If you are moving to iPhone this month, buy iPhone 17 at $899 rather than the cheapest model or the most expensive one. It is the entry point in Apple’s lineup that lists a 120Hz ProMotion display, a 48MP main camera with a 48MP Ultra Wide, an 18MP Center Stage front camera and up to 30 hours of video playback, and it qualifies for every Apple Intelligence feature.
The harder half of switching is not the phone, it is the paperwork: what your old handset is worth, whether the model you want has a SIM tray, and which carrier you have to name at checkout. Apple publishes an answer to only one of those three, so this guide sticks to what it does publish.
Key facts for a switcher
| Item | What Apple publishes |
|---|---|
| Verdict | iPhone 17, from $899 with Apple’s $30 connectivity discount, $929 unlocked at 256GB |
| Trade-in range | $175 to $885 in US credit for an iPhone 13 or later, credited instantly |
| Non-Apple devices | Accepted. Apple publishes no dollar figure or table for them |
| SIM | Dual eSIM, two active lines, and no SIM tray at all in 12 markets |
| Apple Intelligence | 16 languages, full support on iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16 or later |
What Apple publishes about trading in a phone it did not make
Apple Trade In accepts devices from other manufacturers, and Apple’s own explanation of how the estimate works is that it depends on the device, model, manufacturer and condition, with the final amount confirmed after Apple receives the handset and verifies it. That is the whole of what Apple publishes about the process.
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There is no dollar table. Apple’s trade-in page is a questionnaire rather than a price list, and its estimator address returns an error, so there is nothing to look up and nothing we will publish on Apple’s behalf. The only trade-in figures Apple states in its own words are for iPhone: $175 to $885 in the US for an iPhone 13 or later, and £455 in the UK for an iPhone 16 Pro or later.
So assume your credit is unknown until Apple quotes it, and note that the $1,200 carrier trade-in headline on Apple’s own buy page is a carrier offer described in Apple’s footnotes, not a figure the carriers have published. Apple’s trade-in values also fell on September 9.
Which iPhone to buy on the way in
| Model | Apple’s price | Why a switcher would pick it | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 17 | from $899 | 120Hz ProMotion, 48MP main and Ultra Wide, 30 hours video playback | USB 2 at 480 Mb/s, 256GB and 512GB only |
| iPhone 17e | $699 | Cheapest new iPhone Apple sells, A19, 256GB, Ceramic Shield 2 | It launched in March at $599 |
| iPhone 16 | $799 | Second cheapest, and it keeps the $30 connectivity discount | A18 chip, no ProMotion on the spec page |
| iPhone Air | from $1,099 | 165 g, the lightest iPhone Apple sells | One rear camera, no Ultra Wide, USB 2 |
| iPhone 18 Pro | from $1,199 | Variable aperture, 48MP telephoto, USB 3 at 10 Gb/s | $300 more than iPhone 17, 211 g |
The reason not to start at the top is that iPhone 18 Pro costs $300 more and its advantages, four aperture stops and a 48MP telephoto, are photographer rather than switcher features. Apple’s $30 connectivity discount applies to iPhone 17 and iPhone 16 only.
Three things to check before you press buy
- eSIM: in Bahrain, Canada, Guam, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the United States and the US Virgin Islands, Apple’s Pro models have no SIM tray. Apple’s footnote states that using an eSIM requires a carrier that supports eSIM and a wireless service plan.
- Carrier: Apple Card Monthly Installments requires you to select AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon, and Apple states prepaid plans are not supported. Apple Upgrade, the Klarna lease that replaced the iPhone Upgrade Program, also requires an eligible carrier and excludes AppleCare.
- Order of purchase: an Apple Watch is not a first buy. watchOS 27 requires iPhone 11 or later with iOS 27, and Apple Intelligence features on the watch require pairing with an Apple Intelligence iPhone.
What carries over, and what does not
iOS 27 lands free on Monday, September 14, and one of its less advertised changes matters here: the revamped iCloud Shared Albums support full-resolution files, more file types, emoji reactions and web access from Android and Windows through iCloud.com, so shared photo albums still work with the people you left behind.
Two features do not travel as far as the marketing suggests. Apple says Siri AI and the other Apple Intelligence features will not be available in China while it works through regulatory requirements, and Siri AI starts in English with French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish following in October. If you want the ecosystem extras, AirPods 5 at $129 and Apple Watch Series 12 at $399 are the two cheapest additions Apple prices publicly.
What has not been confirmed
Apple publishes no trade-in value for any non-Apple device, no per-model table for any device at all, and no per-device AppleCare+ price for the September 2026 products. We will not state another manufacturer’s specifications, prices or trade-in figures, because Apple does not publish them.
Pre-orders for iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are open now, with stores stocked from Friday, September 18 and a second wave of countries on Friday, September 25. iPhone 17, iPhone 17e and iPhone 16 are on sale today, and iOS 27 arrives free on Monday, September 14, which is the sensible day to start the move.
