Checking SN and it says “Activate your device”

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Level 1

5 points

Checking SN and it says “Activate your device”

Kindly assist,

An individual wants to sell me a phone. When I check the SN, it says “…unable to display coverage because your device has not been registered…”

Does the phone need to be switched on for this information to show a sell date and warranty coverage?

Will switching on and transferring data from my current phone, ‘activate’ the proposed phone?

i checked the IMEI number on the box and it says it is unblocked. Which is good I guess.

I must say I did think about what if it was a stolen item before it got to the valid reseller store? How can I check that it wasn’t?

How could this transaction affect me if I do buy the item?

iPhone 14 Pro Max

Posted on Mar 13, 2023 9:09 PM

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Answer 1

SnickZ.

Community Specialist

Mar 15, 2023 10:55 AM in response to Kiara123G

Hi Kiara123G,

Thanks for the post. We're happy to assist as much as possible.

Where did you check the information you mentioned? Apple provides a website that you can use to verify if a device has warranty or AppleCare+ coverage here, and you would want to use that rather than any third-party sites. Whether the device is turned on or not won't affect the information you see here: Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

Also, if an iPhone has been erased and prepared correctly for selling, it should start up at the Hello screen. If it doesn’t, we recommend following the steps in this section of this article: Activation Lock for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Regarding any concerns about the legitimacy of the iPhone, you'd need to work directly with the seller.

We hope this helps. Have a good one.

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