Find out the iPhone activation date by name. How to find out the iPhone release date by serial number and other options

Apple smartphones are traditionally famous for their high degree of security. For this reason, criminals are so attracted to “apple” products - the forbidden fruit is sweet. Activating your smartphone becomes an important part of protecting your device. In fact, activation is the first full activation of the phone when the user enters an existing account or creates a new account. From this moment the service life is counted. If a buyer is going to purchase a used smartphone, it is important to figure out how to find out the date iPhone activation– don’t let unscrupulous sellers deceive you.

Official verification method

It is worth giving credit to the smartphone manufacturer for making sure that there is less temptation to steal or fraudulently sell the device. The thing is expensive, people don’t want to pay for a damaged device. This is not a Chinese “miracle of technology” for three thousand rubles - iPhones are bought by people who care about quality. If the seller says that they have never used the phone, but activated the device a year ago, then it is better to turn around and leave - they are blatantly lying to the buyer. To avoid such situations, Apple has provided a reliable option to quickly check iPhone activation.

Checking iPhone activation is easiest and fastest on the manufacturer's official website. There is even a separate menu item for such cases. To find out the date of first activation of the device. Follow the link to the official Apple website https://checkcoverage.apple.com/ru/ru/. A menu will open to check your eligibility for service and support - unfortunately, the warranty also expires over time. To start checking, be sure to indicate the serial number in the field provided, which can be found in several ways:

• on the back cover of the smartphone;
• in iTunes, if connected to a computer;
• in the phone settings (“Settings” > “General” > “About device”);
• the serial number is also indicated on the box in which the smartphone was supplied;
• information is printed on the receipt or invoice.

Then you will have to enter a verification code - if the user does not see what is written there or cannot recognize it, then the code can be updated. For the visually impaired, there is also a “Listen to the code” function. You just have to wait a little while a window with the test results appears. Please note the “Estimated expiration date” section. For example, if the date in this paragraph is 09/30/2018, then feel free to add one day and subtract the year - this is how the date is determined. In this case, the iPhone was activated on October 1, 2017. If the seller claims that he activated the device much later, it is better to politely say goodbye and look for another smartphone to buy.

If you receive an error message instead of a response, immediately contact Apple technical support. The Chinese have learned to make such high-quality copies that they are indistinguishable from the original. When buying smartphones secondhand, there is a high probability of running into such a skillful fake, and technical support staff will help you determine whether the user’s device is genuine.

Third Party Resources

Users claim that third party sites provide more information about device activation. Moreover, instead of the serial number, the activation date of the iPhone is determined by IMEI. These are different identification codes - smartphones with SIM cards are not produced without IMEI, but Apple sets serial numbers solely for its own convenience; both numbers are specially made unique for other devices. It is not possible to check the iPhone activation date by IMEI on the company’s official website, which is why “checkers” appeared - sites that check the activation of the device using various unique identifiers, at the user’s choice.

There is a lot of information on such sites on how to find out when an iPhone is activated - in addition to the activation date, the date of purchase, main technical characteristics, information about the right to provide warranty repairs, and technical support. It is worth remembering that most of these resources are not even remotely related to the official Apple website, so no one will be responsible for the truthfulness and legality of the information provided. Using such services is easy:

• go to the website;
• in the windows, indicate identification information (IMEI) or serial number;
• wait until the operation is processed.

Along with the start date of the warranty period, the user will also have access to another helpful information, including whether the Find My iPhone feature is activated. Both methods are equally good, but users themselves advise not to stop at one, but to check the device with all accessible ways, extra caution never hurt anyone.

Greetings to one and all! The first thing you need to pay attention to is that this article will not talk about official date release of any iPhone model (you can talk about this) in general, and about each specific device in particular. After all, as you understand, devices are released almost every day and for each iPhone the date it leaves the factory will be individual.

