Published 10:18 25 Jan 2024 GMT

If your iPhone is on this list it could be worth a lot more than you thought

Apple's smartphones prove the best in class for value retention, according to a new list.

Prudence Wade

We all know that, much like driving a car out of the dealership, the moment you take a new iPhone out of its box and set it up, it loses some value.

The difference between what you pay for it new and what it's worth if you want to sell it or trade it in can often be frustrating.

So, any help you can get in knowing which phones keep their value best is going to potentially be really valuable, since it'll mean you're better placed to upgrade without waving goodbye to a few hundred dollars.

John Keeble / Contributor / Getty

SellCell has just done a bunch of research into exactly that question, establishing which phones will lose the least value after three months of owning them.

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The good news is that iPhones performed really well across the board, taking all of the top 10 spots on the list, and it basically follows the logic that the more popular phones hold their value more.

To that end, the top-performing phone was the iPhone 15 Pro Max in its standard 256GB version, which lost just 18.2% of its after three months (even if that still sounds like quite a big chunk!).

All of the iPhone 15 range, in fact, maintained somewhere from roughly 20% to 35% of value dropped, placing them in pretty similar territory.

If you're an Android fan, the numbers aren't quite as solid, with the Samsung Galaxy S23 range coming in at the top for value protection. Its top performer was the Galaxy S23 Plus with 256GB of storage; it lost 35.3% of its value after three months.

NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty

SellCell commented on the results by saying, "Whilst the iPhone 15 - and Apple generally - produce smartphones that hold the best value overall, Samsung is doing a great job of topping the list in the Android category."

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In all cases, SellCell assumed that the phone would be kept in perfect mint condition - something that most of us probably can't guarantee, but that'll always help when it comes to resale.

If you want to see the full top 15 rankings for three-month losses of value, here they are:

1. iPhone 15 Pro Max, 256GB - 18.2%

2. iPhone 15, 256GB - 22%

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3. iPhone 15 Plus, 256GB - 24.7%

4. iPhone 15, 128GB - 24.8%

5. iPhone 15 Pro, 256GB - 24.9%

6. iPhone 15 Pro Max, 512GB - 26.3%

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7. iPhone 15 Pro, 128GB - 27.1%

8. iPhone 15 Plus, 128GB - 27.5%

9. iPhone 15, 512GB - 31.7 %