2020 is set to be the landmark year for Apple and this is mainly due to the leaks that the company may launch up to seven new iPhones this year. Not only will Apple launch a plethora of handsets, but the Cupertino-based tech giant is also going to fit its top-tier models with some ambitious upgrades that are going to make millions of users upgrade. However, it’s not all good news as the cost of upgrading appears to have been raised and now we finally know the reason why.
Last week, it was revealed that Apple had massively slashed trade-in prices for iPhone upgraders and Forbes reached out to Apple for an explanation on the same. In an official statement, Apple acknowledged the slashed prices but did not provide a valid reason for it. Now, two Apple employees on condition of anonymity have reached out to Forbes and given a justifiable reason why Apple has offered the price cuts on trade-in devices.
This what is said about the sudden, shock price cuts, “Apple buys those phones on behalf of a third-party company. Apple does not set those prices… Apple ships the collected phones at the end of each day to two different companies, one who purchases higher-end and another lower-end generally split at the 2017 [manufacturing] mark.”
What makes this bit of information all the more interesting is that it was validated by the second Apple employee and the primary reason for the drop in trade-in value is due to the fact that “people (are) repeatedly turning in phones with third party parts that cut the value.”
“Apple has no control of the pricing or when it changes and those prices can drop on us when customers bring in phones that have had original Apple parts harvested and replaced with lesser third party parts to our buyers’ dismay.”
The most common third-party par used is the display and it is an easy way for repairers to reduce the cost of replacement. Forbes adds, “while the company’s high profile battery replacement program and battery health monitors in iOS have made iPhone owners far more aware of their degeneration and the impact on performance.”
With that being said, this won’t come as any solace to those iPhone owners who head on to Apple’s official partners to have their handsets repaired. And it appears that a minority is ruining the party for the majority.
