Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:

Just two days after pre-orders began, Apple has now started shipping the first batch of iPhone 13 orders to to early buyers. Unfortunately, however, this doesn’t mean you should expect your iPhone 13 pre-order to arrive any earlier than the September 24 release date.

Still, Friday will be here soon enough. And it is certainly possible that some phones might slip through and arrive a day early, though clearly the intent is for the arrivals to start on Friday.

I jumped through the hoops of checking the trade-in value of my iPhone 11 Pro with Apple and comparing it to the trade-in value offered by my carrier. Turns out there’s a significant difference, worth exploring.

In my specific case, with my existing unlimited plan, my carrier offered me $1000 for my iPhone 11 Pro, as compared to Apple’s offer of $450. Here’s the details:

• I am getting an iPhone 13 Pro, 256 GB, Sierra Blue. The phone will arrive Friday.
• Also arriving Friday will be a pre-paid trade-in box. Once I get my new phone set up, I pop my iPhone 11 Pro in the box and send it back.
• My iPhone 13 Pro will take 36 months to pay off. This means that $2.78 will be added to my monthly bill and, after 36 months, we’ll be square.
• My iPhone 13 Pro will remain locked to my carrier for that time. If I want out earlier, I have to pay off the remaining balance. By my math, it’ll take roughly 18 months to start having more value than Apple’s $450 offer.

I have no plans to switch carriers anytime soon, so this feels like a good deal to me. Your mileage may vary.