Next time you plan to buy an Apple product, check the macrumours buyers guide which estimates where in the product lifecycle it is and whether it’s a good time to buy it or not.

https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

Apple releasing new iPhones in September is probably the world's worst kept secret.

You have 14 days to return it.

Nah. My net cost is only $200, and I'll probably keep it for 3-5 years like I did my X. I really only wanted the larger, brighter screen and much better battery life.

30 days after a new product announcement I believe as well

IIRC you can ask for the difference in price, if you're in the return window. Or just return it.

It was pretty well understood that they were announcing a new iPhone today with a little bit of research! It's a well followed pattern at this point.

The biggest thing you missed was the small discount on the 13 that’ll start going around today.

Nope - that's the reason I bought when I did. I was aware that it was very likely that the 14 would be announced this week, I was only expressing my amusement.

I upgraded through AT&T, who gave me a $700 trade-in on my iPhone X. I also snagged an additional discount on my new iPhone 13 Pro Max because I was OK with an unpopular color ("bamboo"), so my total cost ended up being around $200.

$700 for an iPhone X? How's that possible?

Apple's offering $150 for an iPhone X, and $430 for an iPhone 12 Pro.

T-Mobile in January offered $600 off when trading in iPhone 8, and $800 off for newer models. I received iPhone 13 in the mail, sent back 8, paid $80-90 up front for taxes and fees, and am paying $6.67 a month for 30 months after which I will own 13 free and clear.

Presumably AT&T was attempting to sell their stock before the new model released. It was only applicable if buying a 13.