Apple is giving potential iPhone customers a cheaper way to buy a device — for the first time ever, the company is offering refurbished iPhones through its online refurbished store.
The store currently only offers the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, but those models come in a variety of colors and different storage capacities. The price of the devices starts at much less than the new phone — you can get a 16GB version of the iPhone 6s for $449, and the 6s Plus for $529.
The phones are between $100 and $120 less than buying a phone new, and all of the phones are unlocked and SIM-free — meaning that you could buy one and use it with any of the major U.S. carriers. It’s likely that over the next few years, more models will be on offer through the refurbished store — for example, after the iPhone 8 comes out, we’ll likely see refurbished iPhone 7s available too. It’s currently unknown if Apple only intends on offering the previous generation phone through its refurbished store.
Apple’s refurbished store has been around for a while, but until now it has only offered iPads and Macs. What that means is that customers who wanted cheaper iPhones had to buy one second-hand from another source, or wait for third-party sellers to refurbish phones for themselves.
The great thing about buying a refurbished product through Apple is that all devices are tested, cleaned, and certified. They also come with a one-year guarantee, and feature a new battery and a new case — meaning that there’s no outer damage to the devices. Buying a refurbished device from Apple is likely the next best thing compared to buying a new phone, and at a far cheaper price.
