Refurbished iPhone: customer reviews, pros and cons of operation

• October 6, 2018
• iOS
• Valeria Antonova

You won’t surprise anyone anymore with Apple products on the shelves with the “refurbished” status. What are these iPhones and do they differ in quality from new devices? How do users respond to restored devices? Let's consider these and other issues related to iPhones that have a “like new” status.

How are iPhones restored?

Future “Refs” are purchased in large retail stores. Select only devices with faulty parts that need to be replaced. These devices are sent to a licensed service, where they undergo diagnostics. If the phone is completely “killed”, then it will not be allowed to be restored. But, as a rule, such copies are rarely found in chain stores.

If the iPhone has been discharged and charged more than 200 times in total, then its battery must be changed. If there are areas on the screen with highlights or poor color rendering, then it will be replaced.

To have no doubt about the authenticity of the device, you can order it on the official Apple website. If you want to first see the phone in person and hold it in your hands, then preference should be given to offline stores. In such cases, it is important to be able to distinguish a refurbished iPhone from a new one.

Package

A refurbished product is practically no different in appearance from a new one, with the exception of packaging. All such products now come in plain white boxes with an " Apple Certified Refurbished " guarantee. The name of the product is usually written on the lid.

New gadgets are sold in packages with a color image of the product they contain, but it’s not here

Inside the box, the buyer will find a standard set of cables and instructions, as is the case with new products.

Main features of a refurbished iPhone

When buying a used iPhone, the question arises: how to distinguish an iPhone refurbished by the manufacturer from the original?

To find out, you can use an interesting trick, which we will discuss below. It uses the device model ID to determine whether your iPhone is new, refurbished, replaced, or even personalized with engraving. This information may be especially useful to buyers of used equipment.

Feature 1 box

First, if you buy a new iPhone, the seller should ship it in its original box. There is a picture of it on the package, and you can find out what type of device is in front of you.

If we are talking about officially restored iPhones, then these devices are delivered in boxes that do not have an image of the gadget itself. As a rule, the packaging is white, and only the device model is indicated on it.

Pay attention to the sticker on the smartphone box.

Before the model name, pay attention to the abbreviation “REF” (which means “refreshed” or “restored” or “like new”). If such a designation is present, your smartphone has been restored.

For Ref, the box will be simply white, without pictures and with the inscription “Apple Certified Pre-Owned”. Only this check will be enough if you purchase a smartphone from official dealers. Unscrupulous private companies may package refurbished iPhones in boxes from new devices. To avoid falling for this trick, you need to check your phone for several more points.

Apple device recovery program

The main goal of the program is to obtain the highest possible profit through the secondary production of defective models. This phrase may scare the consumer, but there is nothing scary in the restoration process. It was precisely so that the buyer would not be afraid that the phrase “like new” iPhone was coined. Customer reviews say that large network companies sell such iPhones with this specification.

Consumers believe that buying a refurbished iPhone is profitable and practical. And the opportunity to save money is always pleasing when making a purchase.

Check by imei

At the production stage, each iPhone is assigned a unique identifier - IMEI, which is programmatically entered into the phone, printed on its box, and also registered on the case.

When authenticating an iPhone, make sure the IMEI matches both in the menu and on the back. An inappropriate indicator should indicate to you that either the device has been counterfeited, which the seller did not mention, for example, the case has been replaced, or this is not an iPhone at all.

iPhone XR

Despite the large screen frames, Apple still did not place a photo of the back panel of the iPhone XR on the front side of the box. We understand perfectly why - an expensive smartphone has only one main camera on the back, and this confuses many.

In this case, the photo of the smartphone must match the color of the device: blue, yellow, coral, black, white or red.

There is no clear model indication on the side of the box .

apple company website

In addition to the IMEI, each Apple gadget has its own unique serial number, which can be used to verify its authenticity on the official Apple website.

On the Apple website you can check your phone by its serial number.

You will recognize it in the same section as the model number. To do this, open your iPhone's settings and go to the General section.

