iPhone 17 resale numbers are high just a few months after launch — Here’s why Americans are selling the Apple smartphone | Mint

A research by on-line smartphone comparability platform Promote Cell has discovered that Apple’s latest flagship gadget — the iPhone 17 Professional Max, ranks first by way of resell, accounting for 11.5% of all trade-ins in the United States, just months after launch.

The report famous that the iPhone 17 Professional Max’s worth has depreciated slower — by almost 25.4% over a 145-day interval, in comparison with its predecessor, the iPhone 16 Professional Max which noticed its value fall 32.5% in the similar interval.

The research, made public in a blogpost final week, additional famous that a majority of the trade-ins made are unlocked — suggesting that clients are trying to make massive bucks and timing their resales to match sturdy market costs.

This evaluation was based mostly on inner SellCell trade-in knowledge and secondary-market pricing traits throughout 40 impartial iPhone patrons, as per the report.

So, why are Americans selling their new iPhone 17 Professional Max telephones? The reply is a mixture of things, in response to the report. Here’s a look:

The report referred to as the iPhone 17 Professional Max’s retained worth, “considered one of the most hanging findings” in its research, particularly compared with its predecessor.

It added, “This efficiency helps clarify why some early adopters could select to promote sooner reasonably than later — not as a result of the gadget has failed, however as a result of resale costs stay unusually sturdy for a lately launched flagship.”

• Share elevated steadily week by week reasonably than spiking out of the blue, suggesting sustained resale exercise.
• The gadget moved from outdoors the prime 5 to primary between late December and mid-January.
• Development continued into early 2026, indicating ongoing early resale behaviour reasonably than a short-term promotion or launch spike.

“The fast rise of the iPhone 17 Professional Max as the most traded-in gadget highlights how … sturdy worth retention and high resale costs seem like encouraging some house owners to promote sooner than traditional, treating premium gadgets extra like monetary belongings than long-term purchases,” the research concluded.

It nevertheless added that reasonably than pointing to a single trigger, “the surge in trade-ins seemingly displays a mixture of resale technique, financial timing and altering improve habits”.