Now we know what they do with them when they finally buy a replacement.
And according toa new survey fromConsumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), we’re not the only ones.
Hand-Me-Down
First, some numbers.
Old iPads are still totally useful.Balázs Kétyi / Unsplash
For iPhone buyers, that number was 6 percent.
For iPad users, a much higher 23 percent.
Why might that be?
Most iPad users don’t sell their old devices.Balázs Kétyi / Unsplash
Trade-In
So, what’s going on with those trade-in numbers?
Why do 14 times as many iPhone owners part-exchange their current rig than iPad users?
Again, it’s a testament to the iPad’s longevity, albeit in a paradoxical kind of way.
Nobody in their right mind would give a child a new iPad.Kelly Sikkema / Unsplash
Say you replace your iPhone every two to three years.
Compare this to the iPad.
Perhaps your old iPad is so old it won’t trigger the latest version of iPadOS.
Maybe it works great but is too beaten up to sell.
Let’s take a real-world example.
Say I want to buy a new iPad Pro, and trade in my old 2018 iPad Pro 12.9-inch.
Even if was in perfect condition, Apple would only give me $315 for it.
It hardly seems worth it, considering it still has several years of use left in it.
And that sums it up nicely.
An old iPad is still useful and still does pretty much everything a new iPad can do.
Update 05/28/2024: Corrected a source’s title in paragraph 12.
