Original iPhone = New iPhone

[AJsAWiz]

If you have ever taken you iPhone in for repairs, chances are they just replaced it. Now here is the $64,000 question.

If the original iPhones are no longer available, what happens when you take it in for repairs. Will they give you the newer model (being released soon)?

 

[Tallest Skil]

If you take it in six months from now. There have been two threads on this in the past two days. Apple has hundreds of 1G iPhones. You will get one of those until they are gone.

 

[Mikey B]

Apple surely has plenty of refurbs, it will be awhile before they fun out and have to replace a defective 1st gen with a new one. Eventually, but I doubt any time soon.

 

[JBaker122586]

Nope.
They will NEVER, I repeat, NEVER, replace an older gen iPhone with a newer gen one.
If you have a 5G iPod still under AppleCare and bring it in, you're not going to get an iPod Classic. If they don't have any 5G iPods in the store, they're going to send it in and get you one.

 

[SamoanDude]

Extended Apple Care is worth buying!

 

[Surely]

Nope.
They will NEVER, I repeat, NEVER, replace an older gen iPhone with a newer gen one.
If you have a 5G iPod still under AppleCare and bring it in, you're not going to get an iPod Classic. If they don't have any 5G iPods in the store, they're going to send it in and get you one.

Shhhh........Stop making sense.

Maybe I'll bring in my old iBook G3 and ask them to give me a shiny new MacBook....

 

[72930]

Nope.
They will NEVER, I repeat, NEVER, replace an older gen iPhone with a newer gen one.
If you have a 5G iPod still under AppleCare and bring it in, you're not going to get an iPod Classic. If they don't have any 5G iPods in the store, they're going to send it in and get you one.

Well, I know from experience thats not the case with Macs.

 

[techlover828]

do you think they'd give me a classic for my 5.5G video?

 

[neven]

No.

AppleCare will only extend up to 3 years, and I find it hard to believe that Apple would run out of any replacement products in that time.

 

[avaloncourt]

No.

AppleCare will only extend up to 3 years, and I find it hard to believe that Apple would run out of any replacement products in that time.

Exactly. Dell has a 5-year window on their extended warranties. They plan their parts availability around that timeframe. Apple has done the same thing.

 

[theotherguy]

Applecare for iPhone is only 2 years

-not 3 like for computers.

I think they would, after a few months as mentioned above. I've had a new nano replaced for a broken-down first gen one. After all, they can't just keep broken or refurb 1st gen iPhones around indefinitely. My guess is they would try & fix it first to get rid of all those 1st gen parts, then after that start handing out new ones.

No.

AppleCare will only extend up to 3 years, and I find it hard to believe that Apple would run out of any replacement products in that time.

 

[jimmer-uk]

My 3g ipod was replaced with a 5.5g. Not saying thisis the norm but it does happen

 

[techlover828]

My 3g ipod was replaced with a 5.5g. Not saying thisis the norm but it does happen

ya, my photo was replaced with a 5.5g because it broke like 5 times, I had to call apple.

 

[friekunater]

so I bought an 8gb iPod touch from Walmart and got a 2/3 yr warranty (can't remember which) through them. if I returned it to them after the new iPod touches come out (please be soon!) for repairs, what would they do/give me? how about if I returned it to Apple? I'm still under the 1yr parts replacement thing...

 

[onlycopunk]

Wal-mart will pull it from their stock which they get from Apple. This happened when my 3G ipod broke and I returned it to Best Buy because I had the extended warranty. Best Buy sent me a refurb of the exact same generation iPod even though it was 2+ years since that version had been released.

 

[benmrii]

It definitely will not. 1 in 5,000 might get the mistake/odd and about-to-be-in-trouble Mac Genius who replaces a faulty one with an upgraded iPhone.

Well, I know from experience thats not the case with Macs.

That's a different story mostly because computers can be repaired piece by piece. On the occasions when a computer is actually all-out replaced (which doesn't happen often) the computer is replaced with the comparable version. I.e. if I bought a top of the line MacBook two years ago and the MGs decide to replace it they would give me the current top of the line MacBook.

Because iPods and iPhones are whole product replacement repairs they keep them all on hand as a repair parts. For example, over five years after the first version of the iPod, replacements were still on hand for "repairs."

 

[sushi]

Sometimes Apple will replace an older item with a newer item.

To plan on this is foolish as it is a rare event.

