By Joe Rossignol
Apple today sent an email to some iPhone Upgrade Program participants to let them know that their previously completed iPhone-to-iPhone trade-in had been “canceled,” but depending on the circumstances, the email was almost certainly sent in error.
Apple told customers it never received their iPhone even though they had been shipping it for months back. In many cases, customers physically handed over their iPhone to an Apple Store employee in person, so it cannot be their fault.
“Because you did not trade in your iPhone, we are unable to complete the trade-in process,” the email said, according to a screenshot shared with us by reader Quinn Everett. “The qualifying credit on this iPhone will be renewed.”
Everett and others said the Apple Store app also shows their iPhone's trade-in status has changed to “canceled,” suggesting the Apple email is legitimate . The email was widely circulated on the MacRumors, Reddit and X forums, and many customers received it early Thursday morning in the US.
Many customers who received the email completed their iPhone purchase transaction. — last September when the iPhone 15 series was released, so the delay in sending the email suggests it was sent as a result of a system glitch. Apple did not immediately respond to our request for comment, but we will update this story if we receive an explanation.
No, but what's really going on @Apple @AppleSupport? I received an email that my September exchange was cancelled, and your Apple Store app also shows this in one place, but not everywhere. The receipt for your returned iPhone 14 Pro is below. I think there was a glitch. https://t.co/VXnpg5I13s pic.twitter.com/H2LtcHwijl — Quinn (@quinneverett) April 25, 2024
Update – 10:35 a.m. PT: We have confirmed that this email was sent in error and that Customers who receive it do not need to take any action.
Update – 11:51 a.m. PT: Apple sent an additional email to affected customers saying, “Please do not contact Please pay attention to the previous email we sent.”
Tag: Apple Trade-In Guide[ 38 comments ]
