Unlike the impressive base iPhone 17, Apple’s iPhone Air has faced some early struggles with limited demand from buyers. But a new report suggests that lack of interest has translated into a historically low resale value for the ultra slim phone.
Smartphone price comparison website, SellCell, has compiled resale data from the last 10 weeks since the new iPhone 17 range launched. One thing clearly stands out: the iPhone Air has experienced a historically bad drop in resale price compared to other iPhone models.
iPhone Air Price drop: Data Tells Early Story
SellCell’s data shows that within 10 weeks of launch, the iPhone Air lost an average of 44.3% of its original retail price. The most affected is the 1TB version, which has dropped 47.7%. This is the steepest loss of value recorded by SellCell for any iPhone model since 2022.
Here’s what that means in terms of actual trade-in price after 10 weeks:
- iPhone Air 256GB launch price: $999, value after 10 weeks: $596
- iPhone Air 512GB launch price: $1,199, value after 10 weeks: $660
- iPhone Air 1TB launch price: $1,399, value after 10 weeks: $731
iPhone 17 Pro Models Are Faring Better in Trade-in Value
The other iPhone 17 models are faring better than the iPhone Air, with the range retaining 9.7% more of their value than the slim phone after 10 weeks. The iPhone 17 Pro Max is the top performer across the new range, only losing 26.1% of its value in that time period.
Overall, the standard iPhone 17 range lost 34.6% of its value in 2.5 months, which is in line with the resale value trend of other Apple handsets between the iPhone 13 and iPhone 16, which stands at 35.4%. It might sound steep, but across the major smartphone manufacturers Apple phones still hold the most value. For example, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 lost 51.9% of its value in five months.
Important Caveats For Used iPhone Air Buyers
This data is based on trade-in prices from over 40 US-based buyback companies, which pay cash for used and unwanted hardware. These companies offer instant cash to sellers (their main appeal) but will pay less than a private buyer on eBay or Swappa.
If you’re hoping to pick up a $550 $256GB iPhone Air on the secondary market, you might be disappointed. Although these trade-in trends can indicate where prices will go on used-phone marketplaces in the future.
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