Second important note- we will figure out how to determine not only what year the iPhone you have in your hands is, but even its release week. Well, the third thing is that there will only be several ways to find out the age of the device and by combining them, you can achieve 100% reliability of the result obtained. Let's not put things off and drag animals to different places... let's start quickly and decisively!

However, a short introduction is still necessary. Why do you need to find out all this - how old is he, dates, some numbers? Use it and that's it! However, not everything is so simple and here are a few situations when this is necessary:

• So that when buying an iPhone or iPad “from your hands.”
• When buying a new device (not all stores are equally honest and I can sell a used one under the guise of a new one).
• Just out of curiosity.

By the way, for all checks we will use the serial number (IMEI) of the iPhone (). Which is quite convenient, because you don’t even need access to the device - when buying a used one, you can ask for it in advance, and if the gadget is still in the box, then you can do without opening it. Well, now to the main thing...

Find out what year the iPhone was produced by decoding IMEI

The serial number can tell a lot of information about the device - factory, model, etc. But we are interested in the exact release date. And here it is necessary to find out what exactly model of the gadget it is; the type of serial number and its decoding will depend on this.

If the iPhone was released before 2010 (usually iPhone 4 and younger)

For these devices, the serial number consists of 11 numbers and letters. We will only be interested in the third, fourth and fifth characters. Everything is quite simple here:

• The number that comes third in the serial number indicates the last digit of the year in which this device was manufactured.
• The fourth and fifth digits are the serial number of the week this year.

To make it more clear, example: MN81412ABC1. In this case, the third digit is 8, the fourth and fifth are 14. From this we conclude that this iPhone was released at the factory in 2008 in week 14 (March 31 - April 6)

After 2010 (iPhone 4S and older)

But here, everything is far from being as simple as in the previous example. Starting in 2010, Apple began releasing devices with serial numbers that were 12 characters long. And everything would be fine, but besides this, she also encrypted the release date in it, using various numbers and letters.

So, in a 12-character serial number, we are only interested in the fourth and fifth characters from the beginning:

• The 4th character means the year and half-year in which the device was released.
• The 5th character means the week of release in this very half of the year.

True, the whole “ambush” is that there are already not only numbers, but also letters. Therefore, here are the symbol and date correspondence tables for decoding.

In the first, we look at the letter that is indicated 4th from the beginning in the serial number and find out the year, as well as the six months in which your iPhone was manufactured.

Let's look at this case with an example. Here is the serial number - NPL JN DP7FDG5. The fourth letter is J, which according to our table means the 2nd half of 2012. The 5th character is the letter N, we look at the second table and see that the letter N for the 2nd half of the year corresponds to the 45th week of release. It turns out - year 2012, week 45. It's simple!

However, if you don't trust various tables, there are several more options to determine the age of the iPhone.

How to find out how old your iPhone is through special services

Fortunately, you don't always need to look at the serial number and use it to calculate how old your iPhone is. There are various services that will do all this work for you. Here are the most famous of them.

1. You can find out the manufacturing date of your iPhone by going to this page and entering the serial number there. Perhaps this is the oldest and most famous verification service. Despite the fact that everything is foreign language, you don’t really need to understand - you indicate the IMEI in special form and get the result.
2. The second option would be to download a special program - Coconutid. Unfortunately, there is a version only for MAC OS, and this is a minus. However, it allows you to find out the date of birth not only of iOS devices, but also of MAC. Which is definitely a plus.

As you can see, you can find out the iPhone release date in different ways - either “stretch” your brains and calculate it yourself, or trust services and programs specially designed for this.

When purchasing a previously used iPhone, you need to know how to check it by IMEI. This is a special device identification number confirming its authenticity and originality. After checking, you can find out a lot of information about the phone, for example: the date of its purchase and activation, whether it is refurbished, its OS version and much more. How to do it? The following describes several basic and proven methods.

There are 4 main ways to do this. Let's take a closer look at them.

1. For the first option, you need to enter *#06# in the dialing line. The phone will automatically perform the combination and the IMEI code will be displayed in the window that appears.

