Does the Apple Store sell refurbished iPhones?

[RedChampion]

Hey guys,
So I am looking to have my iPhone 4 replaced for several reasons. One of them being that my camera lens has been scratched up and it is nearly impossible to take pictures through it and also I find iOS 7 unbearable to use on the iPhone 4. I heard that when Apple replaces an iPhone in their store for half price (which I think is $150) they actually are giving you a refurbished iPhone. Since I had this phone replaced over the summer due to water damage, they are giving me a hard time about replacing it again. I was wondering if it is possible to simply buy a refurbished phone from them for the discounted price of $150 rather then going through the replacepent process. If so, is it possible for them to give me a phone running iOS 6 or iOS 5?

Thanks!

 

[hamiltonDSi]

Yep. You can pay for an out of warranty replacement.
But you can change the back plate very cheap. You can purchase OEM parts from eBay. The black plate includes the camera lens.
The process is very simple, just unscrew the 2 screws from the button and slide out the plate.
I replaced my sister's iPhone 4 due to a faulty home button last month and it came with iOS 6.1. There is a small chance that it will ship with iOS 6 but no way iOS 5.

 

[SpyderBite]

Most of the replacements are brand new. After that supply runs out, and manufacturing stops on a certain model, they distribute back stock or re-manufactured phones. Refurbished basically means cleaned up, tested and sold/replace. Remanufactured means that a brand new phone is built from scratch from new or working parts from returned phones. The same goes for all of their mobile devices.

The carriers however will send you a replacement. For example vzw uses Asurion who is notorious for sending out used phones. I got a replacement blackberry once that still had a Hello Kitty sticker on it.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Out of warranty replacement is $199 for the iPhone 4.

Some people are reporting still getting iOS 6 on replacement 4S but it's crapshoot.