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Ev0d3vil

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 22, 2014
487
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May get an iphone outside of my home country so I'm wondering if anything goes wrong, can I bring it to the Apple Store in my home country ?
 
Anywhere Apple has an official Apple store. Hint: Indian phones can be serviced outside. Outside phones can’t be serviced in India!
 
If you bought it from a phone company provider, you must take it to them. If you bought it from an apple store or authorized apple, you can take it to any apple store in the same country, but not another country. I think this only applies to iphone products but other apple products such as ipads, ipods, etc is international warranty. It may have changed now, that was my experience before in asia.
 
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Yes, as long as you go to an Apple store (preferable) or an authorized Apple service center.
My experience:
US Verizon iPhone 5, serviced in Apple Store Japan.
Japanese iPhone 6S, serviced in authorized Apple service center in Singapore.
Didn't have any problems whatsoever. Warranties were all honored.

Nonetheless, I have heard people having issues with China and Indonesia.
If your destination country has an official Apple store, they are the best bet to get the best service. If you have doubts, you can initiate a support chat with Apple from your origin country first.
 
I bought my iPhone 6s from Apple Japan when I lived in Tokyo. I recently moved to Europe and my Bluetooth stopped working. Went in to an Apple Store and they replaced it no questions asked. So it seems pretty international. Bonus for me was that I now have an iPhone that doesn't make the annoying camera shutter sound!
 
I bought my iPhone 6s from Apple Japan when I lived in Tokyo. I recently moved to Europe and my Bluetooth stopped working. Went in to an Apple Store and they replaced it no questions asked. So it seems pretty international. Bonus for me was that I now have an iPhone that doesn't make the annoying camera shutter sound!
The shutter sound can be disabled by the mute button friend.
 
The shutter sound can be disabled by the mute button friend.

Not on Japanese iPhones. It's to stop people taking photos up people's skirts on the Tokyo metro :). Well, with an un-jailbroken iPhone anyway.

What adrianlondon said is true, by law in Japan mobile phones are not allowed to have their camera shutter sound disabled. I've had many people tell me over the years "you know you can turn that off" and have had to explain this annoying law. There are some camera apps that take away the shutter sound but don't retain all camera features. Or there is the jail breaking option. Anyway, it's nice to be able to finally turn the sound off!
 
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Not on Japanese iPhones. It's to stop people taking photos up people's skirts on the Tokyo metro :). Well, with an un-jailbroken iPhone anyway.
Haha lots of perverts at the tokyo metro stations. In Cali they are everywhere also, malls, gyms, streets, etc.
 
I bought my iPhone 6s from Apple Japan when I lived in Tokyo. I recently moved to Europe and my Bluetooth stopped working. Went in to an Apple Store and they replaced it no questions asked. So it seems pretty international. Bonus for me was that I now have an iPhone that doesn't make the annoying camera shutter sound!

Did you have any sort of discussion about it being a Japanese phone and whether replacing it with one from Europe was right for you? I ask because in the past I've seen people complain about having to wait a couple of weeks for a specific iphone model to be ordered in from abroad as a replacement, and I'm wondering if that's no longer the case and you just get whatever they have in that country or whether they replaced yours because you no longer needed a Japanese one anyway.
 
Did you have any sort of discussion about it being a Japanese phone and whether replacing it with one from Europe was right for you? I ask because in the past I've seen people complain about having to wait a couple of weeks for a specific iphone model to be ordered in from abroad as a replacement, and I'm wondering if that's no longer the case and you just get whatever they have in that country or whether they replaced yours because you no longer needed a Japanese one anyway.

There was actually no mention of my original phone being from Japan and so they didn't ask me any questions as to whether or not I wanted a Swiss iPhone instead of a Japanese one. I checked the model numbers between the countries before I went in and they were listed as the same, so maybe that's why. If they didn't give me the same model number I might have said something.

Even so, I'm very happy I was able to do this and is one reason I stick with Apple. Back when I had an Android phone I had to take it in to my carrier and wait weeks for a replacement. I have no idea how that would work internationally.
 
I checked the model numbers between the countries before I went in and they were listed as the same

I'm fairly sure it would have been a different model number (not the Axxxx model number, the other type) - for example I have an iphone 7 which identifies as MNH52CH/A. AFAIK it's exactly the same as the verizon/sprint model except with *facetime audio disabled*. In your case, trading out of a japanese specific variant is good for you (no camera sound). If it was an iPhone 7 and you were between countries, you'd have lost out on the ability to use Apple Pay in Japan.
 
It's international guarantee. From imei number they can find if you have guarantee left or not !! Doesn't matter where you bought from.
 
Not sure. I've seen text in their warranties before about not providing worldwide coverage for iPhones and iPads with SIM card capabilities. I assume this was due to LTE/3G compatibility issues in different countries. I wonder whether that'll become a thing of the past.
 
I'm fairly sure it would have been a different model number (not the Axxxx model number, the other type) - for example I have an iphone 7 which identifies as MNH52CH/A. AFAIK it's exactly the same as the verizon/sprint model except with *facetime audio disabled*. In your case, trading out of a japanese specific variant is good for you (no camera sound). If it was an iPhone 7 and you were between countries, you'd have lost out on the ability to use Apple Pay in Japan.

Good points, forgot about the other M number which is likely different (haven't checked). Apple Pay isnt a big deal in Japan yet, at least it wasn't when I left, but I would miss the integrated Suica card if I had a 7. I wonder what would happen in that case, if I would get a Japanese one or be stuck with Swiss. All my apple products were bought in Japan (2016 MBP, Apple TV, mini), so I might have a chance to see if I run into any problems with warranties (though I hope I won't end up needing any more service).
 
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