iPhone 12 Non-obvious things to check when buying used iPhone?

[Pilot Jones]

Going to be buying a used iPhone 11 or 12 pretty soon off of Swappa. Would love to know any advice regarding the more nitpicky things to look into before/after I pull the trigger.

I know the obvious ones like iCloud Lock, Battery Percentage, Carrier Lock, IMEI, etc. but are there any other less obvious things I should definitely look into before and also after I buy to make sure I can get a refund if I do get conned.

I'll be ordering online so it won't be possible for me to see the phone in person before purchase.

 

[Shirasaki]

Check touch screen as much as possible and notice if there are dead areas or just less responsive screens.
Pay some attention to the charging port. Bad port can indicate an iPhone that suffers quite a bit of use or some issue with the source of the iPhone.
Check Face ID and True Tone. Sometimes if the display is replaced, Face ID might get disabled, as well as True Tone. Yes, not everyone want to visit Apple Store for repair.
Check camera lense In case you got a fake iPhone (it can happen).

 

[Pilot Jones]

Check touch screen as much as possible and notice if there are dead areas or just less responsive screens.
Pay some attention to the charging port. Bad port can indicate an iPhone that suffers quite a bit of use or some issue with the source of the iPhone.
Check Face ID and True Tone. Sometimes if the display is replaced, Face ID might get disabled, as well as True Tone. Yes, not everyone want to visit Apple Store for repair.
Check camera lense In case you got a fake iPhone (it can happen).

These are all fantastic. Thank you so much for the specific pointers.

I was curious about your last point regarding the camera lenses. What should I be looking for within the lenses to figure out whether it's a fake iPhone or not? Is it just going to be super obvious or do I need to be more vigilant?

 

[Andeddu]

These are all fantastic. Thank you so much for the specific pointers.

I was curious about your last point regarding the camera lenses. What should I be looking for within the lenses to figure out whether it's a fake iPhone or not? Is it just going to be super obvious or do I need to be more vigilant?

It’ll be super obvious so don’t worry. You can be sure if you’re going through Swappa that you will not be furnished with a fake iPhone.

 

[Shirasaki]

These are all fantastic. Thank you so much for the specific pointers.

I was curious about your last point regarding the camera lenses. What should I be looking for within the lenses to figure out whether it's a fake iPhone or not? Is it just going to be super obvious or do I need to be more vigilant?

I’ve seen repair videos online showcasing fake camera with blue lenses that actually have nothing underneath. Dunno why they use blue but that’s what they do. The lenses cover is also plastic rather than any sort of glass.

I have never been on swappa so dunno how that works, but needing shipping is a huge red flag to me to buy used expensive electronics unless I literally have no other choice.

 

[JamesMcFlyJR]

check microphone (voice memos)

check front and all back cameras

check if the speaker works (go to ringtones in settings and check if both the bottom speaker and the front facing speaker works)

 

[now i see it]

I’ve never run into a wrong product purchased on swappa. Bought 3 items over the years.
As mentioned- really check out the charging port on the phone — with a new genuine Apple lightning cable. The port can be a weak link and it’s too expensive to get at to replace (whole freaking phone has to be disassembled).

 

[ian87w]

Check the repair history:

iPhone parts and service history - Apple Support

Genuine Apple parts have been designed, tested, and manufactured for Apple quality and performance standards.

support.apple.com

Also, I believe you can use 3uTools to check the components. It's a desktop app.

 

[ndouglas]

Never used Swappa, seems like based on the above comments, people can return it or similar if it arrives and they don’t like it? Interesting…

 

[Pilot Jones]

I’ve never run into a wrong product purchased on swappa. Bought 3 items over the years.
As mentioned- really check out the charging port on the phone — with a new genuine Apple lightning cable. The port can be a weak link and it’s too expensive to get at to replace (whole freaking phone has to be disassembled).

This is a good one i didn't think of at all. Will definitely give that a very close look. I do have a genuine Apple cable so I'll definitely check for that. Thank you so much.

 

[Pilot Jones]

Check the repair history:

iPhone parts and service history - Apple Support

Genuine Apple parts have been designed, tested, and manufactured for Apple quality and performance standards.

support.apple.com

Also, I believe you can use 3uTools to check the components. It's a desktop app.

Checking the repair history is a great tip, didn't even know I could do that on my own iPhone lol.

3uTools seems like a great tool, wasn't aware of it. Will definitely run some checks on the iPhone once I receive it. Thanks a lot!

 

[Pilot Jones]

Never used Swappa, seems like based on the above comments, people can return it or similar if it arrives and they don’t like it? Interesting…

I've never personally dealt with it, but I've always heard good things about Swappa here on Macrumors and elsewhere. Apparently it's like eBay minus the crappiness. Swappa's standards for even listing a device on their marketplace seems to be a lot more particular, which is good.

There's bad eggs everywhere though, especially with high value items like phones where you can make real profit by selling duds disguised as real products. Hence the caution from my end.