Trading your phone into Apple- affected by watermarking?

[JohnApples]

I plan on trading my iPhone 6 into Apple when the 7 rolls out. I know there are better alternatives, but for me, trading up with Apple is the most convenient way.

About a month ago, I purchased a Spigen case to protect my 6 for the final stretch so that I didn't wreck it right before trade-in time. It had the stupid hole around the Apple logo (hate those, but it was on sale) and when I removed it today to clean it, I noticed that there was a very prominent circle around the Apple logo.

My question is, does anyone know if this will affect the trade-in value at all? The phone is in otherwise perfect condition, minus the discoloration around the logo. I will be extremely ticked if they deny trade in based on this cosmetic flaw, so it's best to try and find out before I take it in.

Thanks for the help!

 

[chscag]

I don't think Apple will deny the trade in because of that as long as your phone is otherwise OK. I don't know what Apple does with the trade in phones, whether they refurbish them or just send them to be re-cycled. When I traded in my 5c for my 6s+ the Apple store sales person indicated the 5c would be re-cycled even though it was in perfect condition.

 

[ChrisWilliam]

i think it won't effect too much. What i wang to say si that you should erase your personal iPhone data before selling it.

I had heared that even the data deleted by factory reset can be recovered by recovery tool, you'd better get a professional iPhone data eraser to help you erase data permanently for privacy protection.

 

[tjwilliams25]

i think it won't effect too much. What i wang to say si that you should erase your personal iPhone data before selling it.

I had heared that even the data deleted by factory reset can be recovered by recovery tool, you'd better get a professional iPhone data eraser to help you erase data permanently for privacy protection.

This is partially untrue. Your data CAN be recovered with a recovery tool, but it CAN'T be read unless they have the device-specific key that is created when you set up a passcode. That key is erased when you reset your phone. That's why your data isn't technically "erased", but the ability to read it is near-impossible due to the 256-bit encryption that Apple uses.

As for "secure erasing" tools, don't waste your money. They do more harm than good if you understand how flash memory works.