If you entered these numbers on the website and the message “Activate your device” appears on the screen, then the phone is new. When activation is completed, three items are displayed on the screen, opposite which there should be a check mark.

Select "About this device." The Serial Number column will contain a combination of letters and numbers that we will need later.

Go to the Apple website and check your device. In the window that opens, enter the serial number, enter the code from the figure below and run the test by clicking the “Continue” button.

The device under test will appear on the screen. If it is inactive, this will be reported.

In our case, we are talking about an already registered gadget, for which the expiration date of the additional warranty is indicated. If the “Technical support...” item is not marked with a checkmark, but with an exclamation mark, then the iPhone is not new and was activated more than three months ago. Technical support can be used within three months from the date of activation.

If there is an exclamation mark next to the line “Right to service...”, it means that the phone was activated more than one year ago and the warranty has expired.

If, as a result of checking in this way, you see a completely different device or the site does not identify the gadget by this number, then this is a Chinese non-original smartphone.

Check iPhone using barcode:

Enter 13 digit barcode:

Assortment changes

The list of items available for purchase in the "refurbished" section depends on what customers are returning or trading in for newer models.
Accordingly, the assortment is constantly changing, and the number of products in stock is very limited. It also happens that the devices in stock are not standard models, but improved ones. They may have more RAM than standard, replace the SSD or hard drive, or replace the GPU or CPU. Attention!
Deciding on what to buy in the refurbished Apple product category can be tricky. Older devices and newer ones differ slightly. And for those who do not at all follow the specifics of hardware updates, it is generally difficult to understand the difference between processors and other components in computer models or iOS devices of different years.

Before making a purchase, you must carefully study all the characteristics of the selected product model to ensure that the device meets your needs. Many versions of previous generations of Macs are decent home PCs that will last for years. However, different models may differ significantly in performance and other features, and this is also worth considering.

Thus, the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro 2015 comes with a trackpad that supports Force Touch technology. The 2014 model has a simpler trackpad. Such differences are not particularly highlighted in the description of devices from the “refurbished” category. Also, both laptops use PCI-E SSD drives, but the 2015 model is more productive.

To get your hands on a specific Mac or iPad model from the "refurbished" category on Apple's website, you don't have to rush! Sometimes you have to wait several days or even weeks and regularly review the assortment. This is inevitable, especially if you plan to get a device with certain characteristics planned in advance.

If you find something and want to buy it quickly, then get an American address here . Don't wait, a good product will not keep you waiting.

To help such comrades, special websites have even been created, making it easier to track changes in the assortment. They send the user a notification when the model they need appears on the Apple website. Thus, the Refurb.me resource displays all the products that Apple has in the “refurbished” category. You can also see the exact dates when certain models were last available. Finally, in special settings it is easy to set up notifications about when the desired version of a particular product comes back on sale. Refurb.me offers consumers statistical summaries of the availability and cost of different products, very useful tools for those who need to make choices.

There is another site, Refurb Tracker. Here you can select the product categories you are interested in and receive notifications of new arrivals by email or RSS. Both of these resources monitor the selection of products in the "refurbished" category on Apple websites in countries where refurbished products are sold.

Why does Apple even restore iPhone?

Products sold on Apple's online refurbished store are used smartphones that have been returned to Apple by customers who encountered a defect, such as a faulty SSD on a Retina MacBook Pro or dead pixels on an iPhone display. These may also be products that customers choose to recycle through Apple's recycling program, or products that are returned.

Apple repairs these products and replaces any faulty parts before putting them back on sale. Refurbished products are only available on the Apple website and are not offered in retail stores.

Manufacturer repairs are usually preferred as they guarantee a higher standard, although they are harder to find.

Refurbished phones are usually rated by retailers. Trading Standards tells us that these grades are not independently established so quality may vary, but they are generally determined as follows:

• Grade A – Appears new or has only very minor signs of handling or wear.
• Grade B - May have scratches, chips or other minor cosmetic damage.
• Grade C – will show signs of wear; Expect the product to look used.

Have you bought a refurbished iPhone?

