Swap motherboard to phone with bad esn

[rantastic]

Hey all,

I do iphone screen replacements, and have a potential customer with a little more broken than the screen (headphone jack and camera are also busted).

Aside from that though, the phone works fine.

I'm wondering if I can buy an iphone with a bad esn (for the sake of cheapness) and put the broken iphones motherboard into the phone with the bad esn.

Will the customers esn transfer over with the motherboard, or is it stored somewhere else?

thanks for any info,
Bill

 

[ylerT]

Yes, the ESN stays with the board. However, the parts for these are fairly inexpensive and I can't see buying an entire phone to do that repair would be cheaper.

Anyhow, if you do decide go that route you'll be fine with the ESN.

 

[rantastic]

You know a good place to get parts?

 

[ylerT]

You know a good place to get parts?

For private buyers, eBay. Best thing to do is check for US only sellers with great feedback and lots of it.

 

[iPhoneTyler]

I have done this procedure with an iPhone 4. The customer cracked their screen and jammed their lock button. They then went on eBay and bought a phone with a bad ESN. (They didn't know.) They came to me looking for a solution. I swapped the good mobo into the working phone and sent them on their way.

 

[Keveezy]

Yes, the ESN stays with the board. However, the parts for these are fairly inexpensive and I can't see buying an entire phone to do that repair would be cheaper.

Anyhow, if you do decide go that route you'll be fine with the ESN.

okay I have a question I have an iPhone 7 Plus perfect condition and no iCloud lock but it does have a bad esn. Wanted to know if I swap the motherboard will this fix my issue and allow me to activate the phone?