- Apple has added refurbished iPhone 16e models to its online store
- Savings range from $180 to $220 compared to the device’s MSRP
- Apple’s refurbishment process is known to be very thorough
Apple’s recent price hikes have sparked dismay among consumers, with huge rises making their presence known across the board. Fortunately, none of the best iPhones have been affected yet, and Apple has just given people an excellent option to nab a great phone and save cash at the same time.
Specifically, Apple just added the iPhone 16e to its online store for refurbished products. Considering there’s widespread speculation that Apple will raise iPhone prices this September, this could be your best opportunity to get a solid iPhone at an affordable price for some time.
The entry-level iPhone 16e with 128GB of storage is priced at $419 on Apple’s US online store, marking a saving of $180 on the iPhone 16e’s original $599 listing price. You can upgrade to 256GB of storage for $509 (saving $190) or 512GB for $679, which is a discount of $220.
Every refurbished iPhone 16e on Apple’s website is available unlocked and with both black and white color options. That means there are six different varieties to choose from, in addition to a wide range of other renewed iPhones across the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 lines.
A ‘like new’ device
You might be thinking that you can find a second-hand iPhone 16e for less than Apple is charging on its refurbished website, and that’s almost certainly true. But there are a few things to bear in mind about Apple’s refurbishing process that you’ll want to know.
A device bought from Apple’s refurbished website will almost certainly be in a better state than anything you can get elsewhere. Apple inspects each refurbished device and replaces any defective parts with genuine replacements. It then gives the device a clean and packages it up in an original box with all cables and accessories. This isn’t just some used iPhone covered in bumps and bruises that you can pick up on eBay, and nor is it a refurbished device fitted with non-genuine replacement components.
All that means that the device you get from Apple is essentially like new. I would know — I bought my MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip from Apple’s refurbished website. When it arrived, it was essentially indistinguishable from a new device, with the only giveaway being that its battery had registered about five cycles — which is still practically nothing.
Similarly, my TechRadar colleague Thomas Deehan snapped up a refurbished iPhone 16 from Giffgaff and described it as “almost identical to one that could be bought brand new via the Apple Store.” He added: “I honestly wondered if I hadn’t just been sent a completely new iPhone by mistake.”
So, if you’re in the market for an iPhone and want to avoid the risk of price rises later this year, a refurbished iPhone 16e could do the trick nicely. Now that Apple is selling this model on its own website, you’ve got an extra choice of where to get one from. But wherever you buy one, a serious discount could be yours to enjoy before the new normal of higher prices sets in.
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