I have an XS in good condition. It’s been in a case since day 1. It does have a couple of small nics on the bottom and a couple of tiny scratches you could see in certain lighting/ angles. I’d love to trade in and get the 420 ( pretty much exactly the same as I’d get from swappa after fees and shipping), but I don’t want to open my new iPhone 11 only to get an offer for $290. Are they strict with their assessments?

can i still get full trade in value if there’s a tiny chip mark on the lens? all the cameras work perfectly whole phone is in perfect condition just the minor chip on the camera.

I was trusting that Apple was doing device trade-in, not a third-party. I wish that I had come to Reddit and the internet before I had traded.

I sent a pristine 11 Pro Max that had never left its case. I even took video of it before I sent it. The third-party is claiming that the camera is broken, when it was fully functional before I sent my phone. Now, they’re sending me back a broken phone that was once totally perfect.

Does anyone happen to know if there’s any way to seek legal recourse? This isn’t right.

Either way. ONLY trade in your device in-person. I would never do or recommend this method ever again.

Edit: Thank you to everyone who has solid advice and info. I’m truly glad for the people who had good experiences, because that is what I expected for myself, but I’m also confused at all of the flippant responses and downvotes. I did originally believe that Apple was doing the trade-in in-house, which I will accept as my own oversight. I’m not afraid to drive to trade-in, but my purchase was a gift that I was using my trade-in for and my closest store was sold out of the device. Not only that, many people live hundreds and hundreds of miles away from Apple Stores. It’s definitely up to personal preference and what is available to you; I will ONLY do in-store trades from now on, but may my experience be a cautionary tale to the next person who needs to trade-in online: take photos, videos of functionality, and get your serial number prepared just in case! I am not the first person who has experienced this issue, and I’m sure that I will not be the last. Ounce of prevention, as it were.

I sent in 2 brand new iPhone SE 2nd gen to Apple for trade in, one of them was accepted but the other, they are claiming I actually sent in a crusty old iPhone 8, they even showed me pictures of this device, they are offering 50% of the original offer for the SE. Apple has taken me on a 2 week ride with customer support. They promise an investigation and callbacks and do neither. Eventually they refer me to a company called Phobio who handles their trade ins, I got a hold of a supervisor who assured me they no longer handle Apple's U.S. trade ins and they no longer have a business relationship, despite the photos Apple sent me having an inspection label that says the vendor is Phobio. Apple doesn't know what to do and I've spoken to maybe a dozen people. In short it appears they are shipping back to me someone else's iPhone 8, it even has 2 photos on it, prior owner apparently did not wipe the phone correctly. This has been a terrible experience and I wish I hadn't fought it, because I wasted so much time and got nothing out of it. Apple has lost me and my family as customers.

Looking to trade in my iPhone X for the new 12 series and was wondering how strict they are about scratches. My phone has 0 major scratches, only a couple of micro ones spread across the screen, and I was wondering if this would effect my trade in value at all?/r/

I've never dropped it and has never not been in a case but I have small scratches on the top corners of the frame from either the case or stuff getting between the case and the phone. Do they take money off for small cosmetic wear and tear things like that? Everything else is fine and there is no other imperfections.

I sent my 10.5" iPad Pro to Apple's third party trade-in centre in excellent condition. The initial trade-in value was £105. Not amazing but better than nothing for an old iPad.

I've just received an email with a revised value of £0, because apparently there is "LCD display burn in damage/streaks/discoloration across the screen". Which is nonsense as the screen was in perfect condition when I sent it to them.

What is going on? I'm intrigued to see what condition it's in when I get it back because if I find it's in worse condition than it was when I sent it in I will be livid. There seems to be no way to dispute any of this though. It's quite a bad look for Apple, but they clearly don't give a s**t.

Apple appears to have made a significant change at some point to how some standalone (not with a purchase or upgrade!) iPhone trade-ins work. I haven't seen this covered elsewhere. It used to be that Apple would either automatically send a trade-in kit or you could easily request it by clicking a button. Now, Apple says that if you want the kit, you have to call customer support to specifically request it. Apple won't even provide it via iMessage support, you literally have to get on the phone and wait on hold if you want the kit. That's some egregious dark pattern nonsense, like trying to cancel a newspaper subscription. They're just intentionally making it more difficult to use this convenient option.

