Apple taking damaged phones for trade

By MELISSA CABRAL

Good news for iPhone users with damaged phones.

Apple has just announced their new update on their Reuse and Recycle iPhone trade-in program. Damaged phones are now being accepted at the retail stores in return for credit. Whether the display is cracked, the camera’s broken or the home button isn’t working, they confirmed that all devices are welcomed.

The company’s Reuse and Recycle Program previously offered store credit for older iPhone models but the catch was that the phones had to be in new to good condition with no cracks or defects. Leading users with an impaired phone to make the hard decision of spending a good amount of money on the repair of their phone or wondering if they should just lose the phone and purchase a new one since the repair can be as costly as the total value of the device.

Now, Apple customers with cracked or damaged phones have the opportunity to upgrade to a newer model at a lower cost instead of repairing their old device. The trade-in values were announced as $50 for an iPhone 5s, $150 for an iPhone 6 and $200 for an iPhone 6 Plus.

It was also announced that Apple will begin selling official screen protectors for iPhones in all of their retail stores and will install them in hopes of reducing the amount of iPhones with a cracked display screen.

The change was confirmed by Apple spokesman Nick Leahy. The program is applicable to iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models that are brought to the retail stores. This offer is not applicable online.