What Is Your iPhone Still Worth, and What Decides It

Why no fixed table exists

There is no list that says what your iPhone is worth, for the same reason that there is no list of what your car is worth. The value follows from what someone can do with it: resell it after refurbishment, or recover parts. Those two are far apart, and the six points below decide which side your device falls on.

One: model and generation

The model weighs the heaviest, and not only because a newer device costs more. Two things play a part: how many years of software support the model still has ahead of it, and whether it is a Pro version. Models nearing the end of their update list drop faster than their age would suggest. A Pro generally holds its value better than an ordinary version from the same year, especially in the larger storage sizes.

Two: storage

The storage of an iPhone is fixed to the board and cannot be changed later. That makes the larger sizes scarce second-hand, and you notice that in the price. The difference between one hundred and twenty-eight and two hundred and fifty-six gigabytes is usually real at trade-in, the difference between two hundred and fifty-six and five hundred and twelve often bigger still. So check what you actually have, under Settings > General > About, and not what you think you have.

Three: condition of screen and housing

An unblemished device can go straight on after a check and an erase. A device with a cracked screen or an obvious knock needs work and parts, and that comes off the price. The biggest step in residual value is between an unblemished screen and a cracked screen; scratches on the housing weigh far less than people fear.

Deformations are a case apart. A device that is bent, or whose screen no longer sits flat in the frame, has taken a blow that has often affected more than you can see.

Four: battery

Battery health is shown under Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging. If it is above eighty-five per cent, the battery can stay in. If it drops below that, a new one has to go in before the device can be sold, and that costs money and work. That is why battery health is not a detail at trade-in but a line in the calculation.

If the battery has been replaced before, the question is with what. A cell without an original chip can mean that the health cannot be read out at all, and a device whose battery data cannot be read is harder to assess.

Five: original parts and parts history

Recent versions of iOS keep track of which parts have been replaced and whether they are recognised. If it says for the screen, battery or camera that the part is unknown, then every buyer knows there is non-original work in it. That is not necessarily a problem for you as a user, but it lowers the value: a non-original screen generally means no True Tone and sometimes deviating brightness, and a next owner does not want to pay the original price for that.

Six: locks, and this is the breaking point

Three kinds of lock make a device unsellable rather than worth less:

• SIM lock. Under Settings > General > About it says whether there are any SIM restrictions. Only your operator can lift those.
• A management lock, the profile that a school or employer puts on a device. Only that organisation can release the device; there is no way around it.
• An iCloud account that is still active. As long as Find My iPhone is switched on and the account is linked, the activation lock stays on and nobody else can start using the device.

Devices with one of these three are not bought for trade-in here. That is not strictness but simple arithmetic: they are of no use to anyone. The good news is that you can check all three yourself in five minutes, before you ask for a price.

What else plays a part

The time of year does something. Around the announcement of a new generation in the autumn, a lot of devices come onto the market at once, and that pushes down the price of the older models. Anyone selling in May usually has an easier time of it than anyone selling in October.

Colour makes little difference, except with rare versions, and even there it is small. The original box and the accessories count differently with each buyer; just ask rather than counting on it.

What does always play a part is waiting. An iPhone loses value continuously, in a drawer as well. A device you no longer use and that still works is worth more today than it will be in six months.

Selling to a private buyer or to a shop

With a private buyer you generally get a higher price. You pay for that with time, with appointments that fall through, with questions about why the device still costs the same as last week, and with the risk of a payment being reversed or a device coming back after a week with a problem it did not have with you.

Selling to a shop brings in slightly less but is one transaction for a fixed amount. With us the trade-in price is fixed for fourteen days, so you have time to decide and can get the device ready without rushing, and once the device is approved payment follows within two working days.

Before you ask for a price

• Note down the model and the storage as they appear under About.
• Note down the battery health.
• Check whether there are SIM restrictions and whether there is a management profile on it.
• Check the parts history for anything reported as unknown.
• Assess your screen and housing honestly in ordinary light: unblemished, scratched or cracked.

With those five pieces of information you get a price that is right and that is not adjusted afterwards. What we ask for and how the handling works can be found under sell your device.