The iPhone 17 Pro Max is surprisingly the most traded-in phone right now — here's why

• The iPhone 17 Pro Max is the most traded in phone right now according to a major reseller
• This is likely in part because it holds its value well
• Economic factors and software disappointments could also play a role

If we’d had to guess what the most traded-in phone would be, we’d probably have assumed it was something popular but two or three years old, like the iPhone 15 or Samsung Galaxy S24. After all, these are phones that a lot of people have, and a lot of them will probably be considering upgrades round about now. But in fact, according to one reseller it’s actually the iPhone 17 Pro Max that’s being traded in the most.

That’s a phone we absolutely wouldn’t have guessed, since while a lot of people have one, it only launched back in September, so we wouldn’t think many would be wanting to replace it yet.

According to SellCell (via MacRumors) though, the iPhone 17 Pro Max accounts for 11.5% of all top-20 trade-ins.

That 11.5% figure is slightly confusing, because the top-20 most traded in devices only accounts for around 47% of trade-ins overall. So presumably the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s overall share is a lot lower than 11.5%, but either way it’s being traded in a lot more than any other phones are, with the iPhone 15 Pro Max coming in second, and accounting for 7.3% of top-20 trade-ins.

It's still worth a lot

So why is this? While we can’t be certain, SellCell speculates that it’s in large part because Apple’s latest flagship is holding its value so well.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has apparently lost just 25.4% of its value since launch, while across an equivalent timeframe, the ‌iPhone 16‌ Pro Max lost around 32.5% of its value. So sellers are getting a lot more for this phone than they would for most handsets.

Still, you wouldn’t think someone would sell a phone they liked so quickly, so it’s likely that tough times financially are a factor for some people too, while others may simply be unhappy with the experience relative to what they paid for the phone – especially with iOS’s Liquid Glass overhaul proving so divisive and many promised Apple Intelligence features still being yet to arrive.

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