What an Apple Store genius told me tonight about replacement iPhones

Small White Car said:

While I also think the people at the store don't really know this kind of stuff, I'm inclined to agree with that guy.

I suspect it's far cheaper for Apple to just break down broken phones for scrap material and give you a new phone. Paying people to sit at benches doing tiny repairs and THEN having to put a repaired phone through a series of tests to make sure it really works... I feel like that has to cost more than what they pay Foxconn to just run 1 more off the assembly line.

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But there is likely more work done by people sitting at benches to build a new iPhone than to refurb an existing model. Quite a bit of manual work going on at Foxconn.

Although we cannot know what the real story is on refurbs my money is that they do refurb them. However, I would also suspect that when or if there are not enough refurbs to handle warranty or Apple Care replacements that new iPhones are used as well.



Michael

andyx3x said:

I went in tonight to get my white Verizon 4 16gb replaced. Let me start by saying that I've owned every generation of the iPhone and this is the first time that I've ever had to have one replaced.

The genius took my new phone out of the black box that everyone talks about and I then decided to ask him about refurbished iPhones. I started by saying that I knew this was a refurb and asked him about the process that I had seen mentioned many times on these and other forums.

I asked was it true that they send back returned iPhones and replace the front, back and battery and whatever issue there might be and then give them out as replacements. He told me no, that this was in fact a new iPhone. He said that was the process they used to use, but now every replacement is a brand new phone. He said the returned phones are sent back and then melted down.

So there you go. The genius seemed to really know what he was talking about. I'm curious what others think about this.

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LMAO
And you bought it?
Sure, all returned phones are melted down

Applejuiced said:

LMAO
And you bought it?
Sure, all returned phones are melted down

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I melted down my 3G in advance to save them the trouble.

My gut says they are still refurbs. They definitely were back in the day when I had issues with my 3G iPhone and they gave me a 'replacement'.

No reason to believe they are now using new iPhone's as replacements. If they were I suspect they would open a sealed box in front of you.

Personally I have no issue with Apple subbing your defective warrantied iPhone with a refurb as long as the refurb performs with no issues. I went through 3 refurbs provided directly from Apple in two weeks. All with separate issues that I was able to easily replicate in front of a Genius. The fourth refurb lasted me until I upgraded to an iPhone 4. Because of the experience though I try to avoid all refurbs if possible.

Probably closer to the truth is this:

Many of us at MR have made the distinction between "refurbished" and "remanufactured." "Refurbish" is what's done to a phone a to get it working condition again, and lots of cell carriers and third party companies do this. How much attention they pay to cosmetics varies, so you might get a refurb from these third parties that look new-ish, or you might get a really beat up one, but the point is, it'll be functional, to some minimal spec. The same iPhone that came into the process is (mostly) the same iPhone coming out of it, only with the non functional, broken bits (hopefully) fixed or replaced.

What Apple probably does for replacements is remanufacturing. Defective phones go in; they're stripped down and disassembled, and the broken parts removed. Whatever's left goes into a bin to get reassembled as replacement units. Whatever parts they don't have enough of, they get new.

So are you getting a "new" phone? Technically, yes. An iPhone going into the reman process isn't likely going to be the same iPhone coming out. What's being output is an assembled and tested mix of known-good parts in an assembly line that's similar to one that makes the new iPhones for retail sale. It just probably happens that some of the parts were previously in other iPhones that came back.

-aggie- said:

I melted down my 3G in advance to save them the trouble.

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Me too.
I brought it in melted for an out of warranty replacement but they wouldn't accept it

I don't think the genius knows what they do really....I mean its not the "Geinus's" call at the end of the day to decide the fate of each iPhone that gets returned......think about it...it costs Apple $200-$280 to make a iPhone 4-iPhone 4S....you really think they are gonna just "Melt" it down? Im sure it costs them far less to replace a few parts and restore its prestine condition as they are still under warranty most that are "returned" or brought in for replacement.....anyway I'm not gonna get into the whole bible about this but all I'm gonna say is think logically....if u are smart and were running a company like apple would u be "melting/destroying" easily fixable products? I know I sure wouldn't be

andyx3x said:

I just checked the serial number on the phone I got last night and it says the limited warranty is good until May 23, 2013. For that to be true, the phone would have been purchased on May 24, 2012. Interesting since that date hasn't even occurred yet.

