Secret Apple Store cuts up to £450 off price of iPhone models – and trick works on laptops too
YOU might never need to pay full price for an iPhone again.
There's a clever Apple shopping trick that dramatically slashes the cost of buying a new smartphone.
Importantly, it's Apple refurbishing these items to a like-new condition, so you'll get a fresh battery, a restored handset, and all of the usual accessories.
But it's far cheaper than buying a brand new handset.
Read more on iPhone
HOW DOES THE REFURBISHED APPLE STORE WORK?
The idea of buying a refurbished product might be an instant turn-off to you – but don't let it be.
When it's Certified Refurbished, the product has gone through a strict process to make it as good as possible.
And it's fully tested before being handed over to you.
Here's Apple's official explanation: "You will receive a refurbished device with genuine Apple replacement parts (as needed) that has been thoroughly cleaned and inspected.
"Refurbished iOS devices will come with new battery and outer shell.
"Every device will come with all accessories, cables and operating systems."
It might be tempting to splash out on a brand new model, but hold your horses.
If your iPhone is getting slow and the battery life is dropping up, don't feel like you need to spend big.
You could just pay for a battery swap, which is far cheaper.
The problem with all smartphones is that they use lithium-ion batteries, which get worse as they charge and discharge.
So you'd expect a phone battery to hold around 80% of its original maximum capacity after 500 of these charging cycles.
That probably takes about two years.
So if you've had an iPhone for a while, it might end up with poor battery life – and degraded performance as the software tries to protect the battery.
Instead of upgrading, you could just pay for a new battery from Apple.
This restores the iPhone's battery life to a like-new condition.
And as a result, iPhone performance gets a boost too.
You might need to pay, although it's not as expensive as upgrading.
And there are some ways to dodge paying too.
If you've got a defective battery and you're still within the one-year warranty then it'll be covered.
And secondly, AppleCare+ will get you a free battery swap if it's less than 80% of its original capacity.
Otherwise, you'll need to fork out a small fee – check out The Sun's guide to iPhone battery swap prices here.
One of the biggest percentage savings is on the iPhone 13 Pro Max with 128GB of storage.
That comes down from £1,049 to £679, saving you £370 or around 35% of the full price.
The good news is that the Certified Refurbished Apple Store doesn't just stock iPhones.
You can also grab products from the following lines:
- Mac
- iPad
- Apple Watch
- AirPods
- Apple TV
- HomePod
- Accessories
The bad news is that the newest iPhone model you can get on the Refurbished Apple Store right now is from the 14-series.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
So if you want an iPhone 15 or iPhone 16, you'll have to either buy new, wait for a refurbished version to come up, or shop around elsewhere.
It's worth checking back on the Refurbished Apple Store regularly, as available models and prices do change over time.