AppleInsider Staff
Apple on Tuesday quietly updated its "Trade Up with Installments" webpage to reflect program changes that lower the cap on maximum trade-in value, but expand credit options to cover monthly carrier fees.
According to the revamped iPhone Trade Up webpage, customers looking to upgrade their old iPhone to a new iPhone 6s or 6s Plus are now limited to a maximum $250 trade-in credit. Previously, trade-ins were valued at up to $300 when combined with a 24-month installment loan processed through a partner bank.
Apple has changed tack and is now partnering with U.S. cellular carriers to offer customers an option to put trade-in credit toward monthly fees. Like the original plan, buyers can also use their trade-in money to offset the cost of a new handset.
"Get up to $250 in credit when you trade in your eligible smartphone. Use that credit to lower the full cost of a new iPhone or to reduce the monthly payments with your carrier," Apple's website reads.
Under the new terms, customers can get a maximum of $250 for an iPhone 6 Plus in good condition, down from a previous cap of $300. Trading in an iPhone 6 nets up to $225, while those upgrading from an iPhone 5s can accrue $125 in credit. Older iPhone 5 and 5c models rate $75 and the iPhone 4s trades in at up to $50.
Since monthly payments are now calculated on user-selected carrier financing plans, Apple no longer offers an estimated payment schedule. Further, handsets are locked to the carrier through which it is financed for the duration of the installment term. On the plus side, however, customers are no longer subject to bank regulations like credit checks and minimum financing agreements.
Apple introduced the Trade Up with Installments program in February in a bid to drive upgrade sales. The company's more traditional iPhone Upgrade Program remains active, allowing buyers to spread the cost of a new handset plus AppleCare+ protection over a term of 24 months, with an option to re-up for a new iPhone after 12 payments.
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5 Comments
Damn if that Steve Jobs did not drive some fine deals with music and phone industries for us customers. Now its like---
"I give you Arrakis( iphone owners) to squeeze as I promised! It's yours to squeeze! And squeeze! Give me spice($$)!"
What we need is a large scale, private peer-to-peer wireless network to bypass the need for carriers and network middlemen.
Device to device bandwidth handoffs, with businesses, homes and cars also acting as peers. It's a big dream, but the only way I can imagine to get out from under the likes of AT&T, Verision and all their corporate government protections (commonly mislabeled as 'regulation').
I paid between $600 and $800 each for my family's 6 Plus and 6s Plus, which were the going rates a little over a year ago. Now we get a $250 trade in value for them? Wow, will this company ever stop screwing fans?
That's an unfortunate change, and likely one brought about by the carriers complaints. Under Apple's plan, a person could buy a Sprint iPhone on the Apple monthly payment plan and use it unlocked, because you were paying Apple, not Sprint. Now the only way to get an unlocked Sprint phone is to pay full price at an Apple Store. This will definitely have an effect on customers opting for the annual upgrade, especially since the carriers all charge upgrade fees that Apple did not. And those who don't want to be Locke to a carrier will have to pay full price, which means they may hold onto it longer. Not the best move, especially if the iPhone 7 is as lack-luster an offering as the rumors paint it to be. Then again, the credit checks Apple was running that rejected so many customers may have yielded far fewer sales than they had hopped anyway, and resulted in a lot of bad PR. So altogether maybe a reasonable trade off,