Edit: per the discussion below, it looks like this policy change applies to some (but not all) standalone trade-ins for Apple credit that you can use later, and not to other kinds of trade-ins (e.g., credit against a purchase that you're making at the same time or an upgrade). It also might only apply to certain types of devices. Updated the text above to reflect that. Still bad!

Edit 2: I don't quite understand why this is getting downvoted to oblivion. It's a real and user-hostile policy decision by Apple! Folks below confirm that they've had the same experience.

Update 2:

Maybe this policy is different among stores. Some people said that Apple refused to apply their trade-in value to the original purchase. When I picked my iPad mini 6 at the Apple store (in the US), I asked Apple's Specialist whether if I could trade in later, and they said yes. So when I went there yesterday (13 days later), they processed it right away without any problem.

Therefore, you should ask Apple's Specialists first to confirm whether if they allow you to trade in your old device later.

Update 1:

If you choose the mail-in option for online trade-in, the Apple store will refuse to process your trade-in at stores.

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TLDR:

Trade-in your old devices at the Apple Store within 14 days of a new purchase. Never trade-in online. Ask Apple’s specialist to confirm this trade-in policy just in case they change it later.

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Original post:

When you purchase a new device at Apple Store or on the Apple website, you don't have to trade in your old device to get the credit right away. You can do that within 14 days when you are satisfied with your new device. That's what Apple employee told me.

When you bring your old device to the Apple Store to trade in later, just show the Apple Specialist the invoice along with the serial number of the new device that you bought, so they could apply the credit to the device in that order. Moreover, they will ask you to give them your credit card/debit card so they can send the credit to that card. It takes 3 days for the credit to be applied to your card.

I just finished traded in my old iPhone after 14 days since the day I have bought my new iPad mini, and they accepted that without any problem. So I think this info is useful for people who want to try a new device before they decide whether if they should sell/trade in their old device.

If you decide to trade in your device to Apple, please do it in person at the Apple Store. The process is quick and easy, and you get the maximum value of the trade-in right away. Never apply for the trade-in on the Apple website because Apple will assign a third-party company to serve you. They will send you a box so you can send your old device to them. It is a sketchy company. You have to wait in 2 weeks then they will tell you that your device has a problem, so they offer you a very bad quote with a lower value. When you ask them to send your device back to you, you will receive a “broken” device with problems that you have never seen.

Edited: Fix typos.

Hey all

I’m planning on trading in my 15 pro max for a 17 pro max in the next few weeks or so as and when it’s possible to do so.

Just wondering for trade ins and possibly anyone at Apple who may know… device in good condition. No scratches or marks on the screen or camera and the sides all perfect. The rear glass has some “white” marks near the bottom where dust and debris has gotten in between the case and the phone over the years. No scratches to feel as such just small white markings along the bottom. Is this generally okay? I’m trying to figure out as online it just says major marks or cracks which these are only tiny and only visible in certain lighting.

Should this be okay or would you guys double check in store before trying to order online?

Thanks for any help

I have a completely mint condition, base model iMac 2017 5K 27" and I was interested in upgrading to the M1 generation iMacs.

I entered it into Apple's Trade-In site and..... tada they offered $150! What a joke.

Looking at used prices on other sites, it hovers around $700+ What possible reason does Apple have for offering so little?

I recently got into the business of flipping and realized that Apple's trade-in values for Macbooks are actually reasonable and that money can be made if you're able to pocket the difference between the value of the macbook and Apple's trade-in value. Here's a scenario of what I was thinking based on a Macbook deal I found recently:

• Found a 2015 15' Macbook Pro in relatively perfect shape for $550.

• Apple's trade-in value for a 15' Macbook Pro in this condition is $750.

• Apple will give me a $750 gift card (Could sell the giftcard alone for $725-700 as well).

