Smartphones23.01.2025

iPhones for under R5,000 in South Africa

South Africans willing to buy a secondhand iPhone will find many models priced under R5,000 at reputable used smartphone stores.

In early 2025, the most affordable Apple smartphone sold as new in South Africa is the iPhone 11 64GB, priced around R10,000 to R12,000 from major outlets.

That is substantially more expensive than much newer Android mid-range smartphones that offer similar hardware and features from a myriad of manufacturers.

However, iPhones are particularly well-liked for their longevity — thanks to robust, long-lasting hardware and continuous feature and security updates.

A comparison of the prices of used iPhones and competing Android flagships of the same age and condition will often show that the Apple devices have lost less of their original value.

There is a big market for used iPhones in South Africa, with many stores offering reasonable trade-in values on Apple’s smartphones.

After refurbishment, many of these devices can get a second life with a new user.

Among the most well-reviewed online stores selling iPhones are Digicape Pre-Owned, Epic Deals, iStore Pre-Owned, and TechMarkit.

Just like their previous owners, the quality of the devices can differ significantly.

To help customers decide whether a device will appeal to them, the outlets all have three grading categories for describing the general state of a used device.

In the case of Digicape and iStore Pre-Owned, devices are categorised under Best, Better, and Good.

Epic Deals, TechMarkit, and WeFix use Grade A for a great condition, Grade B for a good condition, and Grade C for a fair state.

Epic Deals also provides detailed descriptions of each device’s condition in its listings along with a general grading.

MyBroadband looked through the used catalogues of the aforementioned stores to see which iPhones were available for less than R5,000 in January 2025.

One of our main criterion for inclusion was that they had to support WhatsApp — an essential app for many South Africans.

That means all models older than the iPhone 6S — released in 2015 — were excluded from consideration.

In some cases, several devices listed with the second-best classification had key components broken, such as the Touch ID or Face ID readers.

Therefore, we also limited our list to iPhones with a Grade A or Best rating. Finally, the devices should have some type of warranty in case of defects.

The standard warranty periods for used devices from each store were as follows:

  • Digicape Pre-Owned — 24-month warranty
  • Epic Deals — 3- to 12-month warranty (displayed on listing)
  • iStore Pre-Owned – 24-month warranty
  • TechMarkit — 6-month warranty
  • WeFix — 12-month warranty

The most affordable used iPhone that met this criteria was an iPhone 6S 32GB from TechMarkit priced at R1,999.

TechMarkit also had the newest model under R5,000 — an iPhone SE 2020 with 64GB storage.

There were also numerous iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models that met our requirements.

It is worth mentioning that users willing to live with more damage or wear and tear than what’s accepted under the best condition category may find many newer and more powerful iPhones under R5,000.

The table below summarises the most affordable used iPhones we found from reputable stores in South Africa.

ModelStorePrice
iPhone 6S 32GBTechMarkitR1,999
iPhone 7 32GBTechMarkitR2,299
iPhone 6S 128GBTechMarkitR2,499
iPhone 8 256GBDigicape Pre-ownedR2,999
iPhone 8 64GBWeFixR3,299
iPhone 7 256GBTechMarkitR3,499
iPhone 7 Plus 32GBTechMarkitR3,599
iPhone 7 Plus 256GBTechMarkitR3,799
iPhone 8 256GBiStore Pre-OwnedR3,999
iPhone SE 2020 64GBTechMarkitR4,799
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