Identify a Refurbished iPhone

This article teaches you how to tell whether or not your iPhone has been refurbished. iPhones are typically considered "refurbished" when they have been repaired and re-sold by Apple after a hardware issue was found in the original phone.

Steps

Identifying General Information

  1. Determine the type of box in which your iPhone came. If it's a tightly sealed white box with the iPhone's serial number on the back and the model number on the front, you've likely purchased a new phone.
    • This will only be relevant for iPhones bought directly from Apple, since third-party sellers won't necessarily ship their phones in Apple packaging.
  2. Look for worn-out or absent accessories. Headphones with a scratched plug, missing manuals or other accessories, or old or worn-out packaging are indicative of a refurbished phone.
    • If you're buying a phone from eBay or Amazon and you're trying to determine whether or not it's refurbished, you can also email the seller for additional pictures or information.
  3. Look for scuff marks or scratches on the phone's housing. Apple typically doesn't ship iPhones in anything less than pristine condition, so scratches on the housing or smudges on the screen should raise questions.
    • If you're buying a scuffed or scratched phone from an Apple retailer, you can talk to them about replacing the phone.
  4. Match the serial number in the manual with the phone's serial number. Your iPhone's serial number can be found on the "About" page in the "General" section of the Settings app.
    • If your phone's box doesn't come with a manual or a serial number on the box, it's likely refurbished.

Checking the Model Number

  1. Open iPhone's. It's a grey app with gears on it typically found on the Home Screen.
  2. Tap General. This option should be near the bottom of the screen.
  3. Tap About. It's at the top of the "General" page.
  4. Scroll down to the "Model" section. You'll see a collection of numbers and letters to the right of the "Model" designation, but the important part is the first letter:
    • If the first letter is "M," your phone is an original (retail) model.
    • If the first letter is "N," your phone is refurbished.

Checking the Serial Number

  1. Open Settings. It's a grey app with gears on it typically found on the Home Screen.
  2. Tap General. This option should be near the bottom of the screen.
  3. Tap About. It's at the top of the "General" page.
  4. Scroll to the "Serial Number" section and look at it. You should see a series of letters and numbers listed here (e.g., ABCDEFG8HJ84). Make a note of this code since you'll be entering it into Apple's database.
  5. Go to Apple's Check Coverage website. You can type your iPhone's serial number into this site to see whether or not it has been activated before.
    • If the phone you're buying has been activated, that doesn't necessarily mean it's refurbished; however, this process will weed out people attempting to sell a phone as "New" when it's actually used.
  6. Type your phone's serial number into the text field. This text field is in the middle of the "Check Coverage" page.
  7. Type in the verification code. It's below the serial number entry field; this code is in place to ensure that you're not a malicious program.
  8. Click Continue. Doing so will take you to your iPhone's diagnostics page, where you'll see something like "This phone has not been activated" if the phone is new.

Tips

  • If the iPhone was refurbished by a third-party store, you can't use the packaging as a metric by which to judge the state of the iPhone.
  • "Refurbished" doesn't equate to "poor quality", and in some cases, Apple devices are marked as "refurbished" due to a small hardware tweak post-launch, even if the tweak in question is a small one.

Warnings

  • Be sure to review the sales policy for any site from which you want to purchase an iPhone before actually purchasing one.

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