Apple Confirms Its New iPhone Trade In Program At Retail Stores

Apple has confirmed to CNBC that its new iPhone trade-in program is now rolling out at its retail store locations. As first noted by 9to5Mac earlier this week, Cupertino’s program allows customers to replace older iPhone models for a newer one. In order to qualify, customers must leave the store with a new contract. Apple’s move follows “limited pilot testing” in recent months, and comes just weeks before Apple is expected to refresh its iPhone lineup.

BREAKING: Apple tells @jonfortt that $AAPL's trade-in program to roll out nationwide today; customer must leave store with new contract. — CNBC (@CNBC) August 30, 2013

As 9to5Mac stated:

With the new ability to exchange an iPhone and receive a fresh new model at a discounted price, perhaps the iPhone trade-in program will help meet Cook’s goal of selling more iPhones direct from his stores. A critical aspect of this is actually driving traffic to Apple Stores so that new iPhone customers are exposed to the entire Apple ecosystem. When a customer visits an Apple Store to purchase their new iPhone, they will be immediately made aware of other Apple devices like iPads and Macs.

Soon after Apple confirmed its new trade-in program, The Wall Street Journal weighed in with this interesting comment:

The device has to power on, and the customer has to be under contract, they added. The highest value a customer can receive is about $280, one person added.

While being able to trade-in an old iPhone or a new one at a Apple retail store is convenient, $280 sounds a little bit low, no? A quick check at NextWorth and Gazelle found mostly higher prices are currently being offered, depending on the model. We'll continue to follow this story. In the meantime, we'd love to hear your thoughts.

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