Apple will soon let customers trade in busted iPhones toward a new one

Apple's been running an iPhone trade-in program for some time now, which is different than the iPhone Upgrade Program that the company launched last year. With the former, customers can hand over their old iPhone (or any smartphone) to Apple and receive a gift card that they can spend on a newer iPhone. Currently, Apple doesn't allow you to trade in an iPhone with a cracked screen or significant damage elsewhere — like the camera. But according to 9to5Mac, that's not going to be the case for much longer.

Beginning this week, Apple will reportedly begin accepting iPhones with a broken display, camera, or buttons. The report notes that damage must be considered "within reason," so if your phone has been run over by a truck or tossed off a building or something, you'll probably still be out of luck. I can't even tell you if the phone in our picture above would qualify. Customers can expect trade-in values around $50 for an iPhone 5S, $200 for a 6, and $250 for a 6 Plus, per 9to5Mac. That could go up some depending on how much storage your phone has. For Apple, the hope is that adding more leniency to the trade-in program will encourage more customers to actually take advantage of it. Think about how many shattered iPhone screens you've seen, and yeah, it definitely makes sense.

Separately, Apple will also now permit Apple Store employees to install screen protectors on iPhones, a practice that was previously frowned upon. Apple doesn't really sell any great iPhone screen protectors though — I've tried this one and it's pretty flimsy — and it sounds like they'll only install products that you buy right there at the store. Still, if you're absolutely hopeless when it comes to applying these things, you've now got somewhere to turn; it'll just require spending some cash first.