Used (i)Phones

I have long had the fascination for people whom are less... materialistic than me. That being (poorly) said, it's not that I particularly consider myself as materialistic - I have been using a six year-old phone (iPhone 11) that has been crawling for its dear life for the past year. When I needed to get my own laptop recently, I did choose to buy a laptop that has been discontinued and heavily discounted since its release five years ago (MacBook Air M1), rather than something completely brand new. I've also been using the same PC as my daily driver for ~six years and see myself continuing to do so for at least four more.

What I mean though, and perhaps you can tell from my brief example of devices I own, is that while I don't (or no longer) care for the absolute latest and greatest, I do expect and require good quality devices, as tools, that are both sufficiently capable and lasting that would service me for as long as possible - I'm not saying that less materialistic people don't require or expect the same, I just think that I might be a bit more picky when it comes to determining what's considered "good quality" compared to the (fortunate) group of people I'm referring to. Having less requirements, i.e. being less picky, in this regard certainly opens up your choices to a huge world of devices, of varying price range.

An example to better illustrate this is; I have people around me that use the absolute cheapest (Android) phone they could get, be it an affordable, budget Samsung phone or just about any phone they got for either incredibly cheap (i.e. 1 MYR) or absolutely free through promotions or contracts with their Telco or ISP - even when they can clearly afford better. Reason for doing this for each person varies - some do this because their "bar" for a reasonable amount of money to spend on a phone or a tech device is simply low, while there are others that do this because they don't find the need to spend so much on something they'd have to replace again eventually for various reasons. My take though, to anyone who is capable of having this mindset - genuinely, more power to you.

Anyway, besides this fascination, I've always wanted these from or in relation to my devices that I purchase:

• Longevity and sustainability through means of repair and maintenance (i.e. ability to replace parts).
• Give new life to existing devices by buying used or refurbished instead of new.
• Be more economical or modest with my device purchases - rather than buying the latest and greatest at their retail (or close to retail) prices, I find it wiser or more reasonable to buy older models that are possibly no longer in production and have been heavily discounted.

I've always admired brands that offer first-party programmes to sell their devices refurbished, new (i.e. still in production) or old, with complete warranty and accessories that you would normally get had you bought them new - examples of these that I'm aware of are Apple and Valve. Unfortunately, we don't have either of these (two) in Malaysia. That being said, there are third-party shops that sell used or refurbished devices, including CompAsia and Swapper. I'd be happy to support these shops if I know them to be trusted, but I've not really heard of them prior to this to be able to tell. I, however, have just had the experience of buying a used phone from a smaller, individual seller - two in fact!

My partner and I have been eyeing on getting either an iPhone 15, or 15 Pro - both models being a single generation older, approaching two generations now, come September. I know people who do this, especially when it comes to iPhones - it's totally understandable given how Apple products are the perfect candidates to do this for these reasons:

• Their products are often of really good quality - they're sold at a premium after all, and they have the means, capital, and demand to do so.
• The software on these devices are incredibly well known to be supported for a really, really long time.
• Apple is also well known for only introducing minor, incremental changes or improvements to their products, for better or worse - in our case here, that's perfect.
• There's always good demand for Apple products, especially their most popular product - the iPhone. This means they should be easy to find, and easy to sell.

... and as I've mentioned, I would like to be more economical with my device purchases - especially when it comes to smartphones. Smartphones sit in a really unique spot whereby flagship phones often keep increasing in price every so often, meanwhile there's also an endless selection of (Android) phones that remain extremely affordable while being sufficiently capable (with caveats, of course). Hence, I make it a point to NOT overspend on one - seeing how obvious it is that there's no need to do so. As a result, for a while now, I am determined to NOT spend beyond or even (too) close to 4,000 MYR for a phone, ideally go no further than the 3,500 MYR range, and not to use it for any less than five years. These numbers should roughly account to a total cost of ~700 MYR per year of using the phone, for five years - I've seen others recommend for this amount to never exceed 1,000 MYR (as a generous, "best" practice). The lower, I could get the amount I'm spending on the phone, the higher, the number of years I could have the phone remain in service - the better.

Reverting back to our preferred choices for a phone, the choice seemed to initially be limited to only the iPhone 15, as the 15 Pro was no longer being sold by Apple or any of the other Apple Authorised Resellers (AAR) officially since the 16 class iPhones were released. Afterwards, we kept an eye on the iPhone 15 being sold by these stores on Shopee for over a year, and the cheapest we've seen them got (after discounts and Shopee vouchers) were in the 2,400 MYR range. We weren't desperate to replace our iPhone 11 though, despite them increasingly showing their age (even after replacing their battery), so we kept waiting. Eventually, my partner decided to aim for a Pro class iPhone instead, thinking it would likely last them a lot longer... so considering our choices, we thought, meh, maybe we'll wait for the 16 Pro to be heavily discounted once it starts being phased out and replaced by the 17 class iPhones.

