Is replacement of iphone 6 new or refurbished in Dubai ??

[iMore Question]

I had purchased an iphone 6 + from sharaf dg, which is the official apple retailer in United Arab Emirates. Of late i was having some display issues on my phone, i went to them and gave it for servicing and they also told me that if there are some hardware issues which cannot be resolved the phone will be replaced. Are the replaced devices new or refurbished. Does any one have an idea??

 

[kch50428]

Warranty replacement of an iPhone6 will most likely be an Apple refurb...and those are every bit as good as a new device in my opinion.

 

[wrooney12]

Is there any way to identify the difference between a new device and a refurbished one ??

 

[HankAZ]

Warranty replacement of an iPhone6 will most likely be an Apple refurb...and those are every bit as good as a new device in my opinion.

Agreed.

Is there any way to identify the difference between a new device and a refurbished one ??

None, whatsoever. And it doesn't matter.

 

[wrooney12]

Sorry i may be asking some dumb questions but a refurbished phone had already been used a someone else earlier, it is possible that it may have scratches on the phone or some other issues..

 

[kch50428]

Sorry i may be asking some dumb questions but a refurbished phone had already been used a someone else earlier, it is possible that it may have scratches on the phone or some other issues..

As a part of the refurb process, anything cosmetic like that would be replaced.

 

[daniesy]

None, whatsoever. And it doesn't matter.

Oh yes it does. There can be botchy repairs made, that you'll never know about, that CAN influence the performance of your device. The guys at the repair shop don't always do the best work, even if they work for Apple.
Also think about the resale value. I wouldn't pay that much for a refurbished device. And the person you sell to can tell if they're smart and you give him/her the box (the SN don't match).

Warranty replacement of an iPhone6 will most likely be an Apple refurb...and those are every bit as good as a new device in my opinion.

It depends, but on the most part, they aren't, at least in my experience. You might have problems like dust under the camera lens, dust or finger prints on the inside of the screen and others. I've replaced my iPhone 6 five times and every time it had bigger problems: loose buttons, vibrator problems, battery problems and display problems (severe backlight bleed). Also when i squeezed the top part of the screen, it sounded like cheap plastic (with several models)!

Also, it depends on how new is your phone. I got my brand new iPhone 6 replaced with a refurb one after only 2 weeks. The same happened to my i5s and iPad. I mean it's obvious that this is a bad deal! To put it another way, in the end you pay a ton of cash for a once damaged and now repaired model. Those types of phones (refurbished ones or second hand) are way cheaper than the new ones if you want to buy them on Amazon/eBay. So, in fact you lose money, a whole lot of it!

You should try and get a refund if you can or sell it and buy another one. Don't get fooled, a refurbished phone, isn't at all like the real deal!

 

[evorc]

Oh yes it does. There can be botchy repairs made, that you'll never know about, that CAN influence the performance of your device. The guys at the repair shop don't always do the best work, even if they work for Apple.
Also think about the resale value. I wouldn't pay that much for a refurbished device. And the person you sell to can tell if they're smart and you give him/her the box (the SN don't match).



It depends, but on the most part, they aren't, at least in my experience. You might have problems like dust under the camera lens, dust or finger prints on the inside of the screen and others. I've replaced my iPhone 6 five times and every time it had bigger problems: loose buttons, vibrator problems, battery problems and display problems (severe backlight bleed). Also when i squeezed the top part of the screen, it sounded like cheap plastic (with several models)!

Also, it depends on how new is your phone. I got my brand new iPhone 6 replaced with a refurb one after only 2 weeks. The same happened to my i5s and iPad. I mean it's obvious that this is a bad deal! To put it another way, in the end you pay a ton of cash for a once damaged and now repaired model. Those types of phones (refurbished ones or second hand) are way cheaper than the new ones if you want to buy them on Amazon/eBay. So, in fact you lose money, a whole lot of it!

You should try and get a refund if you can or sell it and buy another one. Don't get fooled, a refurbished phone, isn't at all like the real deal!

Wrong. Apple refurbishing process is not what you describe it to be. There is absolutely no way to tell if the phone is a refurb or new from Apple. Refurbs are just as good if not better because of the additional QA process. I've never had issues selling an Apple replaced iPhone. It just doesn't matter, no one knows which is what.

 

[daniesy]

Wrong. Apple refurbishing process is not what you describe it to be. There is absolutely no way to tell if the phone is a refurb or new from Apple. Refurbs are just as good if not better because of the additional QA process. I've never had issues selling an Apple replaced iPhone. It just doesn't matter, no one knows which is what.

Well most people live in the real world and don't praise Apple all day long. I spoke with engineers who repair iPhones for a living, who get lots of refurbished phones daily and they said that most of the repairs that Apple make are not of good quality. While they replace screws and other aesthetic stuff to hide the fact that the phone was used, the quality test that the phone needs to pass is not the same as with a new one. The stuff that i described in my previous comment HAPPENED to me and it was all through Apple Resellers with the monitoring of Apple's employees. I was speaking with an Apple representative at the time because I complained to them about the bad quality of the devices i got

 

[HankAZ]

None, whatsoever. And it doesn't matter.

Oh yes it does. There can be botchy repairs made, that you'll never know about, that CAN influence the performance of your device. The guys at the repair shop don't always do the best work, even if they work for Apple.
Also think about the resale value. I wouldn't pay that much for a refurbished device. And the person you sell to can tell if they're smart and you give him/her the box (the SN don't match).

I challenge you to correctly identify the difference between a brand new iPhone and an Apple refurbished iPhone of the same size/color/model.

There is no difference between the two in terms of quality, build, performance and function.

Well most people live in the real world and don't praise Apple all day long.

... compared with those who bash Apple for the sake of bashing Apple?

Again, I challenge you to

1. Identify the difference between a new and an Apple refurbished device (not those "repaired" by the local iPhone repair shop)
2. Back up what you claim with verifiable, quantitative data.

 

[daniesy]

Again, I challenge you to
Identify the difference between a new and an Apple refurbished device (not those "repaired" by the local iPhone repair shop)
Back up what you claim with verifiable, quantitative data.

Hank, I could use a superior tone also, but it's neither useful, nor smart.

I'll start by saying as clearly as i can: I used Apple's International Warranty to replace my broken phones and iPads. The devices were broken from the start! (+1 for Apple quality, am i right?) The local repair shop, as you called it (which btw is an Apple Authorised Reseller and Service Provider), had the only job of sending and receiving the faulty devices. I got the devices in brown boxes with screen covers on. The "local repair shop" was the middle man. While they also do some minor repairs (like replacing damaged screens or broken buttons), in my case i didn't need those services.

I stated clearly the difference between a new and a refurbished phone, from either my experience (the refurbs that i got) or from other people's experience. I also shared the opinion of engineers who actually repair phones, not all knowingly procrastinating people on some forum. Scroll up and read. Also, a refurbised device, as the OP inferred, has negative connotations, which would hurt the phone's resale value. Anyone can figure out that it's refurbished mainly because the SERIAL NUMBER on the box is different from the SERIAL NUMBER on the phone. There are only 3 cases in which this might happend: the phone is stolen, the phone is replaced(refurbished) or someone mixed up the box.

Wanna use big boy words, like data and quantifiable? Ok, let's do science. But let's be smart about it, to actually solve this problem. The OP asked about the quality of the refurbished models and you guys said that they are OK. So in order to convince him, settle his reluctance and, of course, to be fair, YOU are the one who should present quantifiable data that proves refurbished phones are perfectly OK.

Furthermore, everybody knows that refurbished stuff is bad. But in this case, it's ok only because it's Apple??? Come on, get of bull**** mountain. While i agree that they insist obsessively on stuff like replacing screws and using certain tools, the devices are handled by PEOPLE who make mistakes, are tired or not in the mood. You might get a perfectly good device, but chances are that you might also get a faulty one. We can have a debate about what components they use to refurbish those devices

In the end, I just shared my experience (and of some friends) and it's up to you if you believe me or not. It doesn't affect me at all, because nobody pays us to either bash or kiss up to Apple. While i surely can get you evidence, I don't feel the need to prove anything to anyone. So yeah, good luck.