In partnership with Brightstar, Apple’s Renew and Recycling program has now available for the Apple Watch, offering Apple gift cards for older Apple Watch devices that are still in good working order.
The company has allowed this before, but no gift cards were offered. Now, gift cards that are received from recycling products can be put toward new devices paid for on the Apple Store, whether at retail locations or online.
Gift cards are now available for original Apple Watch models, Series 1 models and Series 2 models, with Apple offering between $50 and $175 per device. A mint condition 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch Series 2 should see you get a full payout of $175, for example. This means that the prices are lower than what you’d expect if you were to sell the device on your own, but more for other trade-in programs.
Working condition means that the device is able to turn on, the enclosure is in good working condition, there are no obvious signs of liquid damage, that the display is in good condition and the buttons are operational. Normal wear and tear on the enclosure is accepted.
Money is only being offered for devices that meet all of the above requirements but for devices that are damaged in some way, you can recycle it through Brightstar but you won’t receive a gift card.
You can use your own shipping or Brightstar will send you a free box and customers should make sure that their device is free of faults, that all data has been wiped, and that the battery is fully charged. You don’t need to send charging cables or the Apple Watch band with your device.