If you’re planning to buy a brand-new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, or iPhone XR, there’s one big thing you’ll want to do after you’ve secured your preorder (if you manage to get one with reasonable shipping times). Make an appointment on your calendar for iPhone pickup day...and set a calendar appointment for exactly two weeks later. Call it “Are You Really Sure?” Day.
Here’s why. Apple offers a 14-day return policy for many items you can buy from its online or retail stores. If you’re not satisfied with your new iPhone, you’re having buyer’s remorse, or you could really use that $749, $999, $1,099, or whatever else you paid for your new iPhone, you can return it to an Apple store, no questions asked, within two weeks of purchase. (You can also ship it back to Apple in the mail, for free, if you prefer to go that route.)
No, you cannot bring in an iPhone you purchased at Verizon, for example, and expect Apple to process a return. Not going to happen—but you knew that anyway, right? Also, make sure you’ve kept everything in Apple’s pretty little iPhone box, as your iPhone must be “repackaged with all the cords, adapters and documentation that were included when you received it.” And I probably don’t need to tell you that your iPhone should work, not be scratched to hell, and not be something you “accidentally” let fly off a rooftop.
Apple’s policy is great for those looking to sell their older devices on a site like Craigslist or eBay, because you can see if you get any traction on your old phone in those 14 days before fully committing to your new one. If nobody’s buying, and you don’t feel like committing to that $1,000 iPhone without being able to sell your old one to offset the cost, you’ll have a little wiggle room.
If you do happen to buy a new iPhone from one of the “big four” carriers—and you can return it without inadvertently cancelling your entire account—Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint all give you 14 days from the purchase date of your iPhone to change your mind as well. That said, the carriers may charge you a restocking fee for the return, typically around $50. Yuck.