Those with iPhone 11 models, of course. Love it or leave it, the US carriers managed to shoehorn us into two-year contracts again in the past few years since they ostensibly parted with the practice.
It's just that now the contracts are for paying the iPhone in installments, often without discounts, instead of subsidizing them down to $200, and then recuperating the costs with two years on the cell plan that goes with them.
While ending the two-year contract practice has been a boon for the carriers' bottom line, all the extra costs have shifted to their subscribers who not only have to pay for expensive monthly plans now, but also pay for the phones every month, too.
The most popular iPhone 13 upgrades span the iPhone XR to iPhone 12 Pro Max range
That's why the latest SellCell survey that run the data on the most popular iPhone trade-ins during the last weeks, comes as a little surprise. SellCell's service locks the price of your old iPhone before Apple's announcement, yet you can send it to them after you've gotten your new edition.
Unsurprisingly, the most trafficked handset in that kind of swap in the last few weeks has been the iPhone 11, with a full 18% of the trade-in traffic. Remember the good ol's two-year contract times when you got a phone for $199, skipped a generation, and got the next one at $199, too?
Yeah, that, but without the $199 part. The next places in the trade-in popularity rank, however, reflect the fact that users are keeping their phones much longer, now that they are paying full retail for them. The iPhone XR owners are thus next in line for an iPhone 13 upgrades, with 14%.
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Older iPhone trade-in share on the runup to the iPhone 13
The big surprise, however, are the iPhone 12 Pro Max owners whose share of the trade lock-ins sits right up there with the ancient iPhone XR - at 14%, too. Or, rather not that big of a surprise, as these are the early adopters that want the best of everything and they want it now.
We shudder to think what they are being offered for they year-old phone in order to jump on the iPhone 13 Pro Max bandwagon without delay or hesitation. Which older model will you be trading for an iPhone 13, if any?
Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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