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Your iPhone and iPad are suddenly worth a lot less

By Joshua Swingle

Updated: Jan 12, 2020, 2:50 AM

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Your iPhone and iPad are suddenly worth a lot less

Apple has never been the most generous company when it comes to trade-in values, but overnight several iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch models have seen their value slashed rather drastically.

Your Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad are now worth less

The change, which was first spotted by iFun.de and subsequently reported by MacRumors, appears to have been applied to several countries and regions, including the United Kingdom and Germany. The trade-in value of Apple products in the United States has also been affected.

For example, the iPhone XS Max could fetch you up to $600 through Apple yesterday and the older iPhone 7 Plus could be exchanged for up to $200 in store credit. Now, these devices are valued at just $500 and $150 respectively.

Similar changes have been made to the iPad and Apple Watch lineups. Specifically, the Cupertino-based giant now says your iPad Pro is worth up to $220 rather than $290 and the iPad Mini will only fetch you $80, down from $120 previously. Your Apple Watch Series 4, on the other hand, is now valued at just $100 instead of $110.

Apple’s updated trade-in values can be viewed in the list below. The current prices are highlighted in bold to avoid any confusion with the previous valuations.

Estimated Apple iPhone Trade-in Values

iPhone XS Max – up to $500, previously up to $600
iPhone XS – up to $420, previously up to $500
iPhone XR – up to $300, previously up to $370
iPhone X – up to $320, previously up to $400
iPhone 8 Plus – up to $250, previously up to $300
iPhone 8 – up to $170, previously up to $220
iPhone 7 Plus – up to $150, previously up to $200
iPhone 7 – up to $120, previously up to $150
iPhone 6s Plus – up to $100, previously up to $120
iPhone 6s – up to $80, previously up to $100

Estimated Apple iPad Trade-in Values

iPad Pro – up to $220, previously up to $290
iPad – up to $100, previously up to $140
iPad Air – up to $70, previously up to $100
iPad mini – up to $80, previously up to $120

Estimated Apple Watch Trade-in Values

Apple Watch Series 4 – up to $100, previously up to $110
Apple Watch Series 3 – up to $70, unchanged
Apple Watch Series 2 – up to $60, unchanged
Apple Watch Series 1 – up to $30, unchanged

Apple started pushing trade-ins with the iPhone XR

The Cupertino-based giant had typically shied away from promoting its trade-in program for iPhones and iPads. But following the poor reception of the iPhone XS and iPhone XR in 2018, the company started pushing users to upgrade through its trade-in program to keep them inside the ecosystem.

The campaign appears to have worked well and trade-ins most recently accounted for 15% to 20% of all iPhone upgrades, up from just 5% to 7% before the campaign's introduction. Now, however, iPhone demand appears to have risen again and Apple is again limits its focus on the trade-in program.

If reports are to be believed, the iPhone 11 series is outperforming expectations globally. It has helped Apple increase its market share in China, somewhere the company has been battling declining sales and market share for over a year now.

Additionally, Apple bounced back in Europe during the third quarter of 2019 thanks to the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro release in late September. Similar results were registered in Australia and Japan, where the company accounts for almost 50% of all smartphone sales.