How to check a restored iPhone or a new one. Parameters that distinguish an original smartphone from a fake one. Video on how to find the serial number

Buying a used device is a good way to save money, since many people sell their phones and tablets almost immediately after purchase, but you still have to reduce the price, and at the current prices for equipment from Apple, this will be a decent discount. But when buying a used device, there is one big risk - paying for a broken or non-original iPhone or tablet. To avoid falling for scammers, you need to check the device before purchasing and follow several rules, which will be discussed in the next part of the article.

How to check an iPhone when buying second-hand

If you nevertheless decide to purchase an iPhone, iPad or iPad touch from your own hands, and not from an official store, then the first thing you should pay attention to is the seller himself. This is a weak indicator, but before you buy something from a person, see if he inspires trust. If this is a supplier that is engaged in mass resale of used devices, then read reviews about it, contact its former clients: ask them if they were satisfied with their purchase, if the device broke some time after activation. But remember that many scammers fake reviews, which means not everything said about a seller on the Internet may be true.

If the issue is resolved with the seller, then the next thing worth checking is the device itself.

Appearance

Before buying, go to the official store and hold the desired device in your hands, study the tactile sensations of the material from which it is made. Find out the approximate prices at which you can buy an original device; if its used version differs in price too much, then it’s worth considering.

Items required to test the device

So, if you are making a deal, then in order to be completely confident in the functionality of the device, you need to have the following things with you:

Working headphones, you will need them in order to check whether they work with the device you are purchasing. Do not hesitate to ask the seller to give you the device for testing, this is a mandatory step. You can't buy a device without checking to see if it runs the programs you care about and activates certain features.
A laptop on which iTunes will be installed, which will allow you to check many of the characteristics of the device. How to do this will be discussed below in the same article.
An external battery that can be used to check whether the device is charging or not.
A phone with stable mobile internet.
SIM card - this is useful for checking cellular and Internet connections.
A paper clip or a special key that comes with Apple devices. These items will be needed to remove the SIM card tray from the device body.

Having the above things, you can easily check the operation of all functions and applications of the purchased device. What parameters you will need to pay closer attention to will be described further.

How to distinguish the device model

If this is not your first time encountering Apple devices, you can skip this point. But if this is your first time buying equipment from Apple, then this information will be very useful for you. It's easy to distinguish an iPhone 5 from an iPhone 6, but it's a little more difficult to distinguish an iPhone 4 from an iPhone 4S.

The two models are distinguished by their model number, which can be found on the back cover when turning the device face down.

Also distinguishing one model from another is the appearance of the rear camera and the Home button. The iPhone 5 has a narrower camera, while the iPhone 5S has a square on the Home button, which indicates the presence of the Touch ID function.

Various cameras

It is easier to distinguish these two models - just wrap the front side of the device with the screen down, and on the back check for a diamond-shaped icon with the English letter S.

Differences between models

Here the situation is similar to the iPhone 5, since you can check the device model using the code on the back of the case:

The device model can also be determined by the location of the antennas.

Various antenna locations

You can read more about all device models on the official Apple website by clicking on the following link - https://support.apple.com/ru-ru/HT201296.

Checking the water sensor

Before purchasing a device, you need to make sure that it has not been recessed. If water gets inside your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, it can either break down every second or corrode the metal, leading to failure weeks or months later. Another important factor is the fact that a device exposed to water will automatically void the warranty.

Apple devices have a special external sensor - Liquid Contact Indicators, a humidity indicator. If water has ever gotten inside the device, this sensor changes color from gray or white to bright red. More details about where this indicator is located on different phone models are outlined in the table:

Looking for the location of the indicator for your device

Equipment

Now let's look at what should be in the box, besides the phone itself:

All other accessories must be purchased separately. If one of the components of the package is not in the box upon sale, then this must be separately agreed with the seller and will affect the price of the product.

Authentication

The next step is to verify the authenticity of the device using the serial number and unique IMEI code. This data can be found on the back of the box, on a special sticker. But this data should not be trusted, since the box may be from another device or the sticker may be fake.