At this point, I was (and am still) very adamant on not getting the latest iPhone available (anymore), no matter which phone we end up deciding on. It's a genuine attempt of mine to break this chain of buying the absolute latest (i)Phone of the day, once and for all, after having only done the opposite for the iPhone 3GS (hand–me-down), iPhone 4 (hand–me-down), iPhone 5s, iPhone SE, iPhone 8, and finally, the iPhone 11. This is also true for my partner, who's only ever bought and owned both an iPhone 6s and iPhone 11, the same year they were released.

Just last week though, we saw an ad from an AAR for a clearance sale they were having. Their website for the clearance included a list of products they have in stock - most of which were demo units. Some devices had a lot in stock, some very few. Some were being sold at okay prices, while some for incredibly cheap - examples include the base model of the MacBook Air M1 being sold for 1,999 MYR, and the 2021 iPad Mini for just 600 MYR. The device that caught our eyes were the iPhone 15 Pro 128GB being sold for 2,999 MYR. The following morning, we lined up outside the store by 9AM and waited to be let in come 10AM. As soon as it was our turn to make our purchase though, we were let down by the fact that the phones seemed pretty scuffed (being demo units after all) and they did not have the colours we wanted available (Natural Titanium or Black Titanium). They also do not come with any warranty, though we were already aware of this beforehand. We then left the store empty-handed and had breakfast instead.

On the very same day, we realised two (somewhat) important points:

• We were both open to buying a used, demo phone with no warranty, despite them looking pretty scuffed. It was only the fact that they had them only in Blue Titanium that got us to pass.
• We omitted the iPhone 15 Pro from our choice for a new phone before, because they were no longer available in stores. We realised then that, we could still get them...

... by buying them used or refurbished. I immediately opened up Facebook Marketplace (the only reason I even still have Facebook, a burner account dedicated for it) and started looking for iPhone 15 Pro(s), two of them - one in Black Titanium, and another in Natural Titanium. We also wanted one with 128GB of storage if possible, but no more than 256GB if the deal is right - as we did not want to make it a norm for us to get a phone with so large a storage, to the point that it'd enable us to hoard photos so easily and cause a bigger pain and longer wait to perform local (iTunes) backups of the phone regularly. Very quickly, I found plenty of them, and need only then to assess and identify the good ones from the bad.

From this (rather, quick) process, I've learned plenty of things when it comes to buying a used (i)Phone. Mainly, these are some of the things that would help you determine between the good and the bad (besides the obvious):

• Demand (from the seller) for the phone's Serial Number, Model Number, and IMEI/IMEI2 numbers. All of these can be found from the phone's Settings app under the General > About page, so simply ask them for a screenshot or a video of the entire page.
• Apple has a dedicated site for checking a device's warranty coverage - enter in the Serial Number you've acquired to see if the device is genuinely Apple's, and as an added bonus, if it's under warranty.
• In the Model Number of an iPhone, contains the Region Code of the device. This code may help determine certain differences in hardware, eligibility for certain features, or compatibility with certain networks. Since at least ~2020 (iPhone 12), Malaysians looking to buy a phone that is for sure intended for the Malaysian market should look for an iPhone with the Region Code of MY or ZP.
• Request for the device's original purchase receipt to verify where it was purchased from, for two purposes:
  • The receipt should contain the device's Serial Number and possibly also IMEI - verify that this receipt really does correspond to the device you are considering to buy.
  • Most importantly, ensure that the device was originally purchased either from the Apple Store directly, or any of Apple's trusted AAR to avoid potential issues with the device in the future.
• The latter sub-point of the previous point is the most important here - iPhones purchased through a contract under a Telco is a thing. These phones potentially getting locked in the future by said Telco (and Apple themselves) for various (valid) reasons is also a thing. IF you were not able to verify that the device was not purchased from a Telco through the receipt (or lack thereof), use a third-party service such as this one from Shopee to perform the check for you - they will need the device's Serial Number, IMEI, and IMEI2 numbers for this. That being said, I've heard that it's potentially safe to buy a Telco set (i)Phone if it's more than ~three years old and is still (SIM) unlocked.
• Once you've determined that the phone is safe to purchase based on the earlier preliminary checks, feel free to request for anything based on your own requirements out of the device. For example, these were my own mix of requirements and preferences:
  • I'd like little to none, aesthetic flaws. I take great care of my devices, especially my phone, by always wearing a quality, protective case and have a tempered glass applied to it from day one. I also almost never use any of its physical buttons (and opting to perform corresponding actions digitally instead) to reduce wear and tear. Hence, I'd prefer a device that is as well taken care of as if it had been mine from the beginning.
  • I require absolutely zero defects on the phone's functionality - I'm choosing to buy the phone to use it for everything that it offers, after all.
  • I prefer, though borderline require, the device to not have any of its original parts replaced. If something has been replaced before, they need to be an original (by Apple) part, and that its authenticity is verifiable by me. This is especially true for iPhones, since Apple is well known for artificially limiting or outright blocking third-party parts on their devices.
  • The phone still being under warranty (from Apple) would be an added bonus, though not strictly necessary. Purchasing used devices without warranty will of course pose a risk, but I also never thought the default one-year warranty when buying new was any more sufficient either.
  • I also prefer for the battery health to be as close to perfect as possible. This is not strictly necessary, as replacing the battery is relatively affordable (449 MYR, at the time of writing), but having as good of a battery health as possible allows you to prolong its usage before needing to replace it. A value of 85% or above as its maximum charging capacity would be ideal.

