Hi! Asking for a friend who is planning to buy a new Xs off from someone else. Is there a way to check if the iPhone was activated and the warranty had started? I am guessing it is the AppleCare page but what will be displayed if it is not activated at all?
Also what is the correct way to check if it is a refurbished set or not?
And what are other areas to take note?
You say new Xs. Xs was discontinued last September. The warranty does not begin on the day of activation. The warranty begins the day the phone left Apple Inventory, which could have been months ago.
Your friend will want to make sure the phone is not Activation Locked. It should open to the hello page. If it doesn't, they'll be buying a useless brick.
In terms of determining if the phone is refurbished, he can go to Settings > General > About and the first letter of the model will tell the following:
M= new device
F= refurbished
N= replacement
P= personalized
Send your friend the following user tip I wrote about used devices --> The All Too Common SAD Reality of Buying … - Apple Community
Finally, your friend should be VERY cautious as it's very common for people to lose their money and get useless devices. The best advice is to buy from authorized sellers.
mitchytan92 wrote:
“The warranty begins the day the phone left Apple Inventory, which could have been months ago. “
Hmm is that so because I had purchased iPhones from non officially authorised phone shops that resell brand new phones and the warranty starts from the activation date.
If so can I check on the AppleCare website even if the phone is not activated yet to check the warranty start date?
The warranty actually starts the day that an authorized Apple reseller reports the sale to Apple. Which is indirectly the day the phone leaves Apple’s inventory, because the inventory includes phones in the inventories of resellers (as they can be returned to Apple).
You can go to https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do and enter the serial number. This will show the warranty end date, which is a year after the warranty start date.
You said your friend was buying a phone off someone else. Unless that someone else is an authorized Apple Reseller, the phone's warranty began the day it left Apple or an Apple Authorized sellers inventory. Yes, you can check the AppleCare website, but I'm quite sure you'll find the warranty is already activated, whether the phone has been or not.
Best policy is to not buy it from anyone other than an authorized reseller.
You can buy refurbished devices directly from Apple.
“The warranty begins the day the phone left Apple Inventory, which could have been months ago. “
Hmm is that so because I had purchased iPhones from non officially authorised phone shops that resell brand new phones and the warranty starts from the activation date.
If so can I check on the AppleCare website even if the phone is not activated yet to check the warranty start date?
I see. Now that I think about it you might be right...
In the past when I used my carrier contract to get an iPhone 5s at a discounted price and I sold it off as a new set to an unauthorised phone shop, everything was smooth.
But last year when I did the same to a Xs 512GB, the carrier says Apple changed their policy and enforce activation upon receiving the phone. I believed this might just be applicable for all retailers now... There should not be any way the seller is able to get an inactivated set then.
Yeah but his budget is quite limited and he is trying to look for an iPhone with an OLED panel. 11 series is out of his budget and Apple Singapore does not have refurbished iPhone for sales.
The warranty starts the day that third party reseller got the device.
What to check when buying iPhone off someone else?
