Question About Refurbished iPhones

[therealjustin]

Is the manufacture date of refurbished iPhones(found by decoding the serial number) the real date when the phone was built? My replacement iPhone starts with 87130, with 87 being the factory and 130 being the 30th week of 2011 which would be sometime in July.

Was this phone rebuilt in July 2011 or is that the pre-refurb build date when it was sold new? Seeing as I just got the phone from AppleCare does that mean the battery is already 7 months old?

 

[miles01110]

They replace the battery as part of the refurb process.

 

[therealjustin]

I heard that they do, but was this phone re-built in July 2011 or is that the date when the phone was first built(sold as new)?

 

[Ivan P]

When the phone goes through the refurb process, it's given a brand new serial number - so it should be referring to when the refurb was built.

 

[therealjustin]

Just reading some more about serial numbers and since it begins with 87 I guess it could be brand new. A little strange that it would have been sitting in a warehouse in PA for 7 months though.