Apple's iPhone trade-in program reportedly headed to Europe

iPhone users in the United Kingdom and other countries in Europe may soon have an easier way to trade up models. According to 9to5Mac, a program at Apple retail stores that allows customers to make the swap is expanding abroad.

The "Reuse and Recycle" program, originally rolled out in August, let's users coveting that new model go into an Apple store and have their current phones appraised. Employees take water damage, hardware damage and screen condition into consideration when naming a buyback price. That credit is put on a gift card and applied to the price of a new iPhone.

For now, the program runs in the United States, though, according to 9to5Mac, about a third of all of Apple's retail stores are outside of the US. The program reportedly will roll out in the UK in the coming months, then in other European countries afterwards.

The intent is to drive up iPhone sales in Apple's own stores. The company's newest iPhone models, the 5S and 5C, have fared differently in the early goings. The gold version of the 5S, for example, was sold out until October on launch day, while the 5C has been more available.

The report comes on the same day that Apple announced the expanded availability of its two newest phones to more than 30 countries outside the US, including Ireland, Italy and Sweden.