Not really

Features of the models

Each iPhone smartphone model has its own differences that you need to pay attention to when choosing a device.

iPhone XS and XR

Models such as XS and XR are not sold refurbished in the Russian Federation. They can only be found from private individuals who did the repairs themselves. If you are offered to purchase a refurbished iPhone XS or XR, check that all identification numbers match.

iPhone X

In official stores you can buy a refurbished iPhone X. The price for this model is 15% lower. The “like new” iPhone X box will not have a picture of the phone; the packaging is pure white, with an inscription on the front. In appearance, such a smartphone will not differ from a completely new one. There is no information on the restoration of the model on the device itself.

The iPhone 8 featured a powerful processor and a good camera.

The refurbished iPhone 8 is not a very popular model. Let us remember that the model was morally outdated even at the presentation. Apple, when releasing the eight, rushed and showed the future iPhone X. But still, fans of “Apple products” bought these smartphones, and some of them ended up being restored at the factory.

By the way, today this phone is still at its best in terms of hardware. The Apple A11 Bionic processor is especially good in them, which outperforms the Android Snapdragon 845.

The photos on it are better than those of Android flagships. Refurbished iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus also come with a one-year warranty and new accessories. The box also does not have a picture; we remind you that the letters RFB on the label in front of the device name indicate that the model is restored.

But due to the rapid release of the tenth model, buyers began to return this device en masse under warranty. Therefore, refurbished models are publicly available from official resellers. On the packaging of such phones they put o.

iPhone 7

Refurbished iPhone 7 and 7Plus are popular on the Russian market; the discount on such a device reaches 15% and this is a fairly favorable price. In addition, this model was popular at one time and it is precisely these phones that are now often handed over by owners under the trade-in program. This means that they are the ones who most often end up in the factory. So sellers are very tempted to sell a refurbished iPhone 7 at the price of a new one.

To avoid falling for this bait, look carefully at the box. There will be no image of the phone on it; the white box is a sign of the RFB model. Check your phone's IMEI on one of the verification sites. For example imeidata.net. This number can be seen on the label on the device packaging, as well as when connecting iTunes (of course, this is unlikely to be done in the store).

What is restoration (refurbished)

All Apple products are famous for their special quality. But sometimes even among the iPhones you come across defective ones. Such devices are not recycled, but sent back to the factory, where they are put in order and sold again, but cheaper.

These smartphones are called refurbished iPhones (updated or restored).

Differences between a refurbished phone and a fake one

If you buy Ref, it is important not to fall for a fake. To do this, immediately check the IMEI, model number and serial number. Even for a restored model, the data on the website will be leaked. If the data does not pass verification, then it is a fake.

You can distinguish a non-original one by its appearance. On the original iPhone 7, the touchpad vibrates. Fake models have mechanical keys. The device body should not crack when pressed.

Another simple check is to search for applications. Find any game or application that is not on Google Play. If the application is not found, then yours is not original.

Often on fakes there are slots for memory cards. There will never be slots like this on iPhones. Be sure to pay attention to this.

Companies engaged in unofficial iPhone restoration are a great danger. Such companies exist not only in China, but also in Russia. In workshops, an old broken iPhone is assembled into a device that is passed off as a reissue or a new one.

To save money, these repair shops buy phones that are recessed or have non-functioning components. Then they are completely disassembled, re-soldered, and non-functional parts are replaced with cheap, low-quality analogues. A “brand new” smartphone is packaged in a box similar to the original. Stickers with IMEI and serial code are glued on top. And such devices are sold mainly online.

Beware, fake!

If you received a Chinese-made iPhone, but with an original motherboard, which is the basis of the gadget, then this is not the worst thing. The Chinese have launched a large-scale production of fake iPhones that look very similar to the originals. In fact, such devices are designed, as a rule, based on the Android operating system. Users write that the smartphone interface was so similar to the original that even the AppStore was identical to what is provided in the original iPhone.

To avoid becoming a victim of deception, be careful when purchasing a gadget. First, be guided by price. A refurbished iPhone cannot cost several times less than a new device; the difference in price can be 10-30%.

