First experience with genius

The phones they give you are all refurbs. They are, in my opinion, as good as getting a new one. I have had this with my old 3GS (kept crashing), and a 5 (power button failure).

 

Refurb or new. There's a mix in those white boxes. But, refurbs are the same as new.

When an iPhone is returned they test all the parts. Any part that fails is replaced. They automatically, replace the case.

Once it's done, the refurb goes through the same QC checks that new phones do.

In short, Apple does not take your return, polish it up and put it in a white box. There's a procedure that's followed. Since all of this is done somewhere else and the iPhone gets a new case (and new parts) it'd be impossible to follow a return.

 

I actually prefer buying refurbished rather than new. The cost is much cheaper.

 

You can't buy a refurb direct from the Apple store. Online maybe, at a certain point, but not at the Apple store.

Apple replaces with refurb/new, but only sells new.