I wanted to determine whether it was better to stay on Magenta Max and buy the phone outright through Apple or move to Go5G Plus to get the better trade values so I did some basic calculations.

Currently, we pay $112/mo for two lines on Magenta Max with an Insider discount. Both phones are paid off, so this is only the cost of the plan. Only one person needs a new phone, so let's assume we are talking about only a single line here. Assuming we move to Go5G Plus, that will cost an extra $10 per month, or $240 over the period of 24 months. With an iPhone 13 trade-in, an iPhone 16 Pro 256GB will cost $11.50-$12 per month. But there's also a $35 connection fee and sales tax.

TOTAL FOR T-MOBILE OPTION: $645 over the period of two years (24mo). This includes tax, connection fee, monthly phone payment, and the increased cost of moving to Go5G Plus.

If you trade through the Apple Store, they give $250 for an iPhone 13. The total cost with tax for the 16 Pro is $1191.

TOTAL FOR APPLE STORE TRADE OPTION: $941. Just the cost of the new phone, tax, minus the trade value.

So as you can see, it saves you about $300 by going through T-Mobile, but let's say you keep the iPhone 16 Pro a 3rd year, then you save only about $200. Now what if you buy the iPhone directly from Apple and rather than doing the trade, you sell it on Facebook or Swappa? I see the iPhone 13 listed for about $350 on Swappa.

Edit: I'm a dang idiot! The apple store advertises $200 on the trade in page, but on the buy-an-iphone page, when you step through it, it does actually specify $185 as the trade-in value. So maybe I did get the full value after all? Weird.

Sorry if I'm being captain obvious and stating something everyone already knew, but I am posting this in case anyone searches this question in the future.

I traded in an iPhone 13 that had a couple scratches on the frame and a good amount of scratching around the edges of the front screen. Some of those scratches were deep enough to catch a fingernail. Apple advertises a max trade-in value of $200 for iPhone 13s and ultimately their program assessed mine as being worth $185. The EIP contract for my 17 pro max showed up as $1199 with a down payment of $185. (and thus, $42.25 in monthly payments).

I then received a promotion enrollment message in my account activity stating I'd get $25.63 in monthly credits, which puts me at $16.62, exactly what the apple store quoted. (A total of $398.88). That puts me at $800 in 'promotional credit', as promised.

Since I'm in california, the tax was $122.90. That is actually as expected. I have seen many people say that if you trade in at apple, you're only charged tax on the difference, but in CA you will get charged tax on the full amount. (just like when you buy a car).

So yeah! I hope that info helps someone! :)

Hi All,

Quick question — are there any trade-in deals coming up this Thanksgiving for existing T-Mobile customers? I’m on one of the Magenta plans, and I’ve got an iPhone 13 I could trade in.

Just trying to figure out if it makes more sense to stay with T-Mobile or switch to Verizon.

Thanks!

hello, i wanted to get some input in my situation, i have an iPhone 13 that i've been using for around 2-3 years and since yesterday the battery has been swelling up and turning off randomly, i've minimized use and done all possible precautions. I told my mom about it and she says she's taking it for a trade in.

my question is, does t mobile (or any carrier in general) accept phones with swollen batteries? or should i first replace the battery and then trade it in?

I was also looking into replacing it in a 3rd party since my warranty expired and it's generally cheaper, but i don't know yet.

thanks for reading :)

Here’s the Apple-side breakdown for those on Go5G Plus/Next and Experience More/Beyond plans:

$1100 Trade-In Tier (Go5G Next & Experience Beyond)
• All Pro/Pro Max models starting with iPhone 13 Pro and newer

$800 Trade-In Tier (Go5G Plus & Experience More)
• iPhone 12 Pro and newer (doesn’t include the base iPhone 12)
• Example eligible devices: iPhone 13, 13 pro, 14, etc

You can do this at Apple Stores, Apple.com, or the Apple Store app, and the trade-in credits are applied when you choose T-Mobile carrier financing at checkout.

Note that this is the Apple-side T-Mobile deal; T-Mobile’s direct promo will be shared separately.

Below is T-Mobile's trade-in promo for the iPhone 17 models. This is the direct T-Mobile promo, separate from Apple's carrier financing deal.

⸻

Go5G Plus & Experience More

$830 Trade-In Value Eligible devices:
• Apple: iPhone 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max, 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max, 15 series, 16e, 16 series
• Samsung: S10/S10e/S10+/S10 5G, S20 series (incl. FE/Ultra), S21 series (incl. FE/Ultra), S22 series, S23 series (incl. FE/Ultra), S24 series (incl. FE/Ultra), S25/S25+/S25 Ultra/S25 Edge, Note9, Note10 series, Note20, Note20 Ultra, Z Flip3–6, Z Fold3–6
• OnePlus: 9 Pro 5G, 10 Pro 5G
• Google Pixel: 6/6 Pro, 7/7 Pro, 8/8 Pro, 9/9 Pro/9 Pro XL/9 Pro Fold, Fold
• Motorola: razr+ (2023, 2024)

⸻

Go5G Next & Experience Beyond

$1,100 Trade-In Value
• Apple: iPhone 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max, 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max, 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, 16e
• Samsung: S22 Ultra, S23 Ultra, S24 Ultra, S25 Ultra, Z Fold5, Z Flip5, Z Fold6, Z Flip6, S25, S25+, S25 Edge

$830 Trade-In Value
• Apple: iPhone 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, 13, 13 mini, 14, 14 Plus
• Samsung: S10/S10e/S10+/S10 5G, S20 series, S21 series, S22, S22+, S23 FE, S23, S23+, S24, S24 FE, S24+, Note9, Note10 series, Note20, Note20 Ultra, Z Flip3–4, Z Fold3–4
• OnePlus: 9 Pro 5G, 10 Pro 5G
• Google Pixel: 6/6 Pro, 7/7 Pro, 8/8 Pro, 9/9 Pro/9 Pro XL/9 Pro Fold, Fold
• Motorola: razr+ (2023, 2024)

⸻

Notes:
• Credits are applied via bill credits toward iPhone 17 purchases.
• Go5G Next / Experience Beyond accepts devices in any condition.
• All devices must be paid off and have a clean IMEI.

Edit. Messaged t force and they gave us an additional 250 off of our order of two phones, so 125 per line.