1. Go to the settings menu and open “General” - “About this device”. An information panel will open where the IMEI code, model and other individual data will be entered.

1. On back side factory box. In addition to the IMEI code, on the back there is the device serial number and brief information about him.

1. Take a look at the back cover of the phone.

IMEI information is required to check iPhone Activation Lock. If it is activated, the new owner will not be able to enter his data and fully use the device. By checking, you can make sure that the iPhone is really new and has not been used before. If the phone is purchased secondhand, then you will know exactly the date of its initial activation.

Compare the code on the box and the phone

First of all, after you get the iPhone into your hands, you need to compare the information indicated on the box and in the device settings. If all numbers, including IMEI, serial number and model, match, then you can proceed to the next stage of verification. If differences are noticed, this indicates that the box is not original and was taken from another device.

Attention! Do not purchase an iPhone if the IMEI code on the box does not match what is specified in the device settings.

In this case, it is worth thinking about the origin of the device and the reasons why they are trying to slip you a completely different box. There can be a variety of options here, for example, the real owner had his iPhone stolen or he lost it, and a stranger is trying to sell the found or stolen item. In this case real owner contact the police and the device will be wanted. This situation can bring you a lot of trouble, so avoid such dubious transactions.

Check through the official Apple website

There are many different services for checking IMEI, but first of all you should contact the official website. There you are guaranteed to receive reliable and free information. This instruction will not be difficult if you follow the step-by-step guide:

1. Find out the IMEI code of the device. How to do this is described above.
2. We open the corresponding section on the Apple website for checking - https://checkcoverage.apple.com/ru/ru/. In the space provided, enter the IMEI that you found out earlier, and a special code for checking for spam. Click “Continue”.

1. We study the received data. Under the picture of the iPhone its model and IMEI number are displayed.

Under the first paragraph there is information about the actual date of purchase.

Attention! It is important that the first paragraph has a green checkmark. If this parameter is not present, then your device is not original and has nothing to do with Apple.

The following shows a notification about the technical support period for the device. If to the left of the inscription is orange Exclamation point, then the phone’s warranty period has expired and the device is not subject to factory service and telephone support. The third paragraph stipulates the possibility of repairing the phone at official service centers.

Thus, you have received reliable information from the official Apple website about the originality of the device, as well as its timing Maintenance and support. You can also make sure that the case has not been changed, since the color on the website and “in real life” will be different.

Using this instruction, absolutely all Apple devices are checked, including iPad, iMac, MacBook, iPod, etc.

Enter the code on the International Mobile Equipment Identity website

This resource is no less popular than the official Apple website and provides the same reliable information, but in greater detail. Let's look at the step-by-step instructions.

1. Enter the website http://www.imei.info/ in the browser line.

1. On the main page, in the appropriate column, enter the IMEI code. Below we go through a quick check by clicking on the “I am not a Robot” checkbox. Click the “Check” button to the right of the entered code.

1. After this, detailed information about the device will be displayed on the monitor screen. You can find out the phone model, year of manufacture and other technical parameters. If this information does not seem enough, click on the “Read More” button to get more data.

Both of the above methods are reliable.

Attention! To obtain a complete package of information about the device, we recommend using several IMEI checking services.

Let's look at a few more popular methods iPhone checks by IMEI code. All described web resources may differ in the amount and volume of information provided.

International mobile phone verification service SNDeepInfo

To obtain more detailed information about the device, there is another popular service - SNDeepinfo. If when you enter the serial number, no result is displayed, you should think about the originality of the gadget and postpone its purchase. Let's look at the step-by-step instructions:

1. Go to the official website of the SNDeepinfo service.

1. Make sure that the “Apple” column is highlighted in the panel above the IMEI code entry line. Next, enter the gadget’s personal code in the appropriate line and put a tick in front of the inscription “I am not a robot.” This standard check to spam. Click the “Continue” button.

1. At the beginning of the page there will be a picture in the style of a warranty sticker. It contains the phone model, its IMEI, as well as information about whether it is stolen.

