Apple is temporarily increasing the iPhone trade-in credit amounts

Amid reports of Apple scaling back iPhone production, the tech behemoth has a new trade-in promotion.

This limited time deal will give select iPhone trade-ins up to $100 more when put towards a 2018 iPhone. It clearly seems like a push to drive more sales of these devices. 

Customers can take advantage of this deal both online and in retail stores through the Apple Giveback program. In fact, you can even get the value of the trade-in instantly online or in person — making it easy to get a new phone on the spot.

iPhones eligible for this bonus include the 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, and 8. The older devices are getting more significant trade-in credits with an iPhone 6 moving to $150 from $75 and the 6 Plus from $100 to $200. These are the maximum values and will depend on the condition of the device. 

An iPhone 7 Plus or 8 will still provide the largest $300 credit towards a new device. This would bring the base iPhone XS down from $999 to $699 off contract. On a $749 iPhone XR it brings the price to a much more affordable $449 which is closer to the new discontinued iPhone SE.

This trade-in promotion is certainly arriving at an interesting time. On Nov. 19 The Wall Street Journal reported that production was slashed for the latest models, including the more affordable iPhone XR. Additionally, DigiTimes is further reporting that component manufacturers are feeling the cuts as well. 

These reported cuts and this deal aimed to get customers upgrading adds weight to the case of less than expected iPhone sales. In typical Apple fashion, specfic sales figures are not currently known and won’t be released. While the XS, XS Max, and XR received rave reviews and are all around excellent iPhones, the demand might not be there. Especially with the near and above $1,000 pricing for the line. 

It’s likely that Apple’s own Black Friday deals didn’t help much considering it was gift cards instead of discounts. This trade-in promotion will hopefully inspire some users with older devices to upgrade. Time will tell if this promotion can really increase consumer interest.