Apple Smartphone Owners Flood Recycle Sites in Wake of iPhone 5 Launch

With the dust from Apple's iPhone 5 launch just beginning to settle, the Internet is still in a frenzy with owners of previous Apple smartphones clamoring to recycle their old handsets in exchange for the latest model. A new report finds record-breaking iPhone trade-ins ahead and during the current launch.

According to Sell Cell, the largest phone recycling comparison site in the U.S., sales were up 50% on Sept. 12 against the daily average, with the amount of visitors peaking at 4 p.m. EST, just hours after Apple unveiled the next-generation iPhone.

In the month preceding the iPhone 5 announcement, trade-ins of the iPhone 4S were up almost 450% over trade-ins of the iPhone 4 compared to August 2011. No wonder, considering consumers can currently get $385 for an old iPhone 4S, which is more than enough to cover the on-contract price of the new iPhone.

The movement to upgrade may have been sparked by early rumors pegging the iPhone 5 with a larger display and 4G LTE connectivity, leading consumers to believe that the handset would be much different than Apple's current offerings.

While some users may just be yearning for the latest and greatest, it seems older iPhone owners were holding out for a newer design, as the iPhone 3G 8GB and iPhone 3GS 16GB topped the list for most recycled handsets on the site, with the phones holding a highest trade-in price of $63 and $118, respectively.

With trade-in activity picking up, owners of an older Apple smartphone who want to upgrade shouldn't wait to recycle their old device, as the value of an Apple handset has depreciated at an average rate of almost 10% since July, according to Sell Cell.

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