An iphone that has an international Warranty is not covered in India.....the problem is apple doesnt do anything to solve this problem...and if a person has a hardware problem his handset would not be replaced even if it holds an international warranty??

Abids21 wrote:

Read first & then reply plus make sure you get your glasses.

I think you should get YOUR glasses and read the SPECIFIC iPhone warranty:

http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/iphone-english-a.html

i think apple covers iphone international warranty in delhi if you could check. i had an ipod touch which i bought from uk but after using it for 3 months or soo ,i dropped in water by mistake wipped of the water from my touch and went to apple store in delhi and they took my ipod and gave me a new one after a week so i think they do cover international warranty.

The iPod Touch does have an international warranty. The iPhone does NOT.

Guys, I have read the three pages and do not wish to get into this debate whether Apple provides global warranty on iPhones or not.

My point is, if they don't, why can't they? It's such a common thing and so important from Customer Service perspective. So many people face unnecessary hardships because of this. An Apple provide a valid reason because when I asked Apple Care on the phone their answers make me ROFL.

Some person above said everyone is saying Apple said this but it's actually some person in their call center. I would like to point out that legally it is right to say Apple said this or that because that person in the call center is Apple's representative which the company has employed directly or indirectly to represent them to their customers.

aashish.2 wrote:

Guys, I have read the three pages and do not wish to get into this debate whether Apple provides global warranty on iPhones or not.

There is no debate. There is no international warranty on the iPhone.

My point is, if they don't, why can't they?

Largely because of carrier locks on the phones. An Apple Store in Tokyo or Madrid, or Rome will not be able to replace an AT&T phone, or an Orange UK phone.

Also, because of the revenue sharing with the carriers (subsidies, etc) the iPhone business is structured differently from the other businesses. Funds can not readily cross borders without creating tax problems, so they are kept separate, meaning that even if they wanted to keep stock of US phones in India for example, it would be prohibitively expensive.

With the iPhone 5, the idea of worldwide availability of replacements would get even more complicated by the LTE fragmentation and the need for different models supporting different LTE frequencies from region to region.

Ok. Carrier locked iPhones case is quite understandable.

But then what about unlocked iPhones? Further, locking is done through software and not hardware specific unlike iPhone 5 issues of different frequencies LTE networks having different LTE chips.

There has to be an innovative solution to this problem from an innovative company like Apple. This is the least that we can expect from the worlds most valuable company in terms of market cap.

This is a user-to-user tech support forum. Speculation about Apple's policies and decisions is prohibited by the Terms of Use. Submit your feedback directly to Apple using the appropriate link on the Feedback page:

http://www.apple.com/feedback

What if you live in a country where the iPhone is sold as carrier locked only and there are no Apple stores?

Is Apple supposed to maintain an inventory of unlocked iPhones in such a country in the event someone who loves in that country purchases an officially unlocked iPhone in the US or in some other country where the iPhone is sold as officially unlocked?

Please provide what you think the innovative solution is in that scenario.

There are some other regional differences, facetime in the Middle East for example.

Apple has not made a public statement as to their reasoning. That said, as I tried to explain earlier, there are big problems involved with replacing a US iPhone in India (as an example). In India, service is provided by the carriers. There is no way to move the money around from country to country without creating monsterously complex tax problems in the form of paperwork, etc. It's just not worth it.

The reasoning doesn't really matter at this point. That's the way it is.

Thanks. I badly needed this.

And I just tried to get engaged in this discussion. Apple's moderators will delete the post if this is infringing their policies.

If inventory can't be maintained shipments can be done which will be time consuming but atleast a resolution at the end.

Now some will say there will be import export regulations that will make this impossible. So better have a dedicated team of experts who can repair and give the same iPhone back rather than refusing to acknowledge the warranty of the parent country in an alien country.

That type of repair is so cost prohibitive that Apple does not do repairs in store AT ALL (with the exception of the back glass on the iPhone 4 and 4S). Apple did not manage to squirrel away massive amounts of cash by throwing it around stupidly, which is exactly what you suggest would be...

I understand your frustration, but that's the way it is. Most travellers are not going to be away from their home country for more than several days to weeks at most. There are cheap alternatives available almost anywhere in the world in the form of cheap disposable phones. The only people this causes any real issues for are those who intentionally purchased a phone from a foreign country with the intent of using it in their own country. The terms of he warranty are clear. Doing that may save money in the short run, but it's risky.

Not that this does NOT generally affect residents of EU States as the EU is considered one country for service and warranty purposes.

Have a dedicated team of experts available to repair an officially unlocked iPhone if needed that was purchased by some entitled person in another country?

Dream on.

Purchase the iPhone in the country where you reside as the overwhelming majority of iPhone owners do.

KiltedTim wrote:

There is no debate. There is no international warranty on the iPhone.

KiltedTim, you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

You keep pointing out that the iPhone warranty page says they "may restrict warranty service for iPhone and iPad to the country where Apple or its Authorized Distributors originally sold the device," but you ignore the part where it states that "[w]here international service is available, Apple may repair or replace Apple Products and parts with comparable Apple Product and parts that comply with local standards."

You're may or may not feel stupid after reading this, but speaking from personal experience, I have had an unlocked US GSM iPhone 4 replaced in an Apple Retail in Hong Kong due to a faulty home button. I bet you've never even tried claiming your iPhone warranty rights outside of the United States. In fact, I wonder if you have even set foot in an Apple Store outside the US.

The iPhone certainly does not have a full international warranty like other products, but that does not mean it has no international warranty at all. India likely does not provide coverage bacause it has no Apple retail presence. Likewise, the authorized distributor in Taiwan would not accept my iPhone for service.

I would like to add that this phone was bought directly from Apple, which may or may not make a difference.

The Hong Kong iPhone support page lists different "service and support options for your iPhone depend on where you purchased it," which differentiates between phones bought from carriers, distributors, or direct from Apple. http://www.apple.com/hk/en/support/iphone/contact/

So quit telling people there is no international warranty. It will vary from location to location. You'll have more luck if your phone is direct from Apple and you're in a country with Apple retail. But I know (anecdotally) of someone who was refused service in Shanghai, but that was because China iPhones are different from US iPhones.

rohitdaga123, you could try taking your phone to the nearest country with an Apple retail presence. In any case, always check first with the Apple store at your destination, and maybe request online service beforehand: https://selfsolve.apple.com