How to find out the exact date of iphone activation. How to Check iPhone Activation Lock Status
Greetings to everyone and everything! The first thing you need to pay attention to is that this article will not talk about the official release date of any iPhone model (you can talk about this) in general, but about each specific device in particular. After all, as you understand, the release of devices takes place almost every day, and for each of the iPhones, the date of its release from the factory will be individual.
The second important note - we will figure out how to determine not only what year the iPhone that you have in your hands, but even its release week. Well, the third 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. Let's not procrastinate and drag the animals to different places... let's start quickly and decisively!
However, a little preface is still needed. Why do you need to find out all this - how old is he, dates, some numbers? Use it all! However, not everything is so simple and here are a few situations when it is necessary:
- So that when buying an iPhone or iPad "with 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 kind of gadget model 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 indicates the last digit of the year in which this device was manufactured.
- The fourth and fifth digits are the ordinal number of the week in that year.
To make it clearer, an 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 on 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 that same semester.
True, the whole “ambush” is that not only numbers, but also letters are already present here. Therefore, here are the tables of correspondence of characters and dates for decryption.
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 - the year 2012, week 45. It's simple!
However, if you do not trust the 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, it is not always necessary to look at the serial number and calculate how old your iPhone is with it. There are various services that will do all this work for you. Here are the most famous of them.
- You can find out the date of manufacture of the iPhone by going to this page and entering the serial number there. Perhaps this is the oldest and most famous service for verification. Despite the fact that everything is in a foreign language, you don’t really need to understand it - specify IMEI in a special form and get the result.
- 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 of not only iOS devices, but 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.
Due to the rather high cost of the iPhone, and most importantly, due to the huge number of fakes, be sure to carefully check the data about the device before buying. Especially before purchasing it from your hands, it will be useful to find out the date and place of release of this iPhone. This alone will help to verify its originality. Because there were cases when an old restored phone was inserted into the case of a new model, and outwardly it looked quite decent. And the factory serial number and other codes are registered in the device's memory, and they cannot be changed.
In light of the fact that with the release of the new iPhone 6S, many owners will sell their used “sixes” in order to buy a more advanced new product, this guide will surely come in handy.
Looking for a serial number
In this case, the analysis of the serial number of the device will be very informative, which will help at the initial stage to immediately dismiss dubious gadgets. It can be found on the original packaging of any iPhone, on the back - on a sticker with the main characteristics and barcodes. Therefore, the presence of a branded box is especially important when buying used iPhones. We are interested in the second row of numbers marked - Serial No. It contains encrypted data about the place of production (which plant), the release date (six months and a week), information about the series and technical parameters, and a personal code for this device.
However, there are cases when cunning businessmen pack a fake or problematic iPhone (blocked, broken, restored, stolen, locked, etc.) into the original box. So be sure to check the data on the package, and pre-installed in the phone itself. True, they can only be recognized by turning on the smartphone, if it is new and not configured, ask the seller to help activate it.
After that go to settings. Select the section - General, and in it - the item "About the device". If the data matches exactly, great!
It is also important to know the date of release and activation of the iPhone in order to correctly calculate the validity of the official warranty. Especially if the previous owner activated it immediately, and the required year has already passed. You can check the remaining period of manufacturer support in a special section on the Apple website.
Information about the serial number can also be taken from the receipt for the purchase of the iPhone. Authorized points prescribe these data so that the user has a confirmation of the start of the warranty period countdown.
Another way to find the manufacturer's information about an iPhone is to connect it to a computer that has the proprietary iTunes application installed (always download its latest version to avoid update conflicts and errors).
After connecting, find your device in the program menu, select it. Click on the first tab in the settings list - Overview. Information about the capacity, cell and serial number will be displayed.
In older iPhone models, the serial number was imprinted on the SIM card slot. Starting with "fives", only IMEI (MEID) is indicated on the back of the case.
Determine production time
So, we found the serial number. What will he tell us? Until 2012, the old encoding was used - for eleven characters. In it - the third, in a row from the left, the symbol showed the last digit of the year, and the 4th and 5th - the corresponding week - in the interval from the first to the fifty-third.
Modern iPhone models have a twelve-digit code consisting of a combination of letters and numbers. When checking, note that Apple never uses the letter O in serial numbers, it will most likely be the number zero. Otherwise, the search will give an error, although the smartphone is actually all right.
For example, let's see what this serial number of this iPhone tells us.