Free of charge, this service provides information about technical specifications device, IMEI code decoding, color and originally intended region of sale.

To find out which countries the iPhone is adapted for, you need to enter the letters of the phone model on the same website, as shown in the screenshot below.

In order to find out your phone model, you need to go to “Settings” - “General” - “About this device”. In the menu that appears there will be a corresponding line “Model”. On the site you only need to enter the penultimate two letters (circled in the screenshot below).

We enter the data and get the following result:

For an additional fee, you can find out additional information about your iPhone on the same service:

• country of purchase;
• name of the organization that completed the sale;
• the estimated and recorded date of purchase of the device;
• information about the status of the “Find my iPhone” function;
• iCloud information.

Checking the authenticity of the back cover of a smartphone

The authenticity of an Apple gadget can be determined by the first external signs. Immediately pay attention to the back cover of the device. In all models starting from iPhone 5, the IMEI code is written on the cover. In older versions, the serial number information is printed on the SIM card slot.

There are 3 more main factors based on which we can draw conclusions about the originality of the iPhone. You just need to look at the back cover.

1. There should not be any crooked or blurry inscriptions, hieroglyphs, typos, etc. All letters are made very carefully and accurately. If you see that the words on the back cover are uneven or sloppy, then you are most likely holding a replica.
2. Mandatory inscription on the surface of the cover: iPhone, Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China. Next comes the phone model and certification mark.
3. The cover cannot be removed simply by hand. On the original device, it will in any case be secured with bolts or will not be removable at all.

Attention! Even if the iPhone seems original by all external features, do not forget to check its IMEI code on the appropriate sites.

Summarizing

When buying an iPhone secondhand, be careful and carefully check the phone for all the signs described above. It is better to spend a little more time on the verification procedure, but you will be sure that you bought a high-quality and original product.

• Apple official website;
• IMEI website;
• Service SNDeepinfo;
• External inspection of the back cover.

The above describes several ways to check an iPhone for originality. Choose the one that is most convenient for you. There is another very simple one and quick way verify the authenticity of the phone. To do this, just go to App Store. The problem is that no matter how good the replica is, it will still end up in the Google Play store.

Video instruction

This video describes some ways to help you get detailed information about the originality and condition of your Apple device.

There is nothing worse than when companies abandon tools or services that have been extremely useful to users around the world. It's even worse when this happens without an official explanation or offer of an alternative solution.

This is exactly the situation iPhone and iPad owners found themselves in when they checked the status of iCloud Activation Lock at the beginning of the year. However, there is a workaround to check iPhone and iPad activation lock.

Step 1: Go to the technical support site getsupport.apple.com and select the iPhone option.

Step 2: After this, many options will appear, from them you need to choose the one that is related to the hardware aspect of the device. This could be “Repairs and Physical Damage” or “Battery, Energy and Charging”.

Step 4: Here again, several options will be provided from which you need to select “Send for Repair”. After this, a field will appear to enter the serial number, IMEI or MEID. In this case, you must enter the IMEI.

Note: If this item does not appear, go back a few steps and try selecting another option. If the option is still not available, access the site through any American proxy server.

Step 5: Enter the IMEI code. The service will display the activation lock status of your device corresponding to the entered number.

It's worth noting that this trick doesn't always work. In some cases, the user is prompted to provide data account Apple ID to check device activation lock. For those planning to buy a used device, this is simply not possible.

Buy a used device - this is good way save money, since many people sell their phones and tablets almost immediately after purchase, but you still have to reduce the price, and at current prices for equipment from Apple, this will be a decent discount. But when buying a used device, there is one big risk - paying for a broken or non-original iPhone or tablet. To avoid falling for scammers, you need to check the device before purchasing and follow several rules, which will be discussed in the next part of the article.

