Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event has just finished, and the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are official. Pre-orders open on Saturday 12 September and the phones reach shops on Friday 18 September.
If you are upgrading, the phone in your pocket just entered the most volatile fortnight of its life. Here is what launched, what it costs, what your current iPhone is worth today, and the one move that protects the most money whichever way you go.
TechLoop is an independent UK buyback business. We are not affiliated with Apple.
What Apple announced today#
Here is the lineup as confirmed on stage. We will update this table if Apple's UK store pages differ from what was said in the keynote.
| Model | Storage | UK price | Colours |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 18 Pro | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB | £1,199 · £1,399 · £1,799 · £2,399 | Black, silver, glacier, burgundy |
| iPhone 18 Pro Max | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB | £1,299 · £1,499 · £1,899 · £2,499 | Black, silver, glacier, burgundy |
Key dates:
- Pre-orders open: Saturday 12 September
- On sale: Friday 18 September
- Standard iPhone 18, 18e and Air 2: not announced today; reported for spring 2027
For context, the iPhone 17 Pro Max launched in the UK at £1,199 for 256GB last year. That makes this year's Pro Max £100 more at the same storage, and the 2TB tier tops out at £2,499.
The two waves that follow every iPhone launch#
Every September plays out the same way.
Wave one starts today. A large number of people just decided to upgrade, and most will fund it by selling the phone they already have, in the same two-week window between pre-orders and delivery. That is a supply shock for used iPhone 17s, and to a lesser degree the 16 Pro line. When supply jumps and demand does not, buyers can afford to be choosier and prices for the previous generation soften.
Wave two starts a few weeks after the on-sale date. Once the new phones are in people's hands you get returns-window sellers, duplicate upgrades, buyer's regret and people who took a carrier upgrade purely to sell the handset. That is when the "sell my iPhone 18 Pro Max" market forms, and it grows through to December.
If you are upgrading, wave one is your problem. If you have a sealed phone you do not need, wave two is your opportunity.
What your iPhone 17 is worth right now#
Our live Pristine quotes on keynote day. Pristine means an unlocked device with no marks, indistinguishable from new. "Up to" is the top storage tier.
| Your iPhone | 256GB (Pristine) | Up to (Pristine, top storage) |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone 17 Pro Max | £696 | £905 |
| iPhone 17 Pro | £661 | £741 |
| iPhone 17 | £455 | £495 |
| iPhone Air | £380 | £430 |
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | £596 | £711 |
| iPhone 16 Pro | £546 | £611 |
| iPhone 16 | £451 | £476 |
| iPhone 15 Pro Max | £416 | £511 |
| iPhone 15 Pro | — | £441 |
| iPhone 15 | — | £356 |
| iPhone 14 Pro Max | — | £401 |
| iPhone 13 Pro Max | — | £331 |
Prices move with the market and these are a snapshot, not a promise. The number that matters is the live quote for your exact model and storage.
Condition does most of the work#
Once you know the model, condition is the biggest lever:
| Grade | What it means | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| Pristine | Indistinguishable from new, no marks | 100% |
| Good | Light wear, no cracks, fully working | 85% |
| Fair | Visible scratches or dents, fully working | 70% |
| Poor | Cracked, faulty, or not powering on | ~26% |
On a 256GB iPhone 17 Pro Max that is roughly £696 Pristine, £591 Good, £487 Fair and £180 Poor. The Fair-to-Poor step is the expensive one. Keep the case on until the day you post it.
Path 1: upgrading? Sell the iPhone you have#
The problem with upgrading is timing. You want today's price, but you need your phone until the new one arrives on Friday 18 September.
The 21-day price lock solves that. Lock a quote today and the price is held for 21 days regardless of what the market does in launch week. Post the phone when the new one is in your hand. If the market falls in between, you keep the price you locked.
Find your exact model and storage
Settings, General, About. "iPhone 17 Pro" and "iPhone 17 Pro Max" are different phones with different prices.
Lock a quote today
Instant online quote, no account, no obligation. Held for 21 days from the moment you lock it.
Wait for the new phone
Keep the old one in a case. Nothing you do this week matters more than not cracking it.
Transfer, then reset
Move your data, back up, sign out of your Apple Account, turn off Find My, erase the device, remove the SIM. Full walkthrough: factory reset an iPhone before selling.
Post it free
Royal Mail tracked postage anywhere in the UK, free doorstep collection across Wiltshire (SN postcodes), or drop it in to us in Swindon.
Get paid
Bank transfer the same working day after inspection.
Path 2: got a sealed iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max you do not need?#
This is the wave-two market, and it starts sooner than most people expect. Carrier upgrades arrive whether or not you have changed your mind, and some people take one purely to sell the handset.
A sealed, unopened iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max grades as Pristine, which is our full Pristine price for that model and storage. Our opening quote for the iPhone 18 Pro Max is up to £1,740, and the live number for each storage tier is on the device page.
Three things to know before you sell an upgrade handset:
- It must be yours to sell. If the phone is on a finance agreement, check that ownership has passed to you and settle any balance first. A phone with unpaid finance behind it can be blocked by the network later, so we run an IMEI check on every device before we pay and cannot buy one that is blacklisted or reported.
- Do not open it to check it. Sealed is Pristine by definition. An opened phone has to earn Pristine at inspection, and setting it up adds an Apple Account you then have to remove. Leave the seal alone.
- Prices settle over the first few weeks. Launch-week quotes on a brand-new model move as the resale market forms. If you have a sealed handset to sell, sooner is generally better than later, and a locked quote holds for 21 days either way.
How selling to TechLoop works#
We are based at Cheney Manor in Swindon and buy phones, tablets, watches and consoles from across the UK. Whichever path you take:
- Instant online quote, locked for 21 days.
- Free Royal Mail tracked postage UK-wide, free doorstep collection across Wiltshire (SN postcodes), or walk in to us in Swindon.
- Inspection against the condition you described. If it does not match, you get a revised offer to accept or decline, and the phone comes back if you decline.
- Bank transfer the same working day after inspection. Cash, not store credit.
- GDPR data wipe on every device.
Questions? Call 01793 939176 or message us on WhatsApp.
Common mistakes in launch week#
- Waiting for the reviews before checking your value. A quote costs nothing. The reviews do not change what your phone is worth today; the next fortnight of supply does.
- Selling before your replacement arrives. Being phoneless for a week is how people accept a bad deal out of impatience. The 21-day lock exists so you never have to.
- Cheap third-party repairs right before selling. A non-genuine screen or battery can cost more in the grade than the repair saved. If it works, leave it.
- Overstating condition. An optimistic self-grade just means a revised offer after inspection. Describe it as a stranger would.