In the "About Device" menu of the smartphone settings, we find the desired code: F17NGDERG5MG. We are interested in two letters in the middle: the fourth and fifth - F17 NG DERG5MG.
We will use the special plates below to find out the date of production. We look in the first table the letter N - this is the cipher of the year of issue. It means that the device was manufactured in 2014, in the second half of the year.
- Spell definition table (4th character in serial number)
iPhone production years:
| Year | First half | Second semester |
| 2010 | FROM | D |
| 2011 | F | G |
| 2012 | H | J |
| 2013 | K | L |
| 2014 | M | N |
| 2015 | P | Q |
| 2016 | R | S |
| 2017 | T | V |
| 2018 | W | X |
| 2019 | Y | Z |
Now we specify the week of production by punching the letter G in another table (we select the column for the second half of the year, based on the results of the analysis of the previous code). It turns out that our iPhone was released at 39 weeks.
- Letter definition table (5th character in the serial number)
iPhone production weeks:
| Symbol | Production week number | Symbol | Production week number | ||
| 1st half (January-June) | 2 semester (July-December) | 1st half (January-June) | 2 semester (July-December) | ||
| 1 | 1 | 27 | J | 15 | 41 |
| 2 | 2 | 28 | K | 16 | 42 |
| 3 | 3 | 29 | L | 17 | 43 |
| 4 | 4 | 30 | M | 18 | 44 |
| 5 | 5 | 31 | N | 19 | 45 |
| 6 | 6 | 32 | P | 20 | 46 |
| 7 | 7 | 33 | Q | 21 | 47 |
| 8 | 8 | 34 | R | 22 | 48 |
| 9 | 9 | 35 | T | 23 | 49 |
| FROM | 10 | 36 | V | 24 | 50 |
| D | 11 | 37 | W | 25 | 51 |
| F | 12 | 38 | X | 26 | 52 |
| G | 13 | 39 | Y | 53 | |
| H | 14 | 40 | |||
In addition, almost all of the listed information about the device, without unnecessary "troubles", can be found using the following service.
The given result completely coincides with ours. This iPhone was released in 2014, at week 39, by the Chinese manufacturer Foxconn, which officially manufactures most of Apple's equipment. You can safely take such a device.
Often, having acquired an iPhone, be it a smartphone or a gadget, the new owner tries to turn it on. But it was not there! For some reason, the device does not want to turn on. Do not worry: this means that it needs activation, without which its full work is impossible. But there is also a reverse situation, when the activation period has already expired. Therefore, when buying used tablets and smartphones, be sure to pay attention to this nuance. Let's look at this question in more detail - how to check the activation date of the iPhone?
Not only the life of the device depends on the activation date, but also the date of its warranty service. The process of checking the activation date does not have any tricky-complicated steps. If desired, each person can find out the activation date of their iPhone.
But before that, you should find out its unique number - IMEI, which can be determined in one of the following ways:
- Remove the SIM card from the device (for iPhone 3G - 4S models) - IMEI data is located on the tray.
- IMEI can be seen on the back cover (for iPhone 5 - 5S, iPhone 6 - 6 Plus). The second line is the IMEI.
- Remove the SIM card from the device (for iPhone 6S - 6S Plus, iPhone 7 - 7 Plus models) - IMEI data is on the tray.
- With the help of a special program iTunes. If the device is in working condition, then we connect it to the program, go to the main page of the application and open the line under the information about the device.
- If the device is working, then IMEI can be found by dialing *#06#. The resulting set of 15 digits is what we needed.
- Open the "Settings" tab, and from it go to the "General" section. We find the section "About the device", in which the IMEI is stored.
How to find out the activation date of iPhone
The iPhone activation date is determined through the Apple website. Just go to the company's website and enter IMEI.
It should be said that the iPhone, like other models (iPod, iPad), can be checked for the activation date not only in the unopened package, but also in the sealed one, without violating its integrity.
Checking the iPhone activation date by IMEI through the Apple website has one advantage - it does not require special programs, such as iTunes. Verification takes place directly on the Apple website using a PC or other mobile device, such as a tablet or phone, that connects to the Internet.
So, go to the Apple website and select the "Support" section. Scroll down the page. We need the "Other Resources" subsection, in which we need to open the "Check for Service and Support Eligibility".
A verification panel will open, in which we enter the IMEI of your device, click on the "Continue" button.
If the combination of numbers and letters IMEI was entered without errors, then the name and model of your device will appear. The fact that the site recognized your purchase also indicates another important nuance: your device is not a fake!