Phew, that's a long list, huh? But I suppose, that's the price you pay to buy your devices, used rather than brand new - though I promise the reward will be incredibly fulfilling if done right! Note, however, that we're not out of the woods yet - as we have not yet actually verified that all of these checks and requirements are met and true, as we're wholly reliant on the fact that the seller is telling the truth up to this point. These checks you have done though, should be enough for you to decide on whether to proceed to the next step - meeting the seller (always do this before buying high-value goods from a stranger!) and performing the very same checks you had done earlier (especially ensuring the device's Serial Number, Model Number, and IMEI/IMEI2 numbers checks out) to verify all of the claims and checks you made earlier were completely valid.

When it comes to testing the device's functionality when you're meeting the seller in-person, these are some of the more common or important things to check:

• Dial *#06# on the phone. This should return several details including the device's IMEI number, of which you could verify (again) that it matches with what's reported in the phone's Settings app. This test also verifies the functionality of a certain something I couldn't quite remember.
• Test all of the camera(s) and camera mode(s) on the phone, including things like zoom, video recording, portrait photos (if applicable), and so on.
• Test the microphone on the phone by recording your own audio using the stock Voice Memos app.
• Test the speakers on the phone. Apple annoyingly does not bother to include even a single (offline) song on their Music app (U2, where you at?), so you will need to test this using any of the bundled ringtones, or even your own video or audio recording.
• Test the buttons on the phone. It is important that all of them work, and they should ideally be tight and in good condition with no signs of them being loose.
• Very important, inspect the display. Ensure that nothing is out of the ordinary in terms of visual quality, brightness, or touch responsiveness, and make sure all of the advertised screen features such as TrueTone work as expected.
• Test the network connectivity on the phone by connecting to WiFi or a personal hotspot. It would be great if you could also test things like mobile data or calls to work, but this might be tough to do without calling emergency services (please don't, probably) or adding a SIM card to it.

After performing all of these rigorous tests, and nothing's failed on you yet - congratulations! Assuming the mutually agreed price also agrees with your budget (make sure to negotiate during initial contact!), you should now be all set to commit to the purchase, complete your transaction, and be the proud owner of said preloved (i)Phone. At this point, I would highly recommend making note of the seller, especially if reselling used phones is actually their gig (i.e. not someone that is selling off their personal phone, one time), for you to potentially revisit or recommend to others in the future - to make your, or your friends' and family's (next) attempt at buying (or selling) used devices easier and safer.

In the end, after going through four potential devices among many, many others I have shortlisted during my search, and having two of them fail during the earlier, preliminary checks (both of which being under Telco) - what my partner and I ended up getting from two different sellers were:

• iPhone 15 Pro 256GB in Black Titanium for 3,300 MYR (Thanks, Nurul/Kimi!)
• iPhone 15 Pro 256GB in Natural Titanium for 3,399 MYR (Thanks, Muiz!)
• Both were originally purchased from an AAR and not tied to any Telco
• Pristine condition with no aesthetic or functional defects whatsoever
• 87% and 100% battery health respectively
• Full device warranty coverage by Apple for the latter device until October 2025

... and now we're left to fight to the death to determine who among us will be getting the clearly superior Natural Titanium iPhone... I kid, it's decidedly my partner's, unfortunately 🥹