A lot of people left the iPhone for phablets when Apple was still making small iPhones, but now, Apple is willing to welcome the switchers back into the flock with open arms. Its brand-new trade-in program lets Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry users hand in their old phones for bright, shiny iPhones.
Perviously, only iPhones were accepted as trade ins at Apple Stores, but now any Apple Store in the U.S., UK, Canada, and a few other European countries will accept phones that run the competitions’ software. The change is listed on individual store pages, and is listed on the UK Apple Store’s iPhone Reuse and Recycling program page. Trade ins for non iPhones aren’t advertised very loudly, but hidden under a category that’s simply called, “Smartphone,” as if Apple doesn’t really want to advertise that its letting Android users into its program.
Right now, the online trade-in page only gives the option to hand over phones from Sony, Samsung, Nokia, LG, HTC, and BlackBerry, but if you go into stores with another Android device, you may also get credit. No one’s tested that theory yet, though. The other thing to note about Apple’s new policy is that you may not get very much money for your old Android. A Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in mint condition will only get you about $140. Still, it’s better than nothing.
Apple’s decision to accept non-iPhone trade ins isn’t too surprising, given the recent report that it would open up to Android devices at the very least. It also makes sense, assuming that CEO Tim Cook’s claims that Android users are leaving Google for Apple in droves are actually true.
If you’re interested in finding out how much your phone will fetch, you can either head over to an Apple Store, or check out the UK website for an estimate. The U.S. Apple Store page doesn’t say anything about non-iPhone trade ins at the moment.
