Compare and Recyle study shatters myth of iPhone’s solid residuals

If you thought iPhones were immune from savage depreciation, look away now. The iPhone 15 series depreciated by 55.57 per cent on average in its first year and is the first lineup in iPhone history to lose more than half of its value in the first 12 months.

This is according to a  price tracking study by the used device comparison website Compare and Recycle, which tracked every iPhone trade-in price since the iPhone 7 to understand what previous iPhone generations are worth now and how the iPhone 16 range may affect the value of older iPhones.

The study showed an iPhone will lose upwards of 25 per cent of its retail value the second it is unboxed at launch, and up to 62 per cent in the first year of ownership.

Overall, the first-year iPhone depreciation rate is increasing. The iPhone 13 series lost 40.09 per cent of its value, the iPhone 14 lineup lost 47.80 per cent, and the iPhone 15 series depreciated by 55.57 per cent on average in its first year. iPhone Pro models are depreciating slower than their non-Pro counterparts from the same lineup.

The iPhone 14 512GB shed half its value in the first year, or £497. The iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB dropped £920, which Compare and Recycle says is the worst depreciation among the entire iPhone 14 lineup and any iPhone ever, equating to a £76 drop each month.

Following the iPhone 15 series release, the iPhone 14 models experienced their first significant value drop, losing 20 per cent or £99 across the lineup. The biggest hit was taken by the iPhone 14 Plus 128GB model, which dropped by 26 per cent (£105). Resale prices dipped further post-Christmas, reaching below the £600 mark and plateauing for the remainder of the pre-iPhone 16 period, with no uptick in value by August 2024.

Compare and Recycle’s head of marketing, Antonia Hristov, explained: “To put it in real money terms, the iPhone 15 Plus models had the biggest value drop in the first 12 months, losing £609.51 (which is £75 more than the iPhone 14 Plus lost in 2023-2024). Individually, the 512GB model of the iPhone 15 Plus has seen the worst first-year depreciation, losing a total of £749 of its value, or £62 per month since launch.

“Out of the entire iPhone 15 lineup, the iPhone 15 Pro 128GB and 256GB variants suffered the least during the first 12 months on the market, dropping by 50.23 per cent (£501.81) and 50.27 per cent (£552.51) respectively.

“That’s something to keep in mind when upgrading to the new 2024 iPhone models. Similar to previous generations of iPhones, we’re observing that higher-capacity models, especially the 1TB variants, are depreciating the most. Whereas Pro and non-Pro models with smaller capacities appear to be retaining their value better.”

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