The Best Time to Buy an iPhone? When the New One Launches

I’ve always been someone who looks at value, not just price.

I don’t mind spending more if I know I’m getting something good for the money. But paying full price for a phone? Yeah… that’s not really my thing. LOL

And I think I just found one of the best times to buy an iPhone.

The New iPhone Changes Everything

Whenever a new iPhone launches, everyone starts talking about the new model.

But there’s something else happening at the same time.

People start selling their old iPhones.

And that’s where things get interesting.

I was actually looking at getting an iPhone 15 Pro Max. I found one for around $850, and at first I thought, hmm, that’s not bad.

But then I started thinking about it.

It’s an older phone, and I’m already using a Pixel 9 Pro XL that I really like. There isn’t anything about the Pixel that I dislike.

So why would I spend $850 to switch to an older phone?

Then I found something much more interesting.

I Found a 17 Pro Max for $1,150

I saw a listing for an iPhone 17 Pro Max for $1,150.

And I messaged the seller immediately.

Turns out, I was actually the first person to message him.

He told me that shortly afterward, there were already a ton of people spamming him about the phone.

Luckily, we had already agreed on the $1,150 price, and he took the listing down.

The seller is also a long-time Kijiji user with a 13-year-old account and multiple 5-star reviews, so I wasn’t dealing with some brand-new account selling a ridiculously cheap phone.

And the reason he was selling it made perfect sense.

He was upgrading to the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

So instead of him trying to sell his 17 Pro Max months later, I basically became the buyer before he even got his new phone.

That’s a pretty damn good situation for both of us.

This Is Why Timing Matters

This is what I mean when I say the best time to buy can be when the new iPhone launches.

You’re not necessarily trying to buy the newest phone.

You’re looking for the person who already bought the newest phone.

Someone upgrading from the 17 Pro Max to the 18 Pro Max might be perfectly happy selling their old phone for less than what the market was asking before the new launch.

And if you’re quick enough, you can catch it.

That’s basically what happened to me.

The listing had only been up for about four hours when I found it.

I happened to be the first person to message.

And now the phone is basically mine.

I Don’t Just Look at the Price

This is probably the biggest thing I consider when buying technology.

I don’t just ask:

“How cheap is it?”

I ask:

“What’s the value?”

$1,150 isn’t cheap.

But there’s a huge difference between paying $1,150 for something that’s already heavily discounted and paying full retail for the exact same phone.

I’m also thinking about what happens when I eventually sell it.

That’s something I noticed pretty clearly with my Pixel.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL is an amazing phone, but the resale market can be brutal. Phones can lose a huge amount of their value even when they’re still relatively new.

iPhones, especially the Pro Max models, tend to hold their value much better.

So if I’m buying a 17 Pro Max for $1,150 and can eventually sell it for a good amount later, I’m not really thinking of the entire $1,150 as money that’s gone forever.

I’m thinking about how much it will actually cost me to own it.

That’s value.

And I Almost Bought the 15 Pro Max

This is probably the funniest part.

I was originally looking at a 15 Pro Max for around $850.

Then this 17 Pro Max showed up for only $300 more.

At that point, I couldn’t really justify buying the older phone.

If I’m already going through all the trouble of switching from Android to iPhone, transferring everything, selling my Pixel and setting up an Apple Watch, I might as well do it properly.

I’d rather spend the extra money on a much newer Pro Max that I can keep for years.

Especially because I don’t like upgrading phones every year just because a new one comes out.

My longest-used iPhone was actually my iPhone 14 Pro Max, so if I like the 17 Pro Max, I can easily see myself keeping it for a long time.

The Deal Is the Fun Part

Honestly, this is why I enjoy buying technology this way.

It’s not about getting the absolute cheapest phone.

It’s about finding that moment where price, value and timing all line up.

In my case:

Good price.
Good phone.
Good value.
Good seller.
Good timing.

And I got lucky enough to be the first person to message.

That’s the kind of deal I live for. LOL

So if you’re thinking about buying an iPhone, don’t only look at the brand-new models.

Watch what happens when the new iPhone launches.

Because sometimes the best deal isn’t the new iPhone.

It’s the previous-generation iPhone that someone is selling because they just upgraded.