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Anyone satisfied with their whitebox (i.e., service) replacements?

iBaloney

iBaloney

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 6, 2010
435
0
I'm on my 2nd iphone 5 - my 1st had major cosmetic damage, this one as well. I was told by the manager at my local apple store to come back another day when they have more retail 32gb white at&t iphones in stock. I've been calling this entire week with no dice, I'm tired of waiting and thinking about just settling for a "service" replacement in those white boxes.

After much perusing these forums, it almost seems like those whitebox replacements - whether new or refurb (as there doesnt seem to be much of a consensus on this issue), are either as good or even better than retail boxed iphones. Mainly due to the idea that if they are refurbs, they would be "retooled" to cosmetic and functional perfection.

So my question is, for those of you who did get a white box replacement, were they just as good or better than your retail-boxed iphones?
 
iBaloney said:
I'm on my 2nd iphone 5 - my 1st had major cosmetic damage, this one as well. I was told by the manager at my local apple store to come back another day when they have more retail 32gb white at&t iphones in stock. I've been calling this entire week with no dice, I'm tired of waiting and thinking about just settling for a "service" replacement in those white boxes.

After much perusing these forums, it almost seems like those whitebox replacements - whether new or refurb (as there doesnt seem to be much of a consensus on this issue), are either as good or even better than retail boxed iphones. Mainly due to the idea that if they are refurbs, they would be "retooled" to cosmetic and functional perfection.

So my question is, for those of you who did get a white box replacement, were they just as good or better than your retail-boxed iphones?
Click to expand...
My retail release day shipped from Verizon was spotless. My replacements (replaced due to camera issues) was a white box and they were both cosmetically defective from the box.
 
I dropped by iPhone 5 the first week I owned it. When I got a replacement I noticed the date on the box said it arrived September 20th. That's the day before release, so I guess it was just a new phone packaged in a white box for replacements.

In terms of cosmetic appearance, my original phone was perfect until I dropped it on to the sidewalk; and the replacement is mint as well.

There is however a subtle difference in that my original phone was model MD645LL/A, whereas my replacement has a weird model number ND643LL/A.
 
I just got my original iPhone 5 replaced probably about a week ago. I had received my original on the 21st and it was flawless. However the Internet and the screen would go unresponsive at times. I took it to the apple store and was told they don't know why it would be like that but they wanted to replace my phone just in case it was a hardware issue (never even ran a diagnostic). My white box replacement is flawless as well and so far it is running great. I couldn't be happier with apple. I have gotten great service and beautiful phones. Yes there were a couple problems along the way with my original phone but that is to be expected when being an early adopter.
 
I replaced a retail box phone with a dent, multiple white box replacements all seem to have interlacing screen artifacts. Could not be more disappointed with apple and this product.
 
My release day black iPhone 5 had cosmetic scuffs, and I replaced it the following Monday for a white box model which was perfect. using it today and couldn't be happier.
 
Thanks for all your responses guys. It seems that generally the whitebox phones are better than retail in most cases. I guess i'll just wait a few more days in hope for a retail replacement, if not i'll just go for a whitebox.


alphaod said:
I dropped by iPhone 5 the first week I owned it. When I got a replacement I noticed the date on the box said it arrived September 20th. That's the day before release, so I guess it was just a new phone packaged in a white box for replacements.

In terms of cosmetic appearance, my original phone was perfect until I dropped it on to the sidewalk; and the replacement is mint as well.

There is however a subtle difference in that my original phone was model MD645LL/A, whereas my replacement has a weird model number ND643LL/A.
Click to expand...

I read on the exchanges/replacements thread that "ND" signifies a whiteboxed iphone, whereas "MD" is a retail.
 
My iPhone5 bought from Sam's Club has little scratches around the ends of the glass and some tiny ones on the back. Will Apple replace it? I mean, it doesn't really bother me that much. I'm going to the Apple Store tomorrow for some Lightning Cables and the possibility of buying applecare+
 
iBaloney said:
I'm on my 2nd iphone 5 - my 1st had major cosmetic damage, this one as well. I was told by the manager at my local apple store to come back another day when they have more retail 32gb white at&t iphones in stock. I've been calling this entire week with no dice, I'm tired of waiting and thinking about just settling for a "service" replacement in those white boxes.

After much perusing these forums, it almost seems like those whitebox replacements - whether new or refurb (as there doesnt seem to be much of a consensus on this issue), are either as good or even better than retail boxed iphones. Mainly due to the idea that if they are refurbs, they would be "retooled" to cosmetic and functional perfection.

So my question is, for those of you who did get a white box replacement, were they just as good or better than your retail-boxed iphones?
Click to expand...