How to check an iPhone when buying second-hand

If you nevertheless decide to purchase an iPhone, iPad or iPad touch from your own hands, and not from an official store, then the first thing you should pay attention to is the seller himself. This is a weak indicator, but before you buy something from a person, see if he inspires trust. If this is a supplier that is engaged in mass resale of used devices, then read reviews about it, contact its former clients: ask them if they were satisfied with their purchase, if the device broke some time after activation. But remember that many scammers fake reviews, which means not everything said about a seller on the Internet may be true.

If the issue is resolved with the seller, then the next thing worth checking is the device itself.

Appearance

Before buying, go to the official store and hold the desired device in your hands, study the tactile sensations of the material from which it is made. find out approximate prices, at which you can buy the original device, if its used version differs in price too much, then it’s worth considering.

Items required to test the device

So, if you are making a deal, then in order to be completely confident in the functionality of the device, you need to have the following things with you:

• Working headphones, you will need them in order to check whether they work with the device you are purchasing. Do not hesitate to ask the seller to give you the device for testing, this mandatory stage. You can't buy a device without checking to see if it runs the programs you care about and activates certain features.
• A laptop on which iTunes will be installed, which will allow you to check many of the characteristics of the device. How to do this will be discussed below in the same article.
• An external battery that can be used to check whether the device is charging or not.
• A phone that has a stable Mobile Internet.
• SIM card - this is useful for checking cellular and Internet connections.
• A paper clip or a special key that comes with Apple devices. These items will be needed to remove the SIM card tray from the device body.

Having the above things, you can easily check the operation of all functions and applications of the purchased device. What parameters you will need to pay closer attention to will be described further.

How to distinguish the device model

If this is not your first time encountering Apple devices, you can skip this point. But if this is your first time buying equipment from Apple, then this information will be very useful for you. It's easy to distinguish an iPhone 5 from an iPhone 6, but it's a little more difficult to distinguish an iPhone 4 from an iPhone 4S.

The two models are distinguished by their model number, which can be found on the back cover when turning the device face down.

Also distinctive feature one model from another is appearance rear camera and home button. The iPhone 5 has a narrower camera, while the iPhone 5S has a square on the Home button, which indicates the presence of the Touch ID function.

iPhone 6 and 6S

It is easier to distinguish these two models - just wrap the front side of the device with the screen down, and on the back check for a diamond-shaped icon with the English letter S.

Here the situation is similar to the iPhone 5, since you can check the device model using the code on the back of the case:

The device model can also be determined by the location of the antennas.

You can read more about all device models on the official Apple website by clicking on the following link - https://support.apple.com/ru-ru/HT201296.

Checking the water sensor

Before purchasing a device, you need to make sure that it has not been recessed. Water penetration into iPhone, iPad or iPod touch can lead to both instant failure and corrosion of the metal, which will lead to failure after a few weeks or months. Another important factor is the fact that a device exposed to water will automatically void the warranty.

Apple devices have a special external sensor - Liquid Contact Indicators, a humidity indicator. If water has ever gotten inside the device, this sensor changes color from gray or white to bright red. More details about where this indicator is located on different phone models are outlined in the table:

Equipment

Now let's look at what should be in the box, besides the phone itself:

All other accessories must be purchased separately. If one of the components of the package is not in the box upon sale, then this must be separately agreed with the seller and will affect the price of the product.

Authentication

The next step is to verify the authenticity of the device using the serial number and unique IMEI code. This data can be found on the back of the box, on a special sticker. But this data should not be trusted, since the box may be from another device or the sticker may be fake.

There are more the right way find out this information through the settings of your phone or tablet, no one can falsify them there.

1. We take the device in our hands and open the “Settings” application.
2. Let's move on to the "Basic" section.
3. Go to the “About this device” subsection.
4. Here you can find two lines: serial number and IMEI. You can check these numbers with those indicated on the box presented by the seller. If they do not match, it means that the device does not belong to the box, and this is a reason to think about the seller’s honesty.

Another way to find out the codes we need is to pull out the tray where the SIM card is located and read the serial number and IMEI indicated on it. You can remove the tray using a paper clip. This method has one drawback - not all device models have codes indicated on the tray.

