I just saved $425 on the iPhone 13 Pro — here's how

I only saved $425 on the iPhone 13 Pro — hither's how

(Epitome credit: Apple)

Leading up to the iPhone 13 unveil event earlier this calendar week, survey data showed that 44% of iPhone owners were planning on upgrading. And according to Counterpoint Research, the iPhone thirteen line will account for 33% of all 5G shipments this holiday season. Anticipating high need, I knew I had to go an iPhone 13 pre-lodge in fast.

But I likewise wanted to save some money. Luckily, even with the high demand, mobile carriers are offering generous trade-in promotions, of which I fully took advantage.

Going over to the T-Mobile website, the iPhone 13 Pro product folio shows a nice assortment of phones eligible for trade-in. Some phones, similar the iPhone 12 Pro line, as well as the 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, were netting $1,000 in merchandise-in credit. It looks as if both AT&T and Verizon are offering similar trade-in deals.

But scrolling through I found that older phones, like the iPhone X from 2017, were doling out $800 in credit. All I had to do was purchase i used to trade in. Going over to eBay, I institute used iPhone X units selling for under $300. It seemed that $250 was the average. But shipping would take too long, and with such loftier demand, the faster I pre-ordered, the faster I would go the iPhone 13 Pro. The race was on.

iPhone 13 release date, toll, specs and more
iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro? Here's why you lot don't need to become Pro
Plus: iPhone xiii preorders — here'southward the look time for each model

Deciding on the iPhone thirteen Pro

In our iPhone 13 vs. iPhone 13 Pro comparison, the extra $200 gives users a slightly more powerful A15 Bionic chip, a 12MP telephoto camera, 3x optical zoom and a 120Hz ProMotion brandish.

At present, I must acknowledge, this iPhone thirteen Pro pre-lodge isn't for me. It's for my mom who has grown tired of reception problems on her iPhone 12. Even after bouts of Apple Intendance calls and Genius Bar appointments, issues persist, and she'southward pushed the burden of resolving her iPhone 12 problem on to me.

Later using the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, with its 120Hz display, I felt that the iPhone 13 Pro was the ameliorate handset overall, even if my mom likely would never play Call of Duty Mobile. I just understood how satisfying 120Hz feels to the bear on, and then much and so information technology's hard to recommend anything lesser.

On the chase for the perfect iPhone 13 trade-in

Scrolling through Facebook Marketplace, I establish listings for the Samsung Milky way Notation 10, OnePlus 8 and iPhone X for decent prices. Simply driving halfway across town simply to observe that the IMEI was locked or that the telephone hadn't been fully paid off didn't seem worthwhile to me. Plus, I had to run back and write this piece.

So, like I did with my Galaxy Z Fold iii play a joke on to save $850, I went over to a used phone reseller in the electronics district of Houston to see if he could get me a bargain.

Over at Wireless Liquidation, a phones wholesaler on Harwin Drive, a street jam-packed with electronics resellers north of Houston'southward Chinatown, I walked in asking for the cheapest phone they had from the eligible list of phones. Unfortunately, they were out of stock on the standard iPhone X, so I had to pay extra for the iPhone XR. At $375, it was definitely more than what I wanted to pay. And if I had opted to hunt down an iPhone X, I could have gotten it for around $275, giving me even greater savings. Merely I was in a bustle, and decided to go with information technology.

Since this was a device going straight to T-Mobile for trade-in, I took the more beat-up, simply still tradeable, iPhone XR Wireless Liquidation had in stock. It was scuffed upward pretty bad, but the screen had no cracks and there was no water damage. The owner guaranteed that T-Mobile would accept it.

Upgrading to the iPhone 13 Pro for $575

I took the iPhone XR I had just bought for $375 to the nearby T-Mobile store. It was not nearly every bit busy as I idea it would exist for the commencement 24-hour interval of iPhone 13 pre-orders. Really, I was the only customer there, amongst v fully masked employees.

Either way, I handed the sales rep the beat-up iPhone XR in red. Some other employee came to audit information technology with what looked like to be an otoscope doctors use to look into people's ears. Upon a thorough inspection, he greenlit the phone for trade in.

Overall, the process was simple, but I do wish Apple allowed more lead time between when pre-orders go alive and to the actual ship engagement. T-Mobile didn't update its product page of eligible trade-in devices until the commencement 24-hour interval or pre-orders. If I had extra lead time, I could take bought an iPhone 10 off eBay for a cheaper price, netting a better overall deal.

So, don't do what I did and pay $375 for an iPhone XR. Store around and find a used iPhone X that doesn't have water harm, a good screen and a clean IMEI for trading in. One time you lot exercise that, get to whatever of the wireless carriers and go through the merchandise-in process. Only make sure you lot place your lodge earlier the iPhone thirteen launches on September 22, as these promotions might end by then. Only know, the longer you look to trade-in, the longer it will take for your iPhone 13 to arrive.

More: Should you upgrade to iPhone xiii? Let's interruption it downwardly by iPhone

Imad Khan is news editor at Tom's Guide, helping directly the day'southward breaking coverage. Prior to working at the site, Imad was a full-fourth dimension freelancer, with bylines at the New York Times, the Washington Postal service and ESPN. Exterior of piece of work, you can find him sitting blankly in forepart of a Word document trying desperately to write the first pages of a new book.