• Use $750 gift card to buy an iPhone XR.

• Sell iPhone XR immediately in box + receipt for $725 or $700. (or maybe return iPhone to Apple for cashback?)

• Profit: $150-175

What exactly is stopping me from doing this? Will Apple blacklist me as a buyer? I work near a mall with an Apple store so time or gas isn't an issue. If there's nothing wrong here I'd be doing it 1-2 times a week and alternating Apple stores if it's promising.

"In addition to the changed values, Apple has stopped accepting 12-inch MacBook trade-ins."

Hi! I am looking at trading my iPhone 15 for a 17 pro max, only issue is there is $152 left on my device with my carrier, bell. I tried to call and pay for it but it will break my contract and then I will loose my current bonus plan, and my plan will go up $60 a month, even with the device payment off of it. So here is my question. Can I still trade the iPhone to Apple without it being paid off, I will obviously still keep paying my bill, but will Apple accept it at all?

So I need a new phone and want to trade in my iPhone XR which is fully functioning however has a small chip/crack on the back top corner? I don’t think it’s major at all but I don’t want to waste my time going in for a trade in for them to tell me no.

I've used Apple's Trade-in program several times over the years, every time with notebooks. The last time was 3 years ago when I traded in an Intel MacBook Air for a M1 Pro MBP, went off perfectly, without a hitch.

I know that the program isn't the best in terms of value, undercutting what could be gotten from other places by hundreds, but it's so simple. Or at least on the surface it's supposed to be. Now, I've heard over the recent years that the Mac trade in program has turned into a hellhole, but I have had good luck with them before so I went that route for the convenience.

How wrong I was to do that. Here's what went down:

Ordered m4 pro MBP on Dec 31 at the Apple Store, and since they didn't have the model I wanted in stock, we had it delivered, but before I left I wanted to cover my bases and had them look at my old MacBook due to the rumors I'd heard, he said it looked great. Jan 6 I got that "today's the day" text and got the trade in sent back Jan 7. Smooth so far. Enjoying the benefits of the newer chip, happy with my purchase. Jan 26th I receive an email, "Your trade in value has changed," immediately my thoughts went back to all of those horror stories I had heard in recent years. Sure enough, $850 in trade in value down to $0 due to "LCD display burn in damage/streaks/discoloration across the screen." Only one problem, there was no discoloration or streaks. The only problem with the Mac in any way is normal grime imprints of the keyboard deck.

So at this point, the logical thing to do was call Apple, which I did. The (lovely) Apple representative looked at the pictures from the trade in agency and agreed that nothing seemed to be wrong. She said she would put in a note and send it through again and everything should be fine. Okay. Cool. A little roadblock, but nothing too bad.

Feb 6th I receive another email, this one stating that they just decided to send the Mac back and charge me the extra grand. Received the trade in Mac back Feb 10. So here I am with my old Mac, I boot it and go to a white screen website to check and sure enough, there's nothing wrong.

So I'm left to conclude that the reason was the normal grime outline of the keyboard deck on the display that is seemingly impossible to prevent. I'm going to include pictures here of the display and the grime outline.

Some astute viewers may notice that on the bottom left and right of the display there is a dimmed portion of the screen. However, that was entirely normal for the 2021 MBPs. I have 4 2021 MBPs in my immediate circle and they all have the same dimmed portions on both sides of the display. I even had mine replaced under warranty and the replaced one had the exact same dimmed areas. Surely the trade in partner for the world's richest company knows that. The guy at the Apple Store sure did.

I had heard horror stories of the Mac trade in partner, but I didn't know it had gotten this bad. I have had Apple's trade in program for the iPhone accept phones that looked like they had been shaken in a bag of nails, and I get turned away for something as small as this.

You can blame the trade in partner as much as you want, but at the end of the day the program has Apple's name on it and, being the biggest company on the planet, they have to take responsibility for it. This is the opposite of what I've come to know from the company and I'm incredibly disappointed that a month and a half later I'm sitting here with a perfectly good MacBook and an $1000 charge on my card for no good reason.