Checking that an iPhone is genuine

Since iPhone 13, Apple has not shrink-wrapped the box and closes it with paper seals. A new iPhone in shrink wrap has almost always been repacked by the seller. We open such boxes and check the phone in full.

Refurbished iPhones sold by Apple come in a plain white box, with a new battery and outer shell.

The label carries the same part number the settings will show. We photograph it before opening and check:

• model, storage and colour against the order;
• serial number and IMEI legible, not covered, not reprinted;
• seals intact, no signs of opening at the corners.

Settings → General → About, Model Number row: a part number such as MXXXX; tap it for the A model number. Service centres and Apple forum users read the first letter of the part number as follows (Apple does not publish this officially): M sold new, F refurbished, N replacement for a unit sent for service, P engraved at purchase.

Serial number and IMEI are matched in three places: Settings, the box and dialling *#06#. Then the serial goes into checkcoverage.apple.com. On a new phone coverage has not started. If it is running, the phone has already been activated.

Fakes sometimes carry the serial number of a real iPhone. Apple’s site confirms the number exists, not that it belongs to this phone.

A phone brought in from abroad goes through IMEI verification in Kazakhstan. For a commercial batch the IMEIs on the packing list match the import documents.

From iOS 15.2, a Parts and Service History block appears under About if the phone has been repaired. On iPhone 12 and later it covers the battery, display, logic board, front and rear cameras. Genuine means a repair with genuine Apple parts, Unknown a non-genuine or unverified part, Used a part previously in another iPhone. A logic board marked Unverified came from another iPhone, and some features, such as Apple Pay, may not work.

A new phone has no such block. On iPhone 15 and later with iOS 17.4 or newer, Settings → Battery → Battery Health shows the cycle count, manufacture date and first-use date. A new phone has almost no cycles, and the first-use date is the day it was first switched on.

A phone goes to a full check if any one of these applies:

• the serial in Settings does not match the box, or Apple’s site cannot find it;
• the menus differ from iOS, Software Update finds nothing, or a non-Apple app store opens;
• setup shows Activation Lock with someone else’s Apple Account;
• the bundled cable differs from a certified one in the ways Apple describes;
• the price is well below other wholesalers’ for the same model, storage and region that week.

Before payment we get from the supplier a spreadsheet of serial numbers and IMEIs, photos of the box labels, and a line on the invoice: phones new, not activated, region stated.

Not every box in a batch is opened; seals stay intact. Each box is matched from the outside against the packing list: model, serial number, IMEI. A few boxes are opened and taken through every step above. If even one sample proves refurbished or activated, we check the whole batch. Before dispatch we send photos, video and the serial number list.