Replacement iPhone way of telling if they are refurbished?

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Level 1

19 points

Replacement iPhone way of telling if they are refurbished?

Hey,
I am currently on my 2nd iPhone 4. The first one was exchanged at an Apple Genius Bar, and the replacement iPhone was behind the counter in a black iPhone Box fully sealed. The Genius then opened it from the box and activated it using is laptop.

The phone was replaced July 8th due to bad battery problems. I am wondering if there is a way to check if the iPhone is a refurbished unit or a brand new one. Because I had the iPhone on launch and think its a bit cheeky if it is a refurbished one as it is due to manufactures fault that the iPhone was replaced in the first place.

On second thought due to the unit being quite new at the time do you think Apple would have not received many iPhones to refurbish?
Sorry for the lame question but just curious. And by the way this new replaced iPhone seems just as bad as the first one, if not worse. I think it is due to the software as other people have pointed out in other threads.

iMac/MacBook Pro 15" iPhone 4 previous iPhone 3G owner

Posted on Aug 11, 2010 4:18 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

iPugsieHD

Level 1

9 points

Jun 3, 2017 12:18 PM in response to dthomas86

While this is old and I quickly read through the forum.

Apple - Only sell refurbished phones for low prices.

As for a replacement, they do NOT give you refurbished phones, nor are they new.

The replacement phones specifically built for being used as replacements, meaning they are new.

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Answer 2

IamGm

Level 1

4 points

Jun 8, 2017 12:59 AM in response to dthomas86

Hi, Can anybody help me out here.

I replaced my iPhone 6s with new one in an apple store, but they handed over me only the phone without any packaging box. Yes they told me the box is not given to customers as there are some serial number check to be done.

Is this normal?

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Answer 3

Aug 11, 2010 5:48 AM in response to dthomas86

If the replacement was from a black box (with the iPhone pictured on it), that's a new one. If you need to have your phone replaced in the first 14 days, it should be done as a retail swap. After that, for warranty replacements, you'll be given a refurb (assuming they are available, they take a while to get into the pipeline). Generally, replacement iPhones are packaged in plain white boxes with no accessories. New ones can be packaged like that too, for Genius Bar replacements, but after the phone has been out a while they will mostly be refurb units.

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Answer 4

Aug 11, 2010 6:09 AM in response to dthomas86

I had mine replaced after buying my original one on Monday. There was dust in the facetime front camera. I asked the genius bar guy and he said apple makes two kinds of stock. One is the retail one which customers buy, and the other is called Service stock that apple uses to replace defective phones, also he said its too early to have enough return stock to be refurbished so as of now replacement phones are brand new. Hope this helps you.

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Answer 5

Kwopau

Level 4

1,742 points

Aug 11, 2010 7:01 AM in response to vpatel787

I ditto that as well, I had mine replaced and it comes in a plain black box and it was brand new out of the box

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Answer 6

dthomas86 Author

Level 1

19 points

Aug 11, 2010 7:43 AM in response to dthomas86

Cheers guys at least this puts my mind at rest.

Was just wordy because waiting an paying for a new phone ghat I know is going to be "new" as it came from the retail box and then being replaced by a different phone when I am not sure if it isn't a refurbished phone.

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Answer 7

Aug 11, 2010 8:02 AM in response to dthomas86

Per the written warranty, an exchange under warranty will be a new or refurbished iPhone with no way to tell the difference. An exchange under warranty is called a service unit and is provided in a plain box with the iPhone only regardless if new or refurbished with no way to tell the difference. A refurbished iPhone is provided a new case or exterior, a new battery, and all other components are inspected and tested and replaced if needed. A refurb is probably more closely inspected and tested than a new iPhone before leaving the factory and if you have to ask how to tell the difference, Apple has done their job in regards to the exchange under warranty and the exchange remains under the same warranty as the original purchase. The original purchase which was new had a problem or it wouldn't have been exchanged under warranty and a new iPhone being exchanged is no longer new, and if you have to ask if there is any way to tell the difference, there is no difference.