Looking for IMEI and serial number

There is a more reliable way to find out this information - through the settings of your phone or tablet, where no one can falsify them.

Another way to find out the codes we need is to pull out the tray where the SIM card is located and read the serial number and IMEI indicated on it. You can remove the tray using a paper clip. This method has one drawback - not all device models have codes indicated on the tray.

We look at the IMEI code and serial number

The last way to find out the IMEI is to turn the back of the device and look at the small letters and numbers at the bottom of the cover, among which our treasured number is located.

We look at IMEI

As soon as you are done finding out the numbers and codes, you should go to one of the sites suggested below and enter the necessary data there. The site will show you detailed information about the device: color, release date, contents and filling, model number. Compare all the data with what you see on the device itself and with what the seller himself told you. If everything matches, then you can understand further. List of sites providing similar services for providing information about Apple devices:

Checking for recoveries

Enter the serial number

Checking for blocking

There are three types of Apple mobile devices:

Lock - phones that only work with one pre-defined carrier. That is, if you purchase such a device, you will be able to use the services of only one company that provides cellular communications and mobile Internet, and no other.
Neverlock is a device without any restrictions in the field of operator choice.
Softunlock is a device that previously belonged to the Lock group, but then was “unlocked” by software, that is, it now has all the parameters characteristic of Neverlock.

Of course, Lock devices are a little cheaper than Neverlock, but this saving will not lead to anything good, and there will be quite a lot of problems with a predefined operator, without the right to change it.

How to identify an unlocked device?

There are several characteristic signs that help to identify a device that was unlocked software:

Functional and physical testing

Now there is the last, but practically the most important stage - checking the standard capabilities of the device and its appearance.

Frame

Check if there are any noticeable dents, cracks, or broken pieces on the case. All these parameters can tell you how often the device has been dropped and subjected to other physical impacts. Particularly dangerous are damage to the antenna area, which can lead to communication interference.

Checking for external damage

Screws

There should be two unscrewed screws near the USB cable input. If they are missing, then we can safely say that the device was disassembled manually and, accordingly, the warranty does not apply to it.

Checking for screws

Buttons

Check how well all the buttons perform their functions, since replacing buttons in the service can require a lot of money.

Camera

Check the front and rear cameras for external damage. Try to photograph something with both cameras. If you notice inaccurate colors, the camera sensor may be damaged.

There should be no scratches on the camera

Screen

Open various applications, restart your device, check for dead pixels (black dots). If when you press the screen there is a crunch, or you feel unevenness or emptiness, then the screen is not original, it has been replaced. Pay attention to the uniformity of brightness and color reproduction.

The screen must not be scratched

Screen sensor

Move icons around your device menu, making sure they move smoothly. Try using the device in horizontal and vertical positions. If possible, quickly type the message on the keyboard, and all the letters you press should appear on the screen. If this does not happen, then the device has obvious problems with the sensor.

Checking the sensor

Battery

Start shooting a video and check how much the device shrinks in 2-3 minutes. A range of 1–5% is acceptable, all other parameters mean there is a problem, and no one wants to change the battery immediately after purchase.

cellular

Speaker

Everything is simple here - turn on any melody and check how well the device reproduces it. There should be no interference, no jumping, no rustling. You can also check the speaker during a telephone conversation.

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

Check if these two functions work. Remember that Bluetooth only works with other Apple devices; it will not transfer files with Android. The device must quickly connect to the Wi-Fi network and be able to download files through it.

Charger

For this item, you took a third-party battery with you. Connect it to your device and check if it charges.

Connecting to iTunes

If you happen to take your laptop with you, try syncing your device with iTunes. This will confirm its authenticity. You should not buy a phone or tablet that is not recognized in iTunes.

Sign out of your Apple ID account

The last thing you should do before paying money for a device is to completely sign out of the old Apple ID account that belongs to the previous owner. Otherwise, he can declare the device missing at any time and block it remotely, without asking your consent at all.

