Apple quietly raised trade-in values right before its most expensive iPhone lineup in years, and if you are thinking about upgrading this fall, running your current phone through Apple’s estimator today is worth five minutes of your time. I already reported on the price increases coming to the iPhone. So none of this is surprising.
This is probably the only tactic that Apple can do right now to offset the price increases. Perhaps carriers will continue to subsidize the costs through their own means as well. But now it will become a big spreadsheet calculation for people looking to see what makes sense for their budgets. Trade in now to benefit from improved trade-in allowances and offset higher prices? Or just sit back and wait till the next release cycle.
Or do you take advantage of new leasing and financing options to spread the increased monthly costs rather than paying it all at once? Interesting options.