The warranty on the phone I swapped out last night expired next Monday 4/30. I asked the genius if my warranty date would be extended and he said no. It would certainly be nice to get that much of an additional warranty, even if it is an error of some kind.

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First your replacement does have a warranty that extends past 4/30. A replacement has the remaining warranty or 90 days, whichever provides longer coverage for you.

Hey maybe the replacement you got was purchased May 24, 2011 and had AppleCare which would extend the coverage to May 24, 2013 as your query indicates.

Dave

All the phones get returned to Apple. The Genius would have no knowledge of what Apple does with them.

Applejuiced said:

LMAO
And you bought it?
Sure, all returned phones are melted down

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LOL yeah, just as unwanted dogs are sent away to live happily on a farm

They are not melting phones down.

Defender2010 said:

That's just his opinion, ask another Genius and you will hear a different story. Perhaps he was trying to keep on the right side of you? It makes no business sense to melt down returned devices. It is cheaper to replace the problem as there is an abundance of parts in the production line. Lesson, don't believe everything you hear...

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I disagree. Paying an actual qualified technician to troubleshoot and then repair something as complicated as an iPhone is ten-fold more expensive than to just grab another new one off the Foxcom assembly line where they've probably got $100 in the phone.

Sedrick said:

I disagree. Paying an actual qualified technician to troubleshoot and then repair something as complicated as an iPhone is ten-fold more expensive than to just grab another new one off the Foxcom assembly line where they've probably got $100 in the phone.

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It's nearly $200 in raw parts... so it wouldn't be cheaper.

To the OP i see your in Raleigh.
Was this at the Crabtree Apple Store?

My guess is that if you get a replacement through apple then you get a new phone. They probably save all the refurbs for when you do a switch out through your carrier. That and squaretrade probably gets their fair share of the refurbs.

They are not refubs, per say, they are actually remanufactured. That's to say, they are "new" phones made from known good (used) parts... That's the way it works, it's semantics.

What happens to the phone depends on the complaint. When some 4Ss were draining battery very fast, they would have taken them in (probably paid you if you knew who to negotiate with) to test them and find out what the wider issue is! Ditto 'overheating' iPads.

But why should what happens to the old, defective phone worry you? You are probably getting a brand new phone because you have paid double the market value for it already (implied cost that is) so part of the service, apple ensures you get a good service under warranty. Ensures you come back and buy another one of their products. Cheaper than advertising. It's business. You are a client. They want to keep you. Feel good about it. You deserve it ($$$$$$$$)

WeegieMac said:

Oddly enough a Genius at the Glasgow store told my sister and I the same thing on Saturday when she returned her iPhone 4 due to a faulty home button.

Exact words were, "Here is your replacement and this one goes away to be destroyed".

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That's called sarcasm. Why would any company "destroy" money? It can easily be refurbished/repaired and redistributed.

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thewitt said:

All the phones get returned to Apple. The Genius would have no knowledge of what Apple does with them.

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And you would know without doubt what Apple does with their phones when you are sure the Genius doesn't? I'm not sure I follow...

I don't believe the genius representative. I feel knowledge of that issue is above his pay scale.

Sedrick said:

I disagree. Paying an actual qualified technician to troubleshoot and then repair something as complicated as an iPhone is ten-fold more expensive than to just grab another new one off the Foxcom assembly line where they've probably got $100 in the phone.

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Yes they just bake iPhones like Keebler elves bake cookies.




Michael

Sedrick said:

I disagree. Paying an actual qualified technician to troubleshoot and then repair something as complicated as an iPhone is ten-fold more expensive than to just grab another new one off the Foxcom assembly line where they've probably got $100 in the phone.

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I do know that Apple does have some pretty robust diagnostic software that is able to pinpoint issues within a phone. I think a lot of people think diagnosing a problem is like fixing a car 60 years ago where you have no idea what is wrong when it comes in. Cars nowadays are plugged into a computer and them mechanic is basically told where to look or start looking. It's the same for an iPhone. The diagnostic report spits out "bad motherboard" and the motherboard can be swapped if all else is coming back ok.

I think many also tend to underestimate the time it takes to produce an iPhone from start to finish. While I don;t have exact numbers for you, I think the vision many have of production plants like foxconn is that units are pumped out in minutes or seconds. We can look at numbers that state how many units are produced per hour, but that doesn't take into account the time it takes for a unit to go from raw material, to parts, to a usable unit. Those steps undoubtedly take FAR longer than most diagnostics likely take.