You don’t have to worry about whether the iPhone is genuine if the device is purchased at a hardware store or at one of the offices of cellular networks, such as MTS or Svyaznoy. But if you intend to order an iPhone via the Internet (for example, from a Chinese store) or buy a gadget “from hand”, you need to be careful and insist on preliminary verification of the authenticity of the gadget via the Internet.

This method is the most suitable, because to use it you don’t even need to open the box and take out the device itself. Follow the instructions:

Step 1. Find the serial number of the device on the packaging - it should be located on the back of the box between the IMEI and the part number (Part No.). The serial number consists of 11 or 12 characters (numbers and letters).

Source: cheerfuleboway.tumblr.com

If the iPhone is printed and activated, check the “serial numbers” on the packaging and in the device settings (path “ Settings» — « Basic» — « About this device»).

Dear visitors to our website, we would like to warn you against purchasing low-quality Apple products. Be carefull! Cases of sales of refurbished (refubrished) phones, that is, used ones, have become more frequent. The phone is repaired, the case is replaced, sealed in a box and sold as new.

How do you know when buying a new device or not?!

Before purchasing, you need to check its imei or serial number in the database; by the way, this number must match in three places:

on the back of the box
on the back of the phone (only for 5s, 6,SE models)
in the phone settings, section "about the device"

Check site:

https://checkcoverage.apple.com/ru/ru/ "(after entering the serial number, a message appears - you need to activate the iPhone, this is a guarantee that the phone has not been used and no SIM cards have been inserted into it)

After inserting the SIM and setting up the account, a guarantee from Apple appears

If the letters of the part numbers on the box end in LL/A, then this phone was brought from America and purchased from an operator (for such phones, the warranty starts on the day of its purchase in America and lasts a period of at least 9 months from the official warranty)

Smartphones that are not worth buying

Of course, everyone knows that it is better not to buy a phone second-hand, since such a transaction can be quite risky. But a new smartphone in a store is a completely different matter. There is practically no doubt that you have a completely new phone. Except for one case where this phone is refurbished.

What does "refurbished iPhone" mean and what are they?

Refurbished iPhones come in two types.

1. At the official Apple factory.

These are devices in which deficiencies were identified during pre-sale preparation or in the first year of operation and were replaced under warranty to the owners. Such phones are sent back to the Apple factory, where they are repaired, after which they are put back on sale under the “Apple Certified” label, but at a significant discount. At the same time, they are also equipped with original accessories and are no different from new ones, except for one thing - the box. The packaging of the refurbished phone is made in white without pictures - only the model name is on the front side. There is no need to be afraid of such phones; they also come with a 1-year warranty from Apple.

2. Many online stores in Belarus sell referrals!!!

In addition to those officially recalled and repaired at the Apple factory, there are phones that were bought cheaply in non-working condition by one of the many Chinese companies or repair centers. They also perform repairs and then resell the iPhone as new. When buying such a device, you need to be especially careful, because not every company or service center will make quality repairs and there is no guarantee that in a month it will not turn into a brick. When purchasing such a phone, the only original parts that remain original are often the motherboard with the processor and touch ID—everything else, to one degree or another, depending on its performance, is replaced with non-original components. Therefore, devices that are sold without touch ID are fake devices (refurbished, ref) and have nothing in common with the original!

Most often the screen, case and battery are replaced. Also, all accessories (charger, cable, headphones, paper clip) and the box, made to one degree or another identical to the original ones, will not be original.

How to distinguish a genuine iPhone from a refurbished or counterfeit one?

Some people prefer to buy a used iPhone second hand or the same from Kufar. And here the likelihood of getting scammed is much greater. If the Chinese honestly write that their devices are not new, then they can sell you used ones. phone (not to mention fakes) for the price of a new one. To prevent this from happening, let's decide what details you need to pay special attention to in order to understand what exactly is in front of your eyes.

1. Equipment and Accessories.

1.1. The box in fake and non-original iPhones is easy to get out, often you can see sloppy seams and glue residues (cheap thin white plastic in which accessories and the iPhone are placed).

