Check if your iPhone is really NEW or REFURBISHED!!!

[JimMayor007]

Okay everyone, after shopping around for an iPhone, I have noticed something over and over again. Many people sell their iPhones claiming it to be "NEW" are actually refurbished iPhones. Here are the things to look out for if the item is refurbished:

Honest sellers will say if the phone was refurbished because refurbished iPhones come with a box that's completely white. On the white box, it will say "Apple Certified". Chances are if the seller doesn't have a box for the iPhone, there is a strong chance that they purchased the phone as a refurbished unit from Apple's online store or from AT&T's online store.

Most importantly, ASK FOR THE SERIAL NUMBER!

Well why would it matter? First off, for MOST of Apple's products, especially the iPhone, the serial number will start with a 5K. If the serial number starts with that for an iPhone, then it's guaranteed to be refurbished.

New iPhones have either a 7k or 8k. The 4th digit of the serial number means the week of the year it was manufactured. So for an example, if it's 8k801xxxxx then it means the phone was produced it was manufactured the first week of 2008. 7k745 would mean that the iPhone was manufactured on the 45th week of 2007.

Also just so everyone knows, Apple will not honor the warranty if you have an "unlocked" phone. It's very hard to obtain support for the phone if you can't provide the receipt. It is possible, but difficult because "unlocking" is breaking Apple's TOS.

When an iPhone has been unlocked, the total usage time for the phone has also been cleared out. So the true way to determine how old the phone is, is to ask for the serial number. If the seller isn't willing to give out the full serial number, it's fine. As long as it includes the first 5 digits!

...read the full guide with pics here

[aknightstale41]

Good information to know, thanks Jim for this helpful post.

[bearon1]

Your the tv guy right?

[Lazarus]

i guess this must be for 3G only? cuz mine starts 88813...

[Saverino]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

i guess this must be for 3G only? cuz mine starts 88813...

Mines 3G and doesn't start with a number and then a letter...

[jsntrenkler]

My Refurb 3G starts with a 5K

[BigCiX]

I know mine is new cause I bought it July 11 on my bday and release day.

[Just Visiting]

5K no longer means refurbished: see here: http://discussions.apple.com/message...sageID=8120142

See this link from Apple to check warranty status of your iPhone: https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do

[projectdarkside]

So I guess their now no guaranteed way to tell
-But I guess it doesnt really matter to most buyers just as long as they get their iPhone

[DNA]

Refurbished iPhones Begin with 5K, 7K, or 8K.
Example:
5K7403RXWH8

iPhone 2G units will start with #/a or #/#.
Examples:

7W741UX5VR0 (Silver iPhone 2G 4GB)
7T744FB7WH8 (Silver iPhone 2G 8GB)
85752KE6WH8 (Silver iPhone 2G 8GB)
87809WH70KH (Silver iPhone 2G 16GB)

iPhone 3G & 3GS Units will start with two numerical digits.
Examples:
3G
85838VW7Y7H (Black iPhone 3G 8GB)
86828BWEY7K (Black iPhone 3G 16GB)
88845XKCY7K (Black iPhone 3G 16GB)
3GS
8884409K3NQ (White iPhone 3GS 16GB)
879234603NS (White iPhone 3GS 32GB)

Serial Number Broken Down: aabccdddeef
aa = Factory and Machine ID
b = Year
cc = Production Week
ddd = Unique Identifier
ee = Colour
f = size

P.S.
Sorry to bump an old thread, but I hate finding outdated information that's not correct. So hopefully this will clear things up for those that come across this post in there search for information.