iPhone Air's Resale Value Has Dropped Dramatically, Data Shows

[code-m]

Too much of MacRumors loses sight that what makes sense for you, or in general, what makes sense for the types of users who post on technology enthusiast forums like MacRumors doesn't necessarily make sense for everyone else. For example, I would imagine being thin and light is certainly worth paying extra for if you have something like MS.

I buy a new phone every year, and until this year it's always been a Pro Max. I was always super happy with the Pro Max. But something about the Air captivated me, so I took the jump; I figured worst case scenario I could always go back to a Pro next year. What I discovered with the Air is that it turns out being thinner and lighter is way more important to me than extra cameras, a speaker I'll never use, or a battery that lasts day and half. I pick up the phone every time I use it. For some people, there is significant value in being thin and light, and some might even want to pay MORE for that. I mean, look at the MacBook Air when it was first released. People paid a HUGE premium for a "worse" laptop.

I don't need a phone that can run a local LLM or play graphically intensive games. I'm almost never outside arms reach of a charger. I use AirPods when listening to stuff on my phone. So a lot of the "value" the Pro/Pro Max has is actually wasted on me. I was paying extra all these years for stuff I didn't really need. Does that mean the Pro Max is a "bad value"? No. It means it's a bad value to me.

I understand I am not a typical consumer, and clearly the Air isn't selling well. But I don't think it's fair to say "it's a bad value phone." I think it's fair to say "the trade offs to make it so thin and light aren't worth it for most consumers." or "it's a bad value for users like me."

But remember, the MacBook Air being so extremely thin is what push Apple forward to be able to make all of their laptops as thin as they are. Maybe even as an "unsuccessful" product, the technology that enables a iPhone Air is what unlocks a "not-as-thin as the Air but still way thinner than it is now" Pro in three or four years.

What made Mac laptops thin was remove user replaceable or swappable batteries with integrated ones. Eliminating swappable HDD, ODD, etc with integrated or eliminated options. Let’s not act like Apple pulled some magic trick from thin air. Even the first MacBook Air was underpowered and had a lot of issues along with the wedge MacBook. Also moving from polycarbonate to thinner and lighter metals also helped with heat disputation and premium look and feel.

With iPhone there was no swappable batteries so either the components gets smaller, things get removed like the physical SIM tray or materials and design changes there really is not much one can do.

 

[code-m]

I have the Air, and I honestly couldn’t care less. I have a 15 plus and a regular 13, and I will grab the Air over the other two every time. Only thing I miss is a wide angle camera; would have been my perfect device otherwise.

The only thing missing from an iPhone 17 is a telephoto lense and it would be perfect. See what I did there 😉

 

[code-m]

So we got the Vision Pro that literally 15 people own and now the cutting edge iPhone slim that 25 people own. When are they firing Tim?

The late Steve Jobs also released lemon products, he should have been fired as well. No company will always have hit products and services as long as the sum is greater and Tim sure is bringing in the 💰

 

[pdaholic]

The only thing missing from an iPhone 17 is a telephoto lense and it would be perfect. See what I did there 😉

Not really—please explain.

I was only referring to what it would have taken to make a perfect phone for me, not for everyone else.

 

[Ralfi]

It was AU$400 more than the iPhone 17.

📉

 

[kalsta]

Most carrier deals will give you up to $1000 for your recent iPhone Trade-in, so every 36 months I get a new iPhone Pro Max for just a few hundred out of pocket. Since I don't switch carriers every other day, it seems to make the most sense to me.

You are doing it wrong. You could have brand new latest gen phone, for literally zero cost with carrier trade-in promotions. 🤦🏻‍♂️

I can’t really comment without seeing the specifics of your deals, but it generally pays to be a little suspicious of carrier deals. You just need to do the maths. As for me, I pay the equivalent of about $8.30 USD per month for my mobile plan (unlimited calls, way more data than I need) with no-lock in contracts. Maybe it’s different in your country, but that’s about as good a deal as you can get where I live.

 

[code-m]

Not really—please explain.

I was only referring to what it would have taken to make a perfect phone for me, not for everyone else.

I don’t think that many customers are asking themselves I don’t need a telephoto or wide angle lens instead had all iPhone had this there would be no need for a Pro line considering “ProMotion” is on the basic model.

