The Apple iPhone 14 Pro on sale at the company’s Fifth Avenue store in New York, US, on Friday, … [+]
Conventional logic says that it is too early to shift your iPhone 14. It has at least three years of software updates left and it is ultimately still an excellent handset. However, a combination of upcoming iOS 18 features and new pricing data suggests now might be the time to sell it.
Let’s start with iOS 18.1, Apple’s next major update for iPhone. Only the iPhone 16 series and iPhone 15 Pro range will receive the AI portion of the update. That means the iPhone 14 will miss out on new features such as an enhanced Siri, Writing Tools and summaries and transcriptions of phone calls.
That may not move iPhone 14 owners to upgrade, mobile AI still has some way to go before it becomes integral to the smartphone experience. But it does mean there’s a clear difference between the haves and have-nots when it comes to iPhone features, which may affect trade-in values in the long term. Or even its pricing on the secondary market.
This may change if Apple follows Samsung’s lead and drip-feeds some AI features to older handsets in the future. For now, if you plan to sell your iPhone 14, either on eBay or Swappa, iPhones without Apple Intelligence could see their second-hand price crater. Ricky Panesar, founder of repair specialists iCorrect.co.uk, believes this is likely.
“Apple communicated that the iPhone 16 was built from the ground up with Apple Intelligence. The announcement at WWDC highlighted significant AI upgrades, exclusive to the iPhone 16, which were not confirmed for any previous models. This is the first time we’ve seen such a major reveal midway through an iPhone cycle, continuing the depreciation of the iPhone 14 range.”
For the time being, despite the depreciation rate of iPhones increasing, the 14 hasn’t suffered as dramatic a drop in value as the iPhone 15, according to new data from Compare and Recycle. The iPhone 15 range lost 55.7% of its value in its first 12 months on the market, compared to the iPhone 14’s 50% drop. These numbers get worse as new iPhones are released.
When it comes to trade-in prices for your old iPhone 14 Pro Max, both Samsung and Apple are offering $500 for the device when buying the iPhone 16 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra. That figure jumps to $900 if you decide to purchase the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, which is $821 more expensive than the iPhone 16 Pro Max before all discounts and promotions.
The iPhone 16 hasn’t landed in people’s hands yet, so the market hasn’t adjusted to the reality that the iPhone 14 has far fewer features than its successors. A glance on eBay and Swappa shows that people are selling their used iPhone 14 Pro Max devices for between $400 and $700.
In a press release about trade-in prices a day before pre-orders for the iPhone 16 opened, Apple boasted that “iPhone keeps its value better than any other smartphone.” That is clear in these second hand prices for a two year-old phone. Especially when compared to the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, which is being sold for under $300 on the secondary market.
That could all change after the dust settles and it is established in buyers minds that Apple Intelligence is not making its way to older iPhones. While secondary market prices are high and trade-in values are decent at Samsung and Apple, now might be the best time to sell your old phone for the most amount of money possible.
