How can i differentiate between an original phone and refurbished?

• M – Brand new device, meaning the device was purchased new
• F – Refurbished device, meaning the device has been through refurbishing process
• N – Replacement device, meaning the originally bought device was replaced by this model likely due to a service request
• P – Personalized device with engraving, meaning the device was customized with an engraving on purchase

Just check the serial number of your device under Settings > General > About, and you'll be able to figure this out yourself.

That’s a retail refurbished iPhone 7 Plus Matte Black 256 GB meant for distribution in Hong Kong or Macau.

Your photo was removed because it contained the serial number, but the model FN4W2ZP/A gives all the information.

MMT7454 wrote:

Are you working in apple company?

No. However, there are plenty of website where one can look up that kind of information. There are occasionally Apple representatives who post here, but they will have something like "Community Manager" noted.

sergekills gave you what the first letter means. "R" is for a retail refurbished device. I found the meaning of ZP here:

https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/Models

https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/Model_Regions

The rest takes a bit of detective work. Since there are more of them sold in the US, I changed the model number to MN4W2LL/A entered that into a search engine, and received listings of used iPhones for sale with the specific model information.

MMT7454 wrote:

Thanks for your help Y_p_W

but he said letter F. means refurbished

you say now it’s letter R.

Do you mean F

I have contacted with apple service , they are also not sure about this issue

Yes - my mistake. F means retail refurbished.

You can find most information by entering your serial number here:

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

This will give a lot of information but won't indicate if it's new, refurbished, or a replacement.

MikaelBTL wrote:

Are the ''N'' Replacement new phones?

Not necessarily. Apple calls them service replacement devices. They can be new or refurbs, and there's no way to request either. They're supposed to be functionally equivalent to a new device, although they might not be in pristine cosmetic condition. It's my understanding that a quite a few are just returned devices that are inspected, wiped, and have the model number modified. They can't be sold as new but there's usually nothing wrong with them.

No one in here works for Apple.

Just Google it.

Then Contact Support directly and do not post to user community, if you want a reply from Apple.

Are the ''N'' Replacement new phones?