1.2. Boxes of original iPhones are equipped with apple stickers on a transparent basis, boxes of refurbished phones on a white

1.4. Sticker on the box, pay attention to 2 pictures, the first is the original, the second is a sticker of a refurbished iPhone, the barcode lines are not clear, the sticker is bluish, the imei font and the serial number are different. And the main thing is that the serial number will not match the serial number number in the phone (since on the ref stickers only the names are changed), the model and part number may also not match. The originals always have the same fonts and their size, gray sticker .
2. How to determine which country the iPhone came from

On the box and also in the settings (basic - about this device) the model (part number) is indicated, the last 2 letters of which indicate the country where the iPhone was brought from

Deciphering the iPhone model number

A - Canada
AB - UAE, Saudi Arabia
AE - UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
AH - Bahrain, Kuwait
B - Great Britain or Ireland
BZ - Brazil
C - Canada
CH - China
CN - Slovakia
СZ – Czech Republic
D - Germany
DN - Holland, Austria, Germany
E - Mexico
EE - Estonia
ET - Estonia
F - France
FB - Luxembourg
FS - Finland
FD - Liechtenstein, Austria, or Switzerland
GR - Greece
HB - Israel
HN - India
IP - Italy
J - Japan
KH - China, South Korea
KN - Denmark or Norway
KS - Finland or Sweden
LA - Peru, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, El Salvador
LE - Argentina
LL - USA
LP - Poland
LT – Lithuania
LV – Latvia
LZ - Paraguay, Chile
MG - Hungary
MY - Malaysia
NF - Luxembourg, Belgium, France
PK - Finland, Poland
PL - Poland
PM - Poland
PO - Portugal
PP - Philippines
QL - Italy, Spain, Portugal
QN—Norway, Sweden, Iceland
RK - Kazakhstan
RM - Russia or Kazakhstan
RO - Romania
RP - Russia
RR - Russia
RS - Russia
RU - Russia
SE - Serbia
SL - Slovakia
SO - South Africa
SU - Ukraine
T - Italy
TA - Taiwan
TU - Türkiye
UA - Ukraine
X - Australia
X - New Zealand
Y - Spain
Z - Denmark
ZA - Singapore
ZD - Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, France, Switzerland, Monaco
ZP - Hong Kong, Macau

Lately, we have been increasingly contacted by people who recently bought a “new” iPhone 6S, 6, 5S, 5 (not to mention iPhones 4 and 4s, which have not been produced for a long time) with various breakdowns. An autopsy shows that this device is far from new; as a rule, it has Chinese spare parts of poor quality, and the motherboard may have been damaged by moisture or a strong impact. In some cases, you come across devices with already soldered motherboards and replaced microcircuits. It’s quite offensive for a person to find out all this when he bought the phone “like new”. Therefore, this article should help you distinguish such devices in order to protect you from extremely dubious transactions.

1) Why you should not buy such devices: Spare parts of poor quality fail much faster than original ones. Boards that are soldered or exposed to moisture can quickly fail, which can be very expensive and not always possible. You may also be denied warranty repairs because... moisture got into the phone, even if this moisture got there before your purchase.

2) Why do they look like new: Chinese craftsmen have learned to make not only copies of spare parts, but also copies of the box and all the stickers. At the level of the packed box, it is almost impossible to distinguish a refurbished iPhone from a new one. But still there is one option. You can tell us the IMEI (the unique number of each phone, it is indicated on the box, usually 15 digits, for iPhones it starts from 0) and through special web services we will find out the status of your phone, color, release date, activation date, locking, etc. d. This way it will be possible to understand whether it is new or not.

3) How to distinguish a new iPhone from a refurbished one: It’s easier to understand this on a white device, because... The white color of the body and module will be gray, the module (display + touch glass) and the HOME button may have a different color. Also, the brightness and color rendition will differ from the original display, if you have the same phone, but 100% original, you can see this by simple comparison.

4) How to be 100% confident when purchasing: make an appointment with your salesperson in our workshops. Our technician will determine in a matter of minutes which iPhone you are dealing with. With the permission and in the presence of the seller, you can disassemble the device and see whether it is original or restored inside. We can also check it via the Internet. Most likely, an unscrupulous seller will refuse to visit the workshop altogether and you will save time, money, and most importantly, nerves.