So, among all the useful information about your device, you can see both the IMEI and the warranty status of the model. In the event that there is no information on the warranty on the site, it means that the device has never been activated, that is, it has not yet been used. It is in such cases that the site issues: "It is necessary to confirm the date of purchase of the product."
If the site gives information that the date is confirmed, and "Technical support by phone" is still relevant, then the date of activation of your device is no more than three months old.
If you see information that phone support has expired, the end date for warranty service and device repair will be indicated below. It is necessary to calculate exactly one year from this date and get the exact date of activation of the device.
If the text indicates that the term for the right to service has expired, then the device was activated more than a year ago.
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. An important part of protecting the device is the activation of the smartphone. In fact, activation is the first full-fledged turning on of the phone when the user enters an existing or creates a new account. From this moment, the period of operation is counted. If the buyer is going to purchase a used smartphone, it is important to figure out how to find out the activation date of the iPhone - do not be fooled by unscrupulous sellers.
Official verification method
It is worth paying tribute to the smartphone manufacturer - he made sure that there was less temptation to steal or fraudulently sell the device. The thing is expensive, people do not 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 the quality of workmanship. 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 - the buyer is blatantly lying. To avoid situations like this, Apple has provided a reliable option to quickly check iPhone activation.
Checking the activation of the iPhone is the easiest and fastest way to go to the official website of the manufacturer. For such cases, even a separate menu item is provided. To find out the date of the first activation of the device. Follow the link to the official Apple website https://checkcoverage.apple.com/ru/ru/. A menu for checking eligibility for service and support will open - alas, the warranty also ends with time. To start the check, be sure to indicate the serial number in the field provided, which is 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 delivered;
- information is printed on a check 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. It remains to wait a bit until a window with the results of the check appears. Pay attention to the item "Estimated expiration date". For example, if this paragraph contains the date 09/30/2018, then feel free to add one day and subtract the year - this is how the date is found out. In this case, the iPhone was activated on 10/1/2017. If the seller claims to have 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, contact Apple Technical Support immediately. The Chinese have learned to make copies of such high quality that they cannot be distinguished from the original. When buying smartphones from your hands, there is a high probability of running into such a skillful fake, and technical support staff will help you recognize whether the user has a genuine device.
Third Party Resources
Users claim that third-party sites provide more information about device activation. Moreover, instead of the serial number, the date of activation of the iPhone by IMEI is determined. 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 impossible to check the iPhone activation date by IMEI on the official website of the company, which is why “checkers” appeared - sites that check device activation using different unique identifiers, at the user's choice.
There is a lot of information on such sites on how to find out when the iPhone is activated - in addition to the activation date, the date of purchase, the main technical characteristics, information on the right to provide warranty repairs and technical support are indicated. 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 veracity and legality of the information provided. Using these services is easy:
- go to the site;
- in the windows indicate identification information (IMEI) or serial number;
- wait for the transaction to be processed.
Along with the start date of the warranty period, the user will also have access to other useful information, including whether the Find My iPhone function is activated. Both methods are equally good, but the users themselves advise not to stop at one, but to check the device in all available ways, extra foresight will not hurt anyone.
In January of this year, Apple removed the page where users could check the activation status of iOS devices.
Apple has disabled iCloud activation verification for iOS devices to protect users from theft of their iPhone and iPad serial numbers. The Activation Lock feature allows any user to check if the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch has been stolen. However, attackers can use it for their own purposes, gaining access to the serial numbers of devices using the IMEI code. In this case, they can change the serial numbers of stolen smartphones, which in the future will allow you to bypass the Activation Lock function.
Even though the iCloud Activation Lock resource web page is currently unavailable, users have found an alternative verification method. In order to check the activation status of the iPhone, you will need the IMEI number of the device and access to the Apple support site.
First you need to go to the Apple support website through a computer browser.
In the new window that opens, select the item "Send for repair". After that, a page will open where the system will ask you to enter the serial number or IMEI of the smartphone. If Find My iPhone is enabled on iPhone, a repair order will not be placed and a message will appear on the screen: “Sorry, we cannot order a repair while Find My iPhone is activated.” Thus, it is possible to understand whether the iPhone was previously activated and possibly stolen.
Unfortunately, this method of detecting iPhone activation may not always work. In this case, you need to repeat all the previous steps, choosing another reason for contacting support.
At the moment, there is no information about when Cupertino will fix this obvious gap.
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