The folks over at OSX Daily have shared a handy guide, that lets you check if an iPhone is new, a refurbished model or a replacement device from Apple. The process relies on an interesting device model identifier trick, and provides valuable information for buyers of used devices.
Simply follow these steps to decipher an iPhone’s model prefix and determine its original status.
Step 1:
Go to the Settings app on the iPhone.
Step 2:
Scroll to General > About and look for its “Model”.
Step 3:
Now read the model identifier next to that text, which will look something like “MN572LL/A”, the first character will let you know if the device is new, refurbished, replacement, or personalized:
- M – Brand new device, meaning the device was purchased new
- F – Refurbished device, meaning the device has been through refurbishing process
- N – Replacement device, meaning the originally bought device was replaced by this model likely due to a service request
- P – Personalized device with engraving, meaning the device was customized with an engraving on purchase
That’s it. Now you can easily determine if an iPhone is new, repaired or has been replaced.
