Apple Refurbished... What's The Catch?

Repair Tools ( Regularly Updated - With Soldering Tools ) :
- In this video we finally take a look at the inside of and Apple Refurbished iPhone. The phone we purchased was the iPhone 12 Pro 512GB because that is the only Apple Refurbished iPhone available in Canada right now but looking at the American website there was a lot more options and deals on refurb iPhone and other Apple products too!

We took a look at the unboxing experience for an Apple Certified Pre-Owned product, show you how to test a used / refurbished phone properly and also did a full teardown investigating the refurb job done by Apple. What we found inside is worth taking a look at and at the end I give my opinion on Apple Refurbished as well as how it compares to some of the other refurbished iPhones I've made videos about before!

Don't forget to check out my other videos on refurbished phones. I've looked at phones refurbished by Amazon, Wish, Best Buy and even GAMESTOP. Each have their pros and cons and results may vary but refurbished is a great way to save some money and keep phones out of landfills.

Join this channel to get access to perks:

Thank you for watching!

Social:

My Repair Tools:

Filming Gear:

Guru Approved:

Phone Repair Guru assumes no liability for any damage caused to your phone as a result of any of the information contained in this video.

Do not attempt unless you are open to the possibility of further damaging your device.

Chapters:
0:00 Why Buy Apple Refurbished?
0:49 Unboxing Experience
2:21 How Thorough are They?
3:00 What do Refurbished iPhones Come With?
3:35 How to Test an iPhone
4:53 Opening the iPhone 12 Pro Max
5:28 Looking Inside the Refurbished iPhone
6:10 iPhone 12 Pro Teardown
7:00 What did They Fix?
7:11 Should You Buy Apple Refubished?

[PhoneRepairGuru]

Wanna know what other refurbished phones look like?

[SentinelAdam]

Former Apple employee here, I can say with confidence that 80% of refurbed iPhones are essentially brand new phones that were returned. Apple still replaces the outer shell and battery regardless.

[JuanAlvarez-ufnp]

Fun fact I’ve worked at Apple and those phones are the ones that we replace when you ask for a warranty. They are brand new, buy refurbished

[LordOfRebls]

It’s funny, when I got my 14 pro max, I traded in a gold iPhone 12 Pro 512gb. The odds are astronomical, but still, it’s humorous to imagine that used to be my old phone

[RobMemphisOC]

When the new MBP was released I was told by the Apple employee to order a refurbished. Any recalled issues would have already been handled and for less of a price.

[ilyasg]

About the IMEI, apple actually completely rewrites it. The boards get a new IMEI, as the previous one could be tied to a carrier/someone's account

[dizzydell]

One big thing he didn’t mention is refurbished devices typically have limited warranty which means you can add apple care

[Ucfahmad]

My only problem with Apple refurb is it’s always priced so close to new to make people think “f*ck it might as well buy new for a couple bucks more”. Also they never EVER refurb current or even last gen iPhones.

[mediamech]

I would sure as heck buy an older iPhone 12 Pro than an iPhone 14 today.

[goJesusandStarcraft]

I got an M1 iPad Pro from apple refurbished. Saved about $200 compared to new and the unit was absolutely spotless. As far as deals go, sometimes amazon or best buy are better, but as far as quality goes, I can wholeheartedly recommend apple refurbished.

[dakotaaesoph]

I used to work for a Foxconn affiliate and they basically used all new parts for everything, but the motherboard. There are a few different device assembly and disassembly lines that take the phone all the way apart, do extensive testing of the motherboards by plugging them into devices that check that everything is still working, the motherboard gets flashed with new information, like the IMEI and all of the parts are serialized to the device and assembled. They use all of the same equipment that the normal assembly uses.

They may refurbish some of the other parts, but at the end of the day, these are basically new phones.

[noomkahn]

You've inspired me to learn phone repair! Thank you for being such an inspiration.😊😊

[MattRobloxYT]

Wow, i wonder if there will be any screws missing.

[austrianexplorer]

I think that Apple Refurbished is good, but still, they should try with some older phones. The 12 will stop being sold refurbished after the 15 is out. If I could have bought a refurbished iPhone 5 I really would have.

[ADCowie]

I bought all of my Apple devices on their refurbished store, that's an iPhone, iPad and MacBook Pro. They are typically about 15% off but here in the UK Apple just cleared out a load of old iPhone 11s for £379 which is nearly half the original list price so if you don't mind buying something that is just a couple of generations old you can get some great deals.

[mediotakutomasperez]

When I decided to buy an iPhone 13 Mini, I first did it through the Apple refurb page. At first the only odd thing I noticed was that the gap between the screen and the top bezel was a little wider than usual, allowing dust to enter, but nothing I couldn't remove manually with the help of something thin. The real problem came about a week later, when all mobile data functionality stopped working regardless of which SIM I was using. I took it to an Apple Store and they confirmed that the antenna was malfunctioning. The funny thing is that they couldn't exchange it for me there, because refurbs are web-only and therefore returns can only be made from there. Anyway, I returned it without any problems and simply bought a new one on Amazon. The new one has a perfectly sealed screen, so yes, that wasn't normal either. I suspect the antenna was the component that was originally malfunctioning on the original refurbished phone, and the technician just failed to repair it properly. I know my case could just be bad luck, but I just wanted to put my two cents in here for everyone. On another note, the 13 Mini is my favourite phone and I couldn't be happier with its form factor!

[DerangedScout]

I'm surprised it didn't come out the box charged at around 50%
God knows how long this phone was sitting dead at 0%, not good for batteries in the long-term.

[Supertobias]

My brother bought a iPad Pro refurbished by apple and everything is just like it's new. For the price this is really good.

[FloresdorfGaming]

0:54 I think the editor forgot to remove that part lol

[pranavsomayajula]

My dad got an Apple Refurbished M1 MBP 2 years ago for almost 250 dollars cheaper than the actual price. It seems like a much better deal than brand new especially since it looks, feels and functions practically like a brand new laptop. I would never have thought to even go for refurbished from any other company, but since apple is so extensive in its testing, it doesn't feel any less than buying a new one.