Guide · 5 min read
What happens to iPhone prices when a new model launches
Everyone expects prices to fall the day a new iPhone is announced. What the readings show is slower, smaller and spread over weeks — which changes how you should time a purchase.
Published September 5, 2026 · updated September 5, 2026
The announcement moves less than the deliveries
On announcement day, refurbished stock has not changed: the same phones are on sale, held by the same sellers. What changes prices is the wave of trade-ins that arrives once the new model ships and people hand in their old one — and that takes weeks to reach the market.
The effect is largest one or two generations down
The models that move most are the ones being traded in, not the one being replaced this year. A three-year-old model whose owners are upgrading tends to soften more than the outgoing flagship, which is already scarce in good grades.
How to use this without guessing
- If you can wait, set a threshold before the launch and let the alert catch the post-delivery wave.
- If you cannot wait, check the model's own history rather than the calendar: some models are near their low well outside launch season.
- Do not assume the drop is permanent. Entry prices rise again when the cheapest grades sell out.
Indicative prices, not a guarantee