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Answer 8

dthomas86 Author

Level 1

19 points

Aug 11, 2010 8:37 AM in response to Allan Sampson

Cheers mate lots of elaborative information there 🙂

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Answer 9

noemis

Level 1

0 points

Aug 18, 2010 8:45 AM in response to dthomas86

I bought by 32 GB iPhone 4 on July 7th. In the past week I got 3 tempature warnings while being indoors. Twice at home (inside) and once in my office. Never exposed it to sun. Anyway, took it to Apple store last night and they said it was overheating and needed to replace it. Before I could even speak, the rep took out a phone in a black case, took out my sim card and activated this "new" phone. It was so rushed (b/c they were packed) that I wasn't even given the opportunity to remove my confidential data from my phone. The rep assured me that it wasn't a refurbished phone as the iPhone 4 is too new to have such problems.

That was a LOAD of CRAP. I got home and it was all downhill from there. The phone automatically shut itself off and rebooted itself 3 times without me pressing anything. The settings contiued to freeze up on me and wouldn't let me press anything. I can't even begin to tell you my frustration with this. Clearly this phone was a refurbished phone and for the $299 for the 32 GB that I paid a month ago, this is BS. I am beyond frustrated and upset with APPLE that this is how they take care of this.

I don't understand how they have have so many problems with such a new phone especially when they aren't cheap.

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Answer 10

Aug 18, 2010 8:52 AM in response to noemis

This clearly means no such thing whatsoever.

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Answer 11

hambali

Level 1

0 points

Feb 26, 2011 2:16 AM in response to dthomas86

maybe this sounds silly but right now, i've gotten my iphone replacement box but im not sure what to do next... i think that i have to tear the adhesive tape that binds the box but it says there that "do not break seal unless using parts"... so now, i dont know what to do...shud i just tear the adhesive tape and will it affect my replacement iphones in some ways?? btw, i havent open the replacement box yet... its been 4 days...

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Answer 12

jclang49

Level 1

0 points

Aug 21, 2011 1:43 PM in response to Allan Sampson

So, I'm reading this forum because my two month old IPHONE just bit the dust. Iphone4, 32 GB - cost me lots of dough. They will replace my two month old phone with a refurb. I'm not happy. There are refurbs in the pipeline now (2011) I'm wondering why Apple can't give me a new one.

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Answer 13

gdgmacguy

Level 7

21,885 points

Aug 21, 2011 1:54 PM in response to jclang49

jclang49 wrote:

I'm wondering why Apple can't give me a new one.

Because you're not giving them a new one. Yours is 2 months old.

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Answer 14

jclang49

Level 1

0 points

Aug 22, 2011 5:35 PM in response to gdgmacguy

So, almost a week now, did a factory restore, got my phone back talking to

Verizon this morning after wiping it, and I had bars for about a half

hour. Open ticket with tier two, and they can't figure out what's going

on. After two months of use. I wonder if this is happening ANYWHERE

else...I read about other parts of the country, but I'm in Massachusetts,

and I don't see anyone in my neck of the woods complaining. Driving down

a major highway tonight with bars popping up for seconds, then 'no

service'. =20

I'm about to swap carriers. That way, I'll get a free phone that's new.

I paid 25 bucks for a household phone some years ago, and it STILL WORKS.

I've been with Verizon since the 90s. They don't seem to care. Anyone

else out there having these issues? East coast people?

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Answer 15

Leann O.

Level 3

642 points

Aug 22, 2011 7:25 PM in response to gdgmacguy

What's the big deal? I bought two refurbished iPhone 4 models in July. When they got to my house they looked brand new to me. I've been using one and my husband has been using the other. We couldn't be happier with our phones. We also saved quite a bit of money, as we bought each phone for $99. Works for us.

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