Trade and switch: Apple wants to recycle my iPhone 15 Pro Max for $0

Like most people who write about Apple for a living, I’m buying a new iPhone 16 this year. As I do every year, I went through Apple’s “Get Ready” system in the Apple Store app to start the trade-in process and make pre-ordering that much easier.

However, it didn’t quite go the way I expected. Apple offers up to $650 for trade-ins, and I assumed my phone, the 256GB version of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, would get at or near that. But when I began to answer Apple’s overly simplistic questions about the condition of my phone, I quickly discovered it wouldn’t.

The problem? The back glass of my iPhone is cracked. I dropped it some months ago (without a case) and since the front glass is completely unaffected, held off on fixing it despite having AppleCare+. I assumed Apple would merely deduct the $29 cost of the repair when going through the trade-in process.

Apparently that’s not how it works. In fact, Apple wouldn’t take my phone at all when I checked the “No” box under “Is the body of your iPhone in good shape?” Apple informed me that my trade-in value would be $0. They did, however, offer to recycle it for me for free.

(I checked, by the way. If you answer “No” to either question—whether the buttons work or the body is in good shape—Apple will deny any trade-in discount.)

So I quickly made an appointment at my local Apple Store to fix it so I can trade it in for the full $650. And I recommend you do the same: check out your iPhone 15’s condition before you go to trade it in. If there are any cracks on either the screen or the back, go get it fixed before trading it in—especially if you have AppleCare+. The cost to fix the front or back glass is only $29 with the coverage and $199 without, which is still better than handing it over to Apple for free.