 

[siurpeeman]

No.

AppleCare will only extend up to 3 years, and I find it hard to believe that Apple would run out of any replacement products in that time.

on iphones, buying applecare extends the warranty to two years, not three.

 

[Musicmadnessash]

well I got an ipod mini which broke on the 11th month. Got it replaced with the nanoi which also broke 10months later, got that replaced with a blue nano. Each was new and off the shelf. So maybe they will change them.

 

[speakerwizard]

they will refurbish any returned (like ipods) and replace others with them, you can still get a replacement G1 ipod if you get a battery repair.

 

[Anuba]

Exactly. Dell has a 5-year window on their extended warranties. They plan their parts availability around that timeframe. Apple has done the same thing.

Really? I have a 3-year business support deal on my two Dell machines, and had bad luck with one of them and had it repaired three times. They said if anything more would happen, I'd get a brand new machine, so I asked if I'd get exactly the same one. They said no, and explained their policy:

If components or the entire computer will have to be replaced, they will replace it with the current offering that's closest to your discontinued product. E.g. if your 80 GB drive breaks down, and the smallest they currently offer on new machines is 100 GB, you'll get a 100 GB drive. If your Precision M65 laptop (discontinued) breaks down beyond repair, you'll get a Precision M4300 (which uses a later generation Intel CPU and motherboard, has higher bus speed etc).

This was Dell Sweden, so I don't know if their policy differs from that of Dell US, but...

 

[SFStateStudent]

Gawd, how many times have I told this story? Bought mid-level MB Aug '07 and developed small scratches about 2 weeks later, MG's said cosmetic. Scratches addressed several months later with Store Manager, after email questionnaire filled out describing my trying to sell my MB, and Apple Store repairing screen for $600 plus tax, so my $1200 MB is now worth 1/2 its value, if I tried to sell it now. SM gave me a choice of MB to replace my screen damaged MB, so I chose the BlackBook 2.4 Penryn, since they couldn't configure the MB for my specs. This applies only to my MB, and not the iPhone. Thanks AppleCare! Thanks Apple!

 

[Zwhaler]

Apple has hundreds of 1G iPhones. You will get one of those until they are gone.

That ought to last about 30 seconds

Once the new model comes out, chances are you will not recieve the 3g one if you bring yours in for repair. Eventually you might, meaning months after release.

 

[avaloncourt]

Really? I have a 3-year business support deal on my two Dell machines, and had bad luck with one of them and had it repaired three times. They said if anything more would happen, I'd get a brand new machine, so I asked if I'd get exactly the same one. They said no, and explained their policy:

If components or the entire computer will have to be replaced, they will replace it with the current offering that's closest to your discontinued product. E.g. if your 80 GB drive breaks down, and the smallest they currently offer on new machines is 100 GB, you'll get a 100 GB drive. If your Precision M65 laptop (discontinued) breaks down beyond repair, you'll get a Precision M4300 (which uses a later generation Intel CPU and motherboard, has higher bus speed etc).

This was Dell Sweden, so I don't know if their policy differs from that of Dell US, but...

Yes, really. You say they *said* it. They didn't actually DO it. I had one hell of a screwed up laptop which they had done six on-site repair calls on. I can say from personal experience that not once was there ever any indication that they had any intention of replacing it. At one point they were thinking about replacing the entire computer but didn't have any built ones of the same model at all (it was 3 years old at that point). So, they rescinded their replacement intention and decided to repair it on-site once again. I've been down this road more times than I care to remember with Dell. They may have told you something but, in this context, that's about equivalent of an AT&T rep telling you that the new iPhone will be out next Tuesday.

 

[avaloncourt]

Gawd, how many times have I told this story? Bought mid-level MB Aug '07 and developed small scratches about 2 weeks later, MG's said cosmetic. Scratches addressed several months later with Store Manager, after email questionnaire filled out describing my trying to sell my MB, and Apple Store repairing screen for $600 plus tax, so my $1200 MB is now worth 1/2 its value, if I tried to sell it now. SM gave me a choice of MB to replace my screen damaged MB, so I chose the BlackBook 2.4 Penryn, since they couldn't configure the MB for my specs. This applies only to my MB, and not the iPhone. Thanks AppleCare! Thanks Apple!

There have been many anecdotal reports of equipment replacement but most of those came years ago with known issues with certain products. Apple seems to be far less generous these days.