Apple will reportedly launch a new buyback program in a move that would allow customers to exchange their old iPhones for store credit or Apple gift cards.

It is expected that the program, dubbed the "iPhone Reuse and Recycle Program," will be launched at 250 retail locations by the end of the month or in early September. According to TechCrunch, Apple is already testing this out with some customers at select Apple stores in the U.S.

Apple already has a recycling program of sorts in place, but it is by mail only.

Analysts and writers have pointed towards the automobile industry and the textbook industry as examples where this buyback program is already in effect, with most arguing that it will help Apple by keeping the phones from being sold elsewhere. Furthermore, it would serve as a key way to encourage Apple fans to buy the latest iPhone product.

CNET Editor Dan Ackerman said on "CBS This Morning" that the program would give Apple more control over resales of their products.

"They don't want other companies controlling the secondary market," he said. 

According to MacRumors, the buyback program would benefit those in emerging countries because the returned phones would be refurbished and then resold for lower, more affordable prices.

The news of the buyback program is an interesting twist considering that Apple's new pair of iPhones with an affordable option would decrease the demand for cheaper, older versions of the iPhone. Perhaps Apple's new release, coupled with the new buyback program, will help send even more of the old phones to emerging countries than originally anticipated.

It is rumored that Apple will be unveiling the next iPhone Sep. 10, but the company has yet to confirm it.