The labels, in plain English
Used (or pre-owned) means the phone has had a previous owner. On its own the word promises nothing about condition or testing. A private sale on a marketplace is the purest form: you get the phone as it is, with no warranty and no recourse.
Refurbished means a business has taken the phone in, inspected it, repaired or replaced anything that failed, cleaned it and resold it with some kind of guarantee. The quality of that process varies enormously, from a full factory rebuild to a quick power-on test, which is why the warranty length is the most honest signal of how confident the seller is.
Renewed is Amazon's word for refurbished phones sold by third-party sellers under Amazon's guidelines. Certified pre-owned is a seller's own programme name, used by carriers and by independents like us. Again, the certification is only as good as what it covers.
QDN Certified is our programme. Every phone passes a 100-point inspection that covers the IMEI and blacklist status, the screen, battery health, every camera, Face ID, buttons, speakers, microphones, charging and all radios. It is carrier-unlocked, professionally cleaned, and sold in one condition: like new, with no visible marks. It comes with a 15-month warranty, 30-day returns, and a case, screen protector and cable in the box.
How the main options compare
The things that decide whether a used phone is a bargain or a headache: what was checked, how long you are covered, and whether you can send it back.
| Where you buy | Who inspects it | Warranty | Returns | Battery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Certified Refurbished | Apple: full refurbishment with a new battery and outer shell | 1 year (AppleCare eligible) | Apple's standard 14 days | New |
| QDN Certified | QDN: 100-point inspection, two technicians sign off | 15 months | 30 days, prepaid label | Health shown per phone, never below 80% |
| Amazon Renewed | Third-party sellers to Amazon's guidelines | 90-day Renewed Guarantee (1 year on Renewed Premium) | Within the guarantee window | Amazon requires 80% or better |
| Carrier certified pre-owned | The carrier or its partner | Usually 90 days | Typically 14 to 30 days | Varies; often not shown |
| Marketplace or private sale | Nobody but you | None | None | Unknown until you check |
Third-party programme terms are as published at the time of writing and can change; check the seller's current policy.
What to check before you buy any pre-owned iPhone
Use this list on any listing, ours included. A seller who cannot answer one of these is telling you something.
Battery health, as a number
Ask for the percentage from Settings > Battery > Battery Health. Below 80% Apple considers the battery due for service. Every QDN listing shows the exact figure for that phone.
Clean IMEI
The phone must not be reported lost or stolen, or have unpaid finance against it, or a carrier can block it. We check the IMEI against blacklist and finance databases before a phone is listed.
Activation Lock removed
If the previous owner's Apple ID is still attached, the phone is a paperweight. It should power up to the Hello screen.
Carrier unlocked
A locked phone only works on one network. Ours are unlocked and tested on cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Who honours the warranty, and for how long
Apple's own limited warranty runs one year from the first retail sale, so on a used phone it has almost always expired. The warranty that matters is the seller's. Ours is 15 months.
Returns if it is not right
Thirty days is a fair window to live with a phone. Shorter than 14 and you are being asked to decide in a hurry.
What is in the box
Apple no longer ships a charger, and most resellers ship the bare phone. We include a fitted case, a screen protector and a charging cable.
Parts and service history
On iOS 15.2 and later, Settings > General > About shows a Parts and Service History section if any major part has been replaced, and whether it was genuine. No section means no replacements recorded.
Does a refurbished iPhone have an Apple warranty?
Only if you buy it from Apple's own refurbished store, where it comes with Apple's one-year limited warranty and can be covered by AppleCare+. Everywhere else, the Apple warranty is whatever is left of the original year, which for a phone more than a year old is nothing.
That is not a problem as long as the seller's warranty is real and long enough to matter. A 90-day warranty covers early failures. A 15-month warranty, like ours, covers the phone for longer than Apple covers a new one, which is the point: a pre-owned price should not mean pre-owned peace of mind.
New or refurbished: which should you buy?
Buy new if you want the very latest model, the newest camera system, or a specific colour or storage that is hard to find second-hand. You will pay Apple's full price for a phone that loses a large share of that value in its first year.
Buy a well-inspected pre-owned phone if you want most of the same experience for much less money. An iPhone one to three generations old runs the same iOS, the same apps and, in the Pro models, has the same 120 Hz screen and telephoto camera as the current line-up. The two parts that wear, the battery and the screen, are exactly what a good inspection checks, so the risk you are taking is the seller's process, not the phone's age.
The honest middle ground: if the seller shows battery health, has a warranty longer than a year and takes returns, pre-owned is the better value for almost everyone. If they do not, the discount is paying you to take on their risk.
How good are renewed or refurbished iPhones, really?
As good as the inspection. An iPhone has no moving parts beyond the buttons; what degrades is the battery (chemically, with charge cycles) and the screen and body (physically, with knocks). A phone with a healthy battery, an original screen and no damage is functionally the same phone it was new. A phone with a tired battery and a cheap replacement screen is a different experience, whatever the listing calls it.
That is why we sell one condition only, publish battery health on every listing, and back it for 15 months. If a QDN Certified phone did not meet that bar, we would be the ones paying for it.
Questions people ask
What is a refurbished iPhone?
A pre-owned iPhone that a business has inspected, repaired where needed, cleaned and resold with a warranty. There is no legal standard for the word in the US, so the inspection and the warranty length are what tell you how thorough the refurbishment was.
Does Apple sell refurbished iPhones?
Yes. Apple's Certified Refurbished store sells previous-generation iPhones with a new battery and outer shell, a one-year warranty and AppleCare+ eligibility, usually at a modest discount to new. Availability is limited and the newest models rarely appear.
Do refurbished iPhones have an Apple warranty?
Only those bought from Apple's refurbished store. From any other seller, the Apple warranty has usually expired and the seller's warranty is the one that applies. QDN Certified iPhones carry a 15-month QDN warranty.
What is the difference between refurbished and used?
Used describes the phone's history: it had an owner. Refurbished describes a process: inspection, repair and resale with a guarantee. Every refurbished phone is used; not every used phone has been refurbished.
What is a certified pre-owned iPhone?
A used iPhone sold under a seller's own certification programme. The name is only as meaningful as the checklist behind it. QDN Certified means a 100-point inspection, carrier unlock, like-new condition, published battery health and a 15-month warranty.
Can I trade in my old iPhone for a refurbished one?
With QDN you can sell your current iPhone at one of our partner stores in Houston or Dallas and put the cash toward a QDN Certified phone. See the Sell page for a quote.
What condition does an iPhone have to be in to be QDN Certified?
Like new: no visible marks on the screen or body, battery health of 80% or better, a clean IMEI, Activation Lock removed, and a pass on every functional test, confirmed by a second technician.
What does Apple do with used iPhones?
Phones traded in to Apple are either refurbished and resold through its Certified Refurbished store or dismantled for recycling. Most used iPhones, though, change hands through resellers, carriers and marketplaces rather than Apple.