Jason Fitzpatrick
If you need an iPhone 8 case, your first impulse is to search for an iPhone 8 case and buy the one you like, right? Not so fast. You can often buy a perfectly compatible iPhone 7 case for fraction of the price.
Like many of the iPhone generations that preceded them, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have the same form factor as previous generation. Your brand new iPhone 8 has a better camera and faster processor than an iPhone 7 but, millimeter for millimeter, the physical dimensions are the same.
A discounted iPhone 7 case will protect your shiny new iPhone 8 just as well as a full price iPhone 8 case.
What does that mean for you, the brand new iPhone 8 owner? It means that with a little careful shopping you can score a case for your iPhone 8 at a fraction of the price thanks to lower prices on older (but completely compatible) iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus cases.
For example, if you search on Amazon for the black Speck Presidio Grip Case for the iPhone 8, you’ll find a brand new entry for the iPhone 8 and a list price of $39.97. That’s just a few cents shy of the MSRP for that case and, as much as we like the Presidio line, a bit pricey.
But if you search for the the black Presidio case for the iPhone 7, you get an old listing with a way more reasonable price of $18.90.
Although a casual glance might incline you to think the two products must be different, they’re literally the exact same case—except one is a 53% less than the MSRP.
You can even find similar savings at local stores, too. Many of the big box stores around us have iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus cases on clearance even though they work perfectly fine on the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. (We’ve even seen “updated” versions of the same cases hanging near each other on the racks with different prices and different wording on the packaging, despite housing the same exact case.)
While the trick doesn’t work for every case—many sellers were quick to update their product listings with the release of the iPhone 8—it’s absolutely worth taking the time to search for the “iPhone 7” version of any iPhone 8 case you’re considering purchasing to see if there is an old discounted version hanging out on the virtual shelves.features