Go to the AppStore, if you are immediately transferred to the PlayMarket, then everything becomes clear. The screen resolution is almost always of low quality and the sensor responds with delays.

Reviews of such phones are usually the most angry. These devices are liked only by those who initially knew that they were buying a cheap fake. But there were also many cases when such copies were sold under the guise of new or refurbished iPhones, the cost of which reached several tens of thousands of rubles. Buyers were shocked when they were informed that their device was not original.

How to avoid getting a refurbished iPhone

Unfortunately, unscrupulous sellers have begun to take advantage of the market and interest in cheaper “refurbished” products. There are dozens of similar stories online where hundreds, if not thousands, of people have been duped into wanting to buy a phone, computer or tablet at an extremely attractive price, much less than what we have to pull out of our wallets in the traditional smartphone market.

Unfortunately, devices from Asian suppliers that are ordered by Russian intermediaries and delivered to the customer are rarely repaired at the factory. Most often this is simply used equipment, with non-original cases with replaced wear parts (displays, batteries, speakers, connectors), repackaged in boxes. At first glance, they really look like new ones bought in a store. Unfortunately, upon closer inspection, it turns out that the parts being replaced are often not original, and that these replacements are of very poor quality. Conclusion - buy equipment on the official Apple website or in trusted stores.

How to distinguish a refurbished iPhone from one repaired at a service center

In addition to factory-refurbished iPhones, there is iPhone seller refurbishing. When buying such a gadget, you take a risk, since it is not known who exactly repaired the smartphone.

Most often, “seller restoration” is carried out by companies that are actively buying smartphones, promising a new one with discounts. Then a new one is assembled from three old iPhones. This can be done even in a regular service center; another question is that they will not give any further guarantee here, nor will they bear any responsibility for the result. Post-repair tests are not going as well as we would like.

How to distinguish a factory-restored iPhone from a refurbished one:

• Check the model numbers in the phone settings, on the box and in iTunes;
• Check in iTunes to see if your smartphone is already registered. You can “reset” the entire history by serial number only on the iPhone; it is always sold unactivated, just like a regular new smartphone;
• To see when the smartphone sold to you was first activated, you need to enter its IMEI number on the website. It will be written here when the smartphone was activated (or not), what rights it has to warranty and service;
• Examine the model. Only in factory conditions can the bolts be tightened absolutely tightly, securing the lower part of the body; the “handicraft” work will be revealed by loosely fitting caps.

Minuses

• There is no guarantee of integrity and safety if ordered by mail. Especially if the order was made on a foreign website. There is a risk of becoming the owner of a damaged device: with a broken screen, non-functioning sensor, etc.
• There may be problems with the software . For example, freezes and bugs may occur while working with applications. Or problems with the system itself—unreasonable crashes from any program, “lags” with settings, and others.
• may arise from the technical side : swelling of the battery, which no longer fits into the case, strong heating of the device, and others. In this case, you should contact the seller to solve the problem: exchange the device for another or return the money.
• Availability of used components: processor, memory, battery. This usually does not interfere with the operation of the device at first. But the lifespan of such an iPhone is usually much shorter .
• Since many are already familiar with the disadvantages of refurbished Chinese iPhones, they are in no hurry to buy them, especially second-hand. So, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get your money back by selling if you don’t like the device or no longer need it. And if you succeed, you will have to sell at a price much lower than what was paid.

Is it worth buying

Refurbished devices are used, defective or damaged products that the customer returns during the warranty period to the manufacturer or an authorized service center where they are refurbished for resale. The purpose of the update is to bring the device to such a state that it is fully functional, at the level of a completely new product. However, it may show minor signs of use, such as scratches on parts of the case.

It happens that the equipment is completely intact on the outside. This is because some consumers return their devices within a few days of purchase. Thanks to this, you may find a practically new, fully functional product, but this happens quite rarely.

iPhone repair is beneficial for both manufacturers and consumers. The manufacturer, instead of disposing of returned or faulty equipment, renews and sells it, thereby incurring less losses. On the other hand, a consumer who buys “almost new” equipment can save a lot of money. The lower price of the product is mainly due to the fact that the device has already been unboxed and/or used and cannot be considered new.

