Sell or Recycle Your Apple iPhone 15 Plus: 2023 Price Guide provides insights into the current value of your device. Launched in 2023 at $899, the iPhone 15 Plus now sees trade-in prices ranging from $430 to $510 for devices in excellent condition. This guide delves into the worth of your iPhone across various major trade-in services and offers information on purchasing certified refurbished units or recycling options if your device is at end-of-life.
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All certified-refurbished sellers test the device, replace the battery if degraded below 80% capacity, and reset to factory defaults.
How to Recycle a Apple iPhone 15 Plus
If trade-in value is below £20 / $25 - or the device has a swollen battery, cracked screen with internal damage, or won't power on - recycling is the responsible end-of-life route.
The fastest free option for a Apple device is the manufacturer programme: Apple Trade In. Cash card or new-purchase credit. Mail-in or in-store. Most products eligible including non-working.
Free options that work for any smartphone:
Before recycling, factory-reset the device, remove SIM and SD cards, and sign out of any cloud account.
What's Inside (Recoverable Materials)
A modern smartphone contains roughly 0.034g gold, 0.34g silver, 0.015g palladium, 15g copper and 16g aluminium. Total recoverable raw-material value is around $1-$3 per device at 2026 commodity prices. Lithium-cobalt batteries are 30-50g and require separate processing.
The UN Global what is e-waste Monitor 2024 estimates that the raw materials in global e-waste were worth $91 billion in 2022, with only 22.3% formally recycled. Every device sent to certified recycling closes a small part of that loop.
Fair-condition trade-in is around $215. Repair almost always pays off - even a full screen replacement at $150-$200 lifts the trade-in to excellent tier, recovering the repair cost twice over.
Common failure modes for this generation: battery degradation below 80% capacity (cheap fix at any independent repair shop), screen damage from drops (out-of-warranty repair from the manufacturer is usually 2-3x what an independent shop charges), and water damage (rarely worth repairing - recycle and trade up).
Related Guides
Sources
- Trade-in prices: live quotes from Decluttr, Gazelle, Back Market, Apple Trade In, Best Buy Trade-In, retrieved 2026-05-17
- Manufacturer take-back URLs: official manufacturer recycling pages
- Recoverable materials: UN Global E-Waste Monitor 2024 (UNITAR/ITU) baseline data
- Repairability scores: iFixit teardown database where available
Sell or Recycle Your Apple iPhone 15 Plus: 2023 Price Guide: complete decommissioning guide (2026-05-20)
Should you trade in, sell, or recycle?
Decision depends on device age, condition, and your trade-in willingness. Use this matrix:
| Device age | Working condition | Best route | Typical net value |
|---|
| 0-2 years | Excellent | Trade-in to manufacturer or carrier | 35-65% of MSRP |
| 0-2 years | Cracked screen but functional | eBay / Swappa / Music Magpie | 20-45% of MSRP |
| 2-4 years | Working | Music Magpie / BackMarket buyback | 15-25% of MSRP |
| 4-6 years | Working | Specialist refurbisher | 5-15% of MSRP |
| 6+ years OR broken | Any | Certified recycler (free) | $0 but avoided landfill fines |
Compare 7 buyback prices for any device in 30 seconds via our Trade-In Best Price Finder.
Data sanitisation before disposal
For data-bearing devices, the safest practice:
- Sign out of all cloud services (Apple ID, Google account, Microsoft account, Samsung account). For Apple devices, removing the iCloud lock is mandatory or the next owner can't activate it.
- Factory reset. iOS: Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Erase All Content. Android: Settings → System → Reset → Factory data reset. Windows: Settings → System → Recovery → Reset this PC → Remove everything. macOS: Apple menu → System Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Erase All Content.
- Verify the reset completed. Power on after reset - should land on setup-from-scratch screen, not your home screen.
- For sensitive data (financial, medical, regulated): software wipe is insufficient. Use a certified ITAD provider with NIST data sanitisation standard sanitisation. Cost calculator: Hard Drive Destruction Cost Calculator.
Recyclable materials in this device
Smartphones + tablets contain (per Apple's product environmental reports + iFixit teardowns):
- Aluminium frame (1-3% recovery rate at certified processors)
- Copper wiring (60-80% recovery)
- Gold + silver in connectors (35-65% recovery)
- Lithium-ion battery (must be separated - fire risk in mixed loads)
- Rare earth magnets in speakers + haptics (limited recovery economically)
Total recoverable material value per smartphone: $1.50-$4.20 at current commodity prices (lookup: our Scrap Value Calculator).
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell a device that's still on the carrier blocklist? No - blocked devices have negligible resale value and reputable buyback services reject them. Contact the carrier to remove the block first (verify with original purchase records). If blocked due to non-payment, settle the account before listing.
What about devices with broken screens but working internals? Refurbishers like Music Magpie + BackMarket pay 40-60% of working-condition value for broken-screen devices. Worth listing - the screen swap costs them $30-$80 wholesale.
Should I remove the battery before recycling? No - certified recyclers want intact devices. Manual battery removal risks puncture and lithium-ion fire. Loose batteries also need separate stream (hazmat shipping rules).
Related tools + guides
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Device data verified against manufacturer environmental reports + iFixit repairability database + current commodity prices as of 2026-05-20. Operated by Defining Style Limited (UK Companies House 10572391, ICO Registration ZA711914).