 

[carrrrrlos]

Time for my regular comment: Will someone try to justify bringing back the mini in this thread?

They should bring back the mini. But seriously, if they could shrink down the 17, squash it a bit and put it in the same form factor as an older iPod, it would be a great little chunk of an iPhone you can slip in your pocket, no buldging camera.

 

[pdaholic]

I don’t think that many customers are asking themselves I don’t need a telephoto or wide angle lens instead had all iPhone had this there would be no need for a Pro line considering “ProMotion” is on the basic model.

I wasn’t referring to “many customers”. I was referring to myself. In your haste to make a snarky comment, you failed to read what I actually wrote.

 

[DaveTheRave]

26.1–47.7% depreciation after 10 weeks? That, folks, is why I haven’t bought a new iPhone since the 6S. I’m very happy trailing a few years behind and saving thousands over those who upgrade every year.

Do you buy new older models, or just buy refurbished?

 

[iamthedudeman]

Where does SellCell get their data?

"SellCell analysed ten-week depreciation using real-time trade-in prices from more than 40 US-based buyback companies."

So these are trade-in values. I know there is a correlation, but it's a little misleading to present trade-in values and call the article resale. Trade-in is a form of resale, but iPhone Airs are still going for close to $900 used on eBay.

Lesson? Don't trade in your basically new iPhone Air.

This article is incorrect. Resale values are dictated by demand. Trade in value by the company paying you. Mac rumors do better. This article is just sensationalism. Clickbait. I looked for a discounted Air. Cannot find one.

 

[n-cholas]

But if you’ve not unwrapped it and you wait 20 years…

 

[iamthedudeman]

Most cell phone companies don't take the Air as a trade yet as it is too new, so this data would be a little off. Neither Google or Samsung show the Air as an option. However, you can get $486-510 for an Air right now when you buy a OnePlus 15, so that seems in line with SellCell's data.

Thats trade in value. Not resale. This data is not even accurate. Clickbait article.

 

[iamthedudeman]

It should be $200 less than the regular iPhone, not $200 more. It has less capabilities. People will not pay more for literally less of a phone in material and specs. If it was $200 less it would be selling well.

How is it less of a phone? It is priced just right in my opinion. Most complaints and people making comments dont own the phone.

The Air is the best built and engineered with the best materials in the lineup. The Air does something no other iphone does. Improves in hand use. Most comfortable phone to use in the hand. That is its main feature. Its superpower. Not one mention of that here among the negative comments.

What do you do with your phone most of the time? Take pictures? No. Listen to music from the speakers? Nope. Most have earbuds.

You text, use social media, handle your phone and use it 90 percent of the time handling your phone.

You use the camera and stereo speakers maybe 10 percent. If that. The Air is the best at actually using your phone on the daily. Most comfortable and easiest to use in hand. Than any iphone.

Its has a 19pro chip, 12 gb ram, made of more premium materials in titanium, than the base model and pro models and has better usability in hand.

The base model has one more camera and one more speaker. That alone makes it better? Huh? How is that exactly if the most important thing to you is build quality and in hand feel and is better at actually using the phone? Which you do 90 percent of the time.

Keep your bricks. Leave us Air users out of it. Buy what you like.

 

[rwh63]

So where does one find one of these near 50% off Airs? I need to buy one for research purposes....

right next to those $400 13 mini phones on ebay that nobody wants though seem to sell quite well!

 

[rwh63]

They should bring back the mini. But seriously, if they could shrink down the 17, squash it a bit and put it in the same form factor as an older iPod, it would be a great little chunk of an iPhone you can slip in your pocket, no buldging camera.

don't forget to bring back the headphone jack!

 

[kalsta]

Do you buy new older models, or just buy refurbished?

Neither. Apple’s prices on older phones are way too expensive. I normally buy second hand on the open market. When I’m ready to upgrade I create a saved search on a couple of local marketplaces and wait for the right phone at the right price. When you’re in no rush to buy, genuine bargains can be found that way.

 

[Rafagon]

Ahhhhh the iPhone Air...the younger sibling the iPhone never should have had.

The iPhone Air is a parasitic twin.

Fits the definition to a T.

"parasitic twin, or dipygus parasiticus, is a type of conjoined twin where one twin (the parasite) ceases development during gestation and is incompletely formed, becoming attached to a fully formed, dominant twin (the autosite)."