Restoring returns the device to working condition. The service life of such a product and its ease of use depend primarily on who was responsible for the update process. It is recommended to purchase this type of device from reputable companies, preferably from the manufacturer Apple itself, avoiding Chinese companies that often use non-original parts in the repair or restoration process.

On the official Apple website you can buy such products with a one-year warranty. The company guarantees that after the regeneration process the product will be as good as new and 15% cheaper. The refurbished device has the battery and external housing components replaced. Apple ships the hardware with accessories, cables, and the original operating system.

If you select a device refurbished on such a platform, please review the warranty terms for the offer you select. It should be remembered that regardless of whether the product is sold new or refurbished, as long as the buyer is a consumer, regardless of the condition of the device, he has consumer rights (including the right of return, two-year warranty).

Advantages of equipment repaired by the manufacturer:

• Lower purchase price compared to a new device;
• It has been refurbished to quality standards;
• Manufacturer's warranty;
• Only original spare parts used for repairs.

Away with superstitions!

It turns out that consumers have a biased attitude towards goods labeled as “ refurbished ” (refurbished) not only in our country, but also abroad, in the homeland of Apple, in particular. Complete universal injustice in relation to excellent goods and just some kind of medieval obscurantism. We need to fix this. I hope the text below will help you understand the essence of the issue and find out how to really save on buying good gadgets and computers.

Many people are aware that so-called “refurbished” products are sold on the Apple website at a significant discount. Many believe that these products have already been used, they have cosmetic or hardware defects, and their buyers are just trying to compensate for production costs. We will not be responsible for other companies, but Apple guarantees that all of its products in the “refurbished” category are no worse than new ones. This implies complete absence of defects (due to factory inspections and replacement of parts if necessary) and a company warranty.

Of course, refurbished Apple products can be purchased at even lower prices from trading partner retailers. Although traders do not provide the same quality guarantees as the manufacturer himself. So the conclusion is obvious - you need to buy gadgets labeled as “refurbished” from Apple .

Every iPad, Mac, Apple TV or accessory in the "refurbished" category must go through a certification process . This proves the absolute functionality of the product, and in iOS devices the manufacturer must replace the case and battery . Any such product comes with a one-year warranty .

If the consumer, as they say, “doesn’t have a problem,” and can wait several months before purchasing, then he should pay attention to refurbished products. They have excellent quality, and a significant discount will be a pleasant bonus for purchasing a good gadget.

There are no such gadgets in Russia yet. But you can easily order and deliver from the States within a week here , and calculate the delivery cost here .

Myths about refurbished iPhones

Are you still afraid of Refs and think that buying them is dangerous? We have collected several popular misconceptions about these devices and are ready to refute them.

• Do “refs” often break? – Manufacturers claim that all refurbished iPhones undergo manual testing rather than machine testing. This means that the risk of manufacturing defects is almost eliminated. Apple devices rarely break down, so you can get by with a refurbished phone for several years. If you come across a Chinese fake, and not a device re-released from the factory, it will break within a few months.

• “Refs” do not cost much less than new devices? – Apple equipment is expensive, so even a 5% discount is already a large amount. And for refurbished phones the price is reduced by 15%.
• The only advantage of a refurbished iPhone is its price? – No, from the official reseller you will also receive a one-year warranty. If the smartphone breaks, it will be repaired or replaced.

Prices for refurbished iPhone

Prices for refurbished iPhones are lower than for new models. This is the main advantage of such smartphones. Often phones are returned to the factory that have not even been used. In some cases, due to operational problems, buyers return iPhones under warranty. All defective parts are replaced and the gadget is brought to the state of a new device.

You can save a lot and buy a phone in perfect condition if you contact official dealers. Buying refurbished iPhones from private individuals is a dubious idea. They may try to sell you a counterfeit device or a device without warranty that was not restored at an official service center.

You can buy a refurbished iPhone here

Average prices for the market: