Revolutionary new models of the iconic iPhone are rocking the market for almost a decade now. If you too are a big fan of Apple products, but still consider the new models to be expensive, it is best to go for a used iPhone.
These days you can easily find a used iPhone around you because people upgrade their smartphones very fast. But before paying for a used iPhone, you should check if it is genuine as it can be a clone and you hardly get warranty on used products. In this article we will discuss how you can identify that iPhone is New, Replacement, Refurbished or a clone so that you can get complete value for money on your purchase.
Let us divide this check up in two parts first lets us begin with checking if the iPhone is a clone or genuine.
- You should begin by checking physical appearance of the device. Compare the device with the image of original iPhone and check all the buttons and camera are on the same place.
- Check with serial number which you will get displayed on iPhone by dialing *#06# from the dial pad enter serial number on this link. You will get to know if it is a verified purchase or not or if it is still covered under warranty.
- Check core features of the device:
- If going for iPhone 5s or above then you should check if fingerprint sensor is working properly. On some clone devices it looks like that you have successfully set up touch id but when it comes to unlocking a clone gets unlock with any finger.
- Going for iPhone 6s or newer device, you should check for 3D touch. Pressing app icons for is not always a good idea because user interface of the clone can fool you. To check if the device has pressure sensor and 3D touch is working go to any image and then open markup tool choose the highlighter. Now draw with a light hand and with pressure you will see the difference of dark and light color in markup.
- iPhones are known for the processing speed and the best way to check this quickly is to open many applications at a time, double tap the home button and check if you are quickly able to navigate between them.
After being sure that it is not a clone you should check if the device is brand new, refurbished or replaced. You can know this by looking at the model number given in settings.
Here is how to find the model number in settings and what it says about the condition of iPhone.
From the home screen of your iPhone head to Settings and then General>About Scroll down and you will see Model and an alphanumeric number against it which looks like MN573LL/A. here is what you can identify from the first letter of Model number.
- M –Meaning that the device was purchased new
- F –Meaning that the device has been gone through refurbishing process.
- N – This is for a replacement device, meaning the originally bought device was replaced by this one because of a service request.
This is how you can find if the used iPhone is genuine or not. You can also bargain with the seller if it is refurbished or a replacement.