Apple Stores Will Now Trade Broken iPhones For A Brand New One

Apple stores everywhere are launching a new program, where they’ll offer credit towards a brand new device when customers trade in their old iPhones. With the new upgrade in policy, it doesn’t matter if the phone is in working condition.

The concept of trading in an old phone is nothing new. Apple has always offered credit through their trade-in program, but one stipulation required that the phone be in working condition. Their new rule will change everything when it’s rolled out next week. Apple Stores will start accepting any phone with a broken screen, camera, or button “within reason.”

Both of these policy upgrades are very exciting for Apple lovers. Apple devices from MacBooks to iPhones are known to be very expensive, and any kind of discount is always appreciated by consumers.

There are a few more stipulations to the rule, as well. For starters, the trade-in program will only work for those with an iPhone 5s or newer. So all those still kicking around with an iPhone 4s, 5c, or earlier will be out of luck when it comes to this particular deal. The company is trying to encourage users to upgrade their phones and recycle their old devices.

The trade-in values vary depending on the phone. For a broken 5s, you can expect to get $50 in credit for a new phone. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will net you $200 and $250 in credit, respectively. You must use this credit to purchase a phone that’s of equal or greater value than the one you own. You can’t use your credit from an iPhone 6 to purchase an iPhone 5s, for example.

Apple Stores have also been instructed to provide screen protector applications in-store. This is a service the company restricted in the past, but with the new upgrade rule in effect, the company wants to keep the phones in as good of condition as possible.

In the past, Apple didn’t want their employees offering this service out of fear they wouldn’t apply the protectors correctly, resulting in lost revenue on free screen protector replacements. But this time, the employees won’t be the ones doing the installation. They’ll use a special installation machine from Belkin that will apply the screen protector perfectly every time.

In the event that the machine causes an error or damages the screen protector in some way, Apple will issue a new screen protector free of charge and attempt the installation a second time. Either way, it’s essentially risk-free for you.

Apple has reportedly partnered with Belkin to offer this service, meaning they’ll only be offering screen protectors made by this company. Unfortunately, this means higher-quality covers like Phantom Glass won’t be an option using the installation machine. The ones provided should be high enough quality to get the job done, but if you’d like to use a different brand, you’ll have to install the protector yourself.

Both of these innovations are supposed to be rolled out next week, but it might take a while for your local Apple Store to get the screen protector installation machine installed.

[Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images]