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A friend who was on holiday in Turkey was refused a new iphone battery (she was willing to pay for it) at the official Apple store as it was not locally bought

A friend who was on holiday in Turkey was refused a new iphone battery (she was willing to pay for it) at the official Apple store as it was not locally bought (she bought it in SF). So no global warranty, but also no global repair or replacement of parts with official parts even when you are willing to pay for it.

tonywastaken 6y ago
I was able to repair a US-bought MacBook at an Apple store in Japan with no issues
- rolisz 6y ago
  MacBooks have global warranty, iPhones don't. I think this is partly to avoid price arbitrage such as going to buy an iPhone in a cheaper country. I'm not sure why this is not a concern for laptops. Maybe those are more targeted towards businesses, which are not so price sensitive.
  - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
    > I think this is partly to avoid price arbitrage such as going to buy an iPhone in a cheaper country. There isn't much arbitrage for new Apple products: if anything, iPhones are more expensive in other countries, especially LEDC countries due to import tariffs (e.g. Brazil and India) and VAT. That said, I can understand phone companies, in general, not having worldwide warranties because localized phones will have different radio hardware (well, prior to LTE...). ----- I just found Apple's current warranty doc for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod and it does mention international coverage ( https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/ios-warranty-document-us.html https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/ios-warranty-d... ). It would be bad PR for Apple if tourists and businesspeople in foreign countries couldn't get their phones repaired on holiday or during a critical business trip.
    - selectodude 6y ago
      The price arbitrage is USA -> basically everywhere else on earth.
      - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
        That still benefits Apple though as it means the profits from the sale is already repatriated - as opposed to being stuck overseas (see: Apple's cash hoard stuck in Dublin or the Netherlands).
t3rabytes 6y ago
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about a story like this. One blew up a few years back on Reddit maybe? I’ll have to dig it up.
intev 6y ago
I had a Macbook Pro bought in SF repaired in an Asian country (not India) through an authorized reseller because I had Apple Care. I didn't even have to pay for shipping. The only downside was I had to wait 2 weeks, but I was shocked at how simple and straight forward the process was. 10/10 would buy Apple Care again.
egwor 6y ago
I have a totally different experience. I accidentally submerged my iPhone X in the sea as I got off a boat[1]. The phone although supposedly considered waterproof went mental and basically stopped working. I was flying back via Singapore (a week later) and went into the apple store at the airport. They replaced the phone and got me back up and running before my flight back to London. I live and had bought the phone in the UK. They even had special versions of the UK phone for this scenario. [1] I was in the Philippines and I was getting off a boat in shallow sea water. My phone was in the bottom pocket of my beach shorts, and I walked through the sea water for maybe two to three metres distance up to waist height depth. This should have been ok for the depth I went. Their suspicion was that the outer seal had failed (even though it had always been in a case).
- 45ure 6y ago
  >I have a totally different experience. I accidentally submerged my iPhone X in the sea as I got off a boat[1] You were lucky and got it replaced under goodwill, as iPhone X has an IP67 rating[1] and specific about sea/salt water damage -- the kind you have described. Back home, you would have had to deal with a lot of grief[2]. [1] https://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/04/iphone-x-ip-67-water-resistant.html https://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/04/iphone-x-ip-67-water-res... [2] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204104 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204104
  - egwor 6y ago
    Yeah, we had a sensible discussion about this in the store. I was calm and respectful but firm. I explained that since I had literally walked through some water, and it had never gone remotely deep or been in for a long time (10-15 seconds?) that it seems entirely reasonable that it should have been fine. I explained that this was sold as waterproof and that anyone reasonable would have expected it to be waterproof for two years. They thought that maybe a scratch had damaged the seal, but they couldn’t see any damage. My phone was in good condition. I think I was definitely lucky yeah!
- kylehotchkiss 6y ago
  I had no idea AppleCare in different countries attempts to get you a phone that matches your origin country. I got a replacement iPhone via AppleCare outside of USA thinking until now that my model was specific to the country I’m staying in, but remarkably it’s an iPhone for Canadian market! Not USA but Canada is close enough for me.
vