iPhone erase all content from chip

[nkaufman]

Sometime back I'd created a checklist to help while buying on Craigslist.

However, a colleague of mine experienced something unique and i'd like to share with you.

Seller claimed that he had a brand new Applecare phone and wanted to meet at Apple store. Apple confirmed that the phone is new and had no usage information. However my colleague was looking at the phone closely and saw that there seemed to be a lot of scratches deep in the charger port. This alongwith the dirt that he saw on the headset slot on the phone (while peeling off the plastic cover) raised concerns in his mind and he walked away from the transaction.

He was surprised though that Apple did not see any usage detail on the phone. I think that this could be due to some software that the seller used to remove all usage data from the chips that are inside the phone. Any one else think similarly?

 

[scaredpoet]

Usage data is not permanent on iPhones, and can be wiped with everything else.

In any case, usage stats aren't a reliable indicator of age and condition. It's possible for a never-used device to have a damaged battery (through age and lack of use), while NAND Flash storage condition is a function of wear, not age over time.

What any buyer should be looking at is:

1. Physical, cosmetic, and screen condition (check the ports, jacks, and corners for dents and dings, and make sure all buttons work, too)
2. Warranty/Applecare status (not a deal breaker, but nice to have)
3. If possible, run a battery diagnostic through Apple support or via iBackupbot to see what condition the battery is in.
4. Is the device activation locked? If it's a phone or tablet will cellular data, is the IMEI blacklisted?

If any of these seem off, don't buy.

 

[nkaufman]

scaredpoet - All that you say are right.

However, in the scenario I described, the seller kept insisting that Apple store will find that this phone has never been used. Which raises suspicion as to how would that happen.

Did the seller run some hack to clean out the kind of data that only Apple store can read off of the phones to figure out if the phone has been used at all?