Apple Prepping An iPhone Trade-In Program

As the release of the new iPhones comes ever so near, Apple is now conditioning its legion of fans to make the switch once the device hits store shelves in the next couple of months. As early as today, reports have come in that the Cupertino company will soon introduce an iPhone-trade-in program that will allow consumers to trade-in their old iPhones for a new one.

 

As the release of the new iPhones comes ever so near, Apple is now conditioning its legion of fans to make the switch once the device hits store shelves in the next couple of months. As early as today, reports have come in that the Cupertino company will soon introduce an iPhone-trade-in program that will allow consumers to trade-in their old iPhones for a new one.

According to Mark Gurman of popular Apple site 9to5Mac, the program is expected to take effect in September with some stores apparently already offering trade-ins to customers for several weeks now.

According to reports, customers can trade-in a working, non-liquid-damaged iPhone into an Apple retail store. The phone will then be evaluated by an employee with the aid of an online site that can be accesses using the store’s iMacs and iPads. The customer then answers a series of questions about the condition of the handset in order to determine a value. The procedure works the same way as Apple’s iPhone recycling program but is done in-store and apparently without much paper work.

Values can range depending on a number of factors including device colour, physical damage and liquid damage. The value is then added to a gift card, which can then be used to buy a new phone.

The store will keep the old phone, which will be presumably shipped elsewhere, most likely in emerging markets to be refurbished and resold. The old phones will not be resold at the store where the trade-ins are being offered.

At present, Apple is said to be performing a pilot program in stores in the United States. Whether or not this trade-in program will be offered in other markets such as Australia remains a mystery. But in case they do, it’s a safe bet that a lot of Australians will take the offer to take the bait as majority of Australians remain loyal to the iPhone.