The last way to find out the IMEI is to turn the back of the device and look at the small letters and numbers at the bottom of the cover, among which our treasured number is located.

As soon as you are done finding out the numbers and codes, you should go to one of the sites suggested below and enter the necessary data there. The site will show you detailed information about the device: color, release date, contents and filling, model number. Compare all the data with what you see on the device itself and with what the seller himself told you. If everything matches, then you can understand further. List of sites that provide similar services for providing information about Apple devices:

Checking for recoveries

Checking for blocking

There are three types of Apple mobile devices:

• Lock - phones that only work with one pre-defined carrier. That is, if you purchase such a device, you will be able to use the services of only one company that provides cellular communication and mobile Internet, and no other.
• Neverlock is a device without any restrictions in the field of operator choice.
• Softunlock is a device that previously belonged to the Lock group, but then was “unlocked” programmatically, that is, it now has all the parameters characteristic of Neverlock.

Of course, Lock devices are a little cheaper than Neverlock, but this saving will not lead to anything good, and there will be quite a lot of problems with a predefined operator, without the right to change it.

How to identify an unlocked device?

There are a few characteristic features, helping to identify a device that was unlocked programmatically:

Functional and physical testing

Now there is the last, but practically the most important stage - checking the standard capabilities of the device and its appearance.

Frame

Check if there are any noticeable dents, cracks, or broken pieces on the case. All of these parameters can tell you how often the device has been dropped and subjected to other physical impacts. Particularly dangerous are damage to the antenna area, which can lead to communication interference.

Screws

There should be two unscrewed screws near the USB cable input. If they are missing, then we can safely say that the device was disassembled manually and, accordingly, the warranty does not apply to it.

Buttons

Check how well all the buttons perform their functions, since replacing buttons in the service can require a lot of money.

Camera

Check the front and rear cameras for external damage. Try to photograph something with both cameras. If you notice inaccurate colors, the camera sensor may be damaged.

Screen

Open various applications, restart your device, check for dead pixels (black dots). If when you press the screen there is a crunch, or you feel unevenness or emptiness, then the screen is not original, it has been replaced. Pay attention to the uniformity of brightness and color reproduction.

Screen sensor

Move icons around your device menu, making sure they move smoothly. Try using the device in horizontal and vertical positions. If possible, quickly type the message on the keyboard, and all the letters you press should appear on the screen. If this does not happen, then the device has obvious problems with the sensor.

Battery

Start shooting a video and check how much the device shrinks in 2-3 minutes. A range of 1–5% is acceptable, all other parameters mean there is a problem, and no one wants to change the battery immediately after purchase.

cellular

Speaker

Everything is simple here - turn on any melody and check how well the device reproduces it. There should be no interference, no jumping, no rustling. You can also check the speaker during a telephone conversation.

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

Check if these two functions work. Remember that Bluetooth only works with other Apple devices; it will not transfer files with Android. TO Wi-Fi networks the device should connect quickly and be able to download files through it.

Charger

For this item, you took a third-party battery with you. Connect it to your device and check if it charges.

Connecting to iTunes

If you happen to take your laptop with you, try syncing your device with iTunes. This will confirm its authenticity. You should not buy a phone or tablet that is not recognized in iTunes.

Sign out of your Apple ID account

The last thing you should do before paying money for a device is to completely sign out of the old Apple ID account that belongs to the previous owner. Otherwise, he can declare the device missing at any time and block it remotely, without asking your consent at all.

1. Open the Settings application.
2. Go to the iCloud section.
3. Turn off Find My iPhone.
4. Let the previous owner enter the password for his account, this is necessary to disable the function.

   So, before you give money, thoroughly check the device using the instructions described above. Be very careful, give money only for what you personally held in your hands and tested. Demand a complete set or an explanation of why this or that item is missing. The main thing is to remember to log out of the previous owner’s account, since most scammers make money from this oversight of buyers.