My originally purchased iPhone 5 had a faulty home button. My replacement is perfect and has had no problems.
 
I'm happy with mine. Small scratch near the screw on the bottom. Otherwise it's perfect. Best iPhone 5 I've seen to date. Still wish there were no scratches but I rarely see it.
 
Replacement iPhones are just as good as new ones. In fact, they are the same (cosmetically speaking). The only differences are the model number (starts with N instead of M, probably because they're not for resale) and the boxing (white box instead of retail). As far as I'm aware, there are no refurbs yet. My replacement phone was a week 37 (before the iPhone went on sale). The first refurb has yet to be reported.

There's no reason not to get a white box iPhone imo, you'll have the same chance of the phone not being perfect with a white box phone as a retail box phone.
 
My replacement models were all C37 serials, so out goes the M an N only rationale. There are so may threads on this topic. At the moment the replacements are new. They may or may not have cosmetic damage. It's not the serial that's the issue really it's whether or not it looks brand new.
 
Defender2010 said:
My replacement models were all C37 serials, so out goes the M an N only rationale. There are so may threads on this topic. At the moment the replacements are new. They may or may not have cosmetic damage. It's not the serial that's the issue really it's whether or not it looks brand new.
Click to expand...

The MD/ND thing is for the model number, not the serial number.
 
PsstGreek said:
My iPhone5 bought from Sam's Club has little scratches around the ends of the glass and some tiny ones on the back. Will Apple replace it? I mean, it doesn't really bother me that much. I'm going to the Apple Store tomorrow for some Lightning Cables and the possibility of buying applecare+
Click to expand...

Sprint store will give you 20% off if you buy 2 lightning cables making them $15.99 each. Probably the only thing sprint is good for :rolleyes:


photo41.jpg
 
I got a whitebox replacement today and its pretty much perfect cosmetically, accept for one part by the bottom left which seems like it wasnt completly anodized there...and my power button is pretty dam loose, i can shake the phone and hear it pretty loud and no i checked, i held down the power button etc.. i know the camera rattles a bit too but the power button is pretty damm loose..

You guys think i could get another replacement? About the unfinished anodization and loose button? I defitnetly think I can , its pretty minor( the anodizAtion part) but the loose power button is pissing my OCD side off pretty bad...anyways i am going to wait like a week or two because the more days that pass by, the less defective phones there will be due to improvements in the manufacturing process
 
Last edited:
Most everyone who got one does not have sprint. I am using straight talk on the iphone 5. I had no problem buying cables nor the 100's of folks on slickdeals and mac rumors who bought them as well. Just make sure it is a corporate store with stock
 
Defender2010 said:
My replacement models were all C37 serials, so out goes the M an N only rationale. There are so may threads on this topic. At the moment the replacements are new. They may or may not have cosmetic damage. It's not the serial that's the issue really it's whether or not it looks brand new.
Click to expand...

I'm talking about the model number, not the serial number. My replacement is also a C37 serial number, but so was my first retail phone, so C37 doesn't say anything.

----------
Bahroo said:
I got a whitebox replacement today and its pretty much perfect cosmetically, accept for one part by the bottom left which seems like it wasnt completly anodized there...and my power button is pretty dam loose, i can shake the phone and hear it pretty loud and no i checked, i held down the power button etc.. i know the camera rattles a bit too but the power button is pretty damm loose..

You guys think i could get another replacement? About the unfinished anodization and loose button? I defitnetly think I can , its pretty minor( the anodizAtion part) but the loose power button is pissing my OCD side off pretty bad...anyways i am going to wait like a week or two because the more days that pass by, the less defective phones there will be due to improvements in the manufacturing process
Click to expand...
I had a very loose volume button that annoyed me. I went back after 30 minutes to get it replaced again. s back after 30 minutes to get it replaced again. I simply said that it annoyed and said that I checked all the display models of which none of them had the issue. I then reasoned that this is not normal behavior, and they swapped my phone immediately.
 
i personally prefer white box replacements. they are inspected by apple care techs here in the US before being shipped off or sent to apple retail stores if new, and if referb'd, it speaks for itself. My black ip5 white box replacement was spot on.
 
trixnrice said:
i personally prefer white box replacements. they are inspected by apple care techs here in the US before being shipped off or sent to apple retail stores if new, and if referb'd, it speaks for itself. My black ip5 white box replacement was spot on.
Click to expand...

that's pretty much my rationale too, gathered from all the threads. What week is your whitebox replacement btw?
 
Just got a whitebox replacement for my launch day white 16gb that has had bt issues. The replacement is perfect - or should I say is indistinguishable from my launch day model (including having some bt issues).

Time to try a new bt headset, as it's possible the issue is with my Era.
 
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