5) How to check a device by serial number: You can do this procedure yourself by following the following sequence of actions: on your iPhone, go to Settings => General => About this device => Serial number => click on it and select “copy” => go to the official Apple website => paste the serial number number of your device and click “Continue” => Look at the item “Repairs and Service Coverage”. There you can see whether the warranty is active or has already expired and the expiration date of the warranty. Subtract 1 year from this date and get the activation date. If the warranty has already expired or the phone was activated more than a few months ago, then most likely your device is refurbished. Therefore, it is best to refuse such a purchase without a thorough diagnosis.

More and more often in the catalog of domestic online stores I find such a position as. Moreover, it has been noticed that most often the 6S, 6S Plus and 7 and 7 Plus models are displayed with such a label today.

What does “like new” mean – is it a new phone or what?

In fact, this is an original iPhone, but only refurbished, that is, repaired to like new condition.

Purchase topic refurbished phones became especially popular after the collapse of the exchange rate, when really new phones officially delivered to us began to cost exorbitant amounts of money. But almost everyone can afford to buy an iPhone 6s, 7 or Plus as new, but refurbished, since it will cost the same as new ones cost before the crisis.

Prices for iPhone 5S on AliExpress
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iPhone like new - what are they?

Refurbished iPhones (refurbished) come in two types.

At the official Apple factory

In unofficial companies

When purchasing such a phone, the only original parts that remain original are often the motherboard with the processor and touch ID - everything else is, to one degree or another, replaced with non-original components, depending on its performance. Most often the screen, case and battery are replaced. Also, all accessories (charger, cable, headphones, paper clip) and the box, made to one degree or another identical to the original ones, will be non-original.

Through trial and error, I found a reliable seller from whom I bought several iPhones for my relatives and recommend them to my friends - Comwingo Electronics. This company is quite large and is distinguished by the fact that it always has in stock models that are guaranteed to work with Russian LTE 4G networks. And it is in this ability that the catch often lies - you bought it used. phone from Europe or the USA, but it does not work with our mobile operators. Read more about how to choose the right iPhone.

Most often the screen, case and battery are replaced. Also, all accessories (charger, cable, headphones, paper clip) and the box, made to one degree or another identical to the original ones, will not be original.

I think everyone has already figured out the purchase in China from the previous article - choose a reliable seller and everything will be OK. But some are still afraid to do this and prefer to buy a used or “like new” Apple iPhone from their own hands or on Avito. And here the likelihood of getting scammed is much greater. If the Chinese honestly write that their devices are not new, then they can sell you used ones. phone (not to mention fakes) for the price of a new one. To prevent this from happening, let's decide what details you need to pay special attention to in order to understand what exactly is in front of your eyes.

Equipment and Accessories

Although the most important thing, of course, is the phone itself, you can already guess from its configuration and accessories whether it is really new or used. a phone without breakdowns, or a device that has gone through repairs. Ideally, buy a complete set with documents and box. But checks are now very easy to forge - on one well-known forum there are even blanks of checks, sales receipts and guarantees from different sellers, which anyone can correct, print and pass off as their own. Therefore, their presence is a plus, but it is not always possible to determine the cleanliness of a phone using them 100%.

pay attention to headphones- if they are like new, and the phone is used, then this should lead to doubts - did the previous owner really not use them? Also look carefully at their appearance and at the plastic box - all the gaps between the parts should be even, and there should be an apple squeezed out from the bottom of the branded plastic case. Counterfeits are often poorly made and lack a logo.

Also pay attention to the form charging. If the phone is from the USA or Britain (how to determine the country of sale will be discussed below), and is equipped with a plug for a European socket, then it is not an original, but a ref. The same applies to the box - it is impossible to distinguish it from the branded one, but for phones from the United Kingdom, due to the three-pin plug, the box is slightly higher. The shape of the lining also differs due to the differences in forks for different countries.

Also, often counterfeit chargers for European sockets are made identical in shape to American ones, although the original looks different

Another distinctive feature of all fakes is that they are more bright letters compared to the original.

