earlier, you’ll likely get a much lower trade-in estimate from a carrier or trade-in website. It’s not a bad thing to keep older iPhone models that were first purchased in 2018 or later since they’re still getting software updates like iOS 18, but the chances of getting a good trade-in promotion or price top selling will become more challenging.