When I think of all the wasted man-hours on the development of that device that could've been devoted to making the other 17s even better than they are, I want to cry.

 

[NewOldStock]

What is this HIt peice anyways.
Apple's iPhone 17 lineup is selling well enough that Apple is on track to ship more than 247.4 million total iPhones in 2025, according to a new report from IDC.

The data shows that the iPhone 17 series has averaged 34.6% depreciation after ten weeks, outperforming the iPhone 16 range at the same point last year, which saw a 39% decline.

 

[NewOldStock]

They are still buying and selling 17`s so how can you have figures showing a decline is all im saying!

 

[1rottenapple]

The iPhone Air has recorded the steepest early resale value drop of any iPhone model in years, with new data showing that several configurations have lost almost 50% of their value within ten weeks of launch.

According to a ten-week analysis published by SellCell, Apple's latest lineup is showing a pronounced split in resale performance between the iPhone 17 models and the iPhone Air. SellCell examined real-time trade-in pricing from more than 40 U.S. buyback companies, comparing average values across weeks since launch against each model's original MSRP. All devices in the study were assessed in good condition for consistent comparisons.

The data shows that the iPhone 17 series has averaged 34.6% depreciation after ten weeks, outperforming the iPhone 16 range at the same point last year, which saw a 39% decline. The iPhone 15 series remains the strongest performer over the past several cycles, retaining more value at the ten-week mark with an average depreciation of 31.9%. The iPhone 14 range sits at 36.6% over the same period.

By contrast, the iPhone Air shows significantly weaker retention, averaging 44.3% depreciation across all storage configurations. The Air's declines range from 40.3% to 47.7%, making it the weakest-performing iPhone range since the iPhone 14 Plus and certain iPhone 13 mini configurations registered similar drops in 2022. The steepest fall is attributed to the 1TB iPhone Air model, which SellCell identifies as the worst performer in the entire dataset.

SellCell's model-level breakdown shows a sharp divergence between the Pro segment and the Air. The best-performing model, the 256GB iPhone 17 Pro Max, has declined 26.1% after ten weeks, while the 512GB iPhone 17 Pro Max has fallen 30.3%. All Pro and Pro Max configurations remain below 40% depreciation, which points to sustained demand in the secondary market. The standard iPhone 17 fell between 32.9% and 40.8%, placing it roughly in line with the performance of recent non-Pro tiers. The iPhone 17 lineup as a whole collectively retains 9.7% more value than the Air after ten weeks.

The iPhone Air occupies the entire bottom of the ten-week rankings. Depreciation among the iPhone 17 models appears to stabilize by week ten, mirroring patterns observed for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 generations. The iPhone Air, on the other hand, continued to decline through week ten, which SellCell suggests could indicate longer-term uncertainty in the secondary market. The comparisons underscore how unusual the iPhone Air's trajectory is relative to other iPhone models.

Article Link: iPhone Air's Resale Value Has Dropped Dramatically, Data Shows

DAMN i paid full price lol. I've bought my 13 min and 16 used on eBay, and saved so much money. All I had to do was wait 3 months after its release.

On eBay prices are around 700-800. Damn

 

[racer1441]

I’m keeping my air till we get a folding phone.

 

[grammatica]

This is not a surprise. It needs demand in order to have a good resale value

 

[partyboy4357]

That's fine, I like my Air so much I plan to keep it for a very long time unless they do a drastic design change for their other models (I hate the iphone physical design since the 12 though current 17 series). They need to bring back the Iphone X-Xs design.

LOL nothing like someone too stubborn to admit they made a mistake. Keep on thinking you love it bro!

 

[partyboy4357]

I don't really see a problem here. I have yet to see one iPhone Air owner who decided to keep their device and doesn't think its the best model in years. Peple buy whatever they like but you can tell from the way the posts are written that most of the 'complaints' are from people who have no experience of the product and just spread around the same crap from day one. Youtubers cannot be trusted because they really aren't the target market.

The only real issue with the Air is the cost; if its closer to the 17 in price then it becomes much more enticing to buyers with an open mind.

They are just a stubborn bunch that won’t admit when they’re wrong, trust me! I know a few folks that have them and absolutely hate them once the thinness novelty wears off.