Serial numbers of the original iPhone

The next step is to turn on the phone and check the iPhone for authenticity using serial numbers. Of course, before this you need to turn on the phone and make sure that it is not tied to someone else's Apple ID - otherwise you will not be able to activate and use it. So, if the phone is really untied, then go to the “Settings > General > About this device” section and look for the Model, Serial number and IMEI there. It would also be a good idea to check the storage capacity (16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128Gb).

And on the box - they all must match.

Already at this stage you can also find out for which country the phone was released. In the model number, two letters before the slash indicate the country of sale - ME308LL/A(at the end of the article I provide a list of the main designations of the markets for which phones are produced). If you are assured that the phone number is Rostest, but the country code says otherwise, then you are being deceived. Having found out the country, you can also compare it with the charger included in the kit and draw a conclusion.

Checking iPhone authenticity by IMEI on the website

The next step in determining the authenticity of our iPhone is to use one of the online IMEI verification services. I use two - the domestic iphoneimei.info and the bourgeois imeidata.net.

The first one is very easy to use and at the same time provides all the basic information about the device. We enter IMEI in the search bar and get the data:

Color and capacity- compare them with the phone offered to you. If it has been repaired, then on the website the case may appear black, but in real life the phone may be white, that is, its case has been replaced.
Serial number(Serial Number) - must match those that were in the phone, on the case and box
Find My iPhone- Phone anti-theft function. If it is turned on, it’s a reason to think about it.
Date of first activation(First Activation Date) - the day when the iPhone was first activated, that is, the day it was sold. If they tell you that the phone just came from the store and the iPhone looks like new, and the date of its sale was several years ago, then at least the case and screen have been changed.
Last active SIM card(Last SIM Activated) - determines which operator’s SIM card was last activated on the phone
Telephone Technical Support, Repairs & Service Coverage— technical support and warranty. If they have expired, and they tell you that the phone is new, it is clearly a deception.
Destination country(Country purchased) - the country for which the phone was released - check with the model number
Unlock(SIM Lock) - the value should be “Unlocked”, that is, the phone works with all SIM cards.

The second site provides similar information. It has one additional opportunity - to check once without registration whether the phone is on the black list of cellular operators (Free check Blacklist) - the main Western operators are represented.

Functionality check

And of course, after checking all the numbers, you need to check the operation of individual phone components - buttons, speakers, microphone, WiFi, GPS, tilt sensor and compass. The latter is especially easy to overlook, since its operation is not as obvious as the same camera. There is a known case when a person received a fully functional telephone, but with a non-working compass - this manifested itself in the fact that on a flat horizontal surface its needle rotated chaotically, as if it were in a magnetically anomalous zone.

That's all - be careful and don't fall for scammers' tricks. For a snack, as promised, the letter codes of the countries where the new iPhones are sold.

AB – Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt
AE – Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar
B – Great Britain and Ireland
BZ – Brazil
C – Canada
CH – China
CM – Hungary
CS – Slovakia, Czech Republic
СZ – Czech Republic
D – Germany
DN – Austria, Germany, Netherlands
E – Mexico
EE – Estonia
EL – Latvia
ER-Ireland
F – France
FB – France, Luxembourg
FD – Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland
GB – Greece
GR – Greece
HB – Israel
HN – India
IP – Italy
J – Japan
IP – Portugal, Italy
ID – Indonesia
KH – South Korea, China
KN – Denmark and Norway
KS – Finland and Sweden
LA – Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, Ecuador
LE – Argentina
LL – USA
LP – Poland
LT – Lithuania
LV – Latvia
LZ – Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay
MG – Hungary
MY – Malaysia
NF – Belgium, France
PA – Indonesia
PL – Poland
PO – Portugal
PP – Philippines
RO – Romania
RR – Russia, Moldova
RS – Russia
SL – Slovakia
SO – South Africa
T – Italy
TA – Taiwan
TH – Thailand
TU – Türkiye
X – Australia, New Zealand
Y – Spain
ZA – Singapore
ZP – Hong Kong and Macau