Refurb iPhone quality?

[marc55]

I have an iPhone 5, and the home button does not respond every now and then, and Apple support has offered me an Express Exchange.

I looked in the refurb store, and didn't see ANY iPhones?

My concern is with the quality of the refurb process; What do they actually do when they refirb a phone? What components are replaced?

Thank you

EDIT: Corrected spelling of rifurb

 

[Mr Kram]

if you ask me, refurb products from apple are just as good if not better than stuff straight from the factory. the devices are individually tested and set to factory specs. any parts that are replaced (if any) are OEM, so no worries. i've had my old iPhone 5 and an iPod touch swapped out before.

 

[dasmb]

Refurb products are basically rebuilt. There can be problems with a refurb but it's at more or less the same rate as new product.

 

[eyoungren]

The casing on refurb phones has been replaced. Parts are checked and replaced if they fail QC. Once reassembled the entire phone is run through the same checks as the new phones.

Essentially they are indistinguishable from new.

I've had my iPhone 5 replaced twice. Both were refurbs and seemed to be better to me than the original launch day iPhone 5 I had.

 

[deeddawg]

For whatever reason, Apple's never offered iPhones in their online refurb store.

I would never hesitate to accept an Apple-refurbished item. In time I've bought refurbished AppleTV, multiple iPads, Macbook Air, Mac Mini, and a couple different iPod nano (different generations).

Not once has any Apple-refurbished produce been distinguishable from brand new other than the box it came in.

 

[hamiltonDSi]

I had the worst experience with Refurbished iPhones !
The first one came with a huge (I mean relly huge) nick, on the second the screen became loose, on the 3rd one there was a baseband error, on the 4th the display had green lines...

If you ask me, they suck.
Just my 0.2 cents

 

[deeddawg]

I had the worst experience with Refurbished iPhones

I notice you are in Romania. Were the phones refurbished and given to you by Apple, or by a third party?

In the US I've seen carriers such as AT&T offer non-Apple refurbished phones before. The one I saw personally was fine, but the warranty was only 90 days through the carrier thus indicating it was not Apple who had refurbished it.

 

[Ta0jin]

I have an iPhone 5, and the home button does not respond every now and then, and Apple support has offered me an Express Exchange.

I looked in the refirb store, and didn't see ANY iPhones?

My concern is with the quality of the refirb process; What do they actually do when they refirb a phone? What components are replaced?

Thank you

You got nothing to lose, give it a shot.

 

[willmtaylor]

Corrected.

 

[tiartrop]

From what I know, refurb iPhones got their broken parts and casing replaced.

I exchanged my iPhone 5 twice, the second time was given a refurb unit because my power button had stopped responding.

My refurb unit wasn't perfect tbh, it got minor scratches all over the bezel and a stuck pixel on the screen, but of course these were minor problems compared to the non-functioning power button. Plus the battery was practically new so there's nothing to lose.

 

[Merkie]

I have never noticed any quality differences between new phones and refurbs.

 

[iososx]

Apple does an excellent job with refurbished phones laptops and other products. They stand behind them also.

 

[hamiltonDSi]

I notice you are in Romania. Were the phones refurbished and given to you by Apple, or by a third party?

In the US I've seen carriers such as AT&T offer non-Apple refurbished phones before. The one I saw personally was fine, but the warranty was only 90 days through the carrier thus indicating it was not Apple who had refurbished it.

Orange Romania. My carrier. Same 90 days warranty like AT&T.

 

[Tobias Funke]

Depends who refurbs them!

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Depends who refurbs them!

Correct. All of Apple's white box replacements (unless new straight from factory after launch) get a brand new case, screen and battery. Carrier-refurbished iPhones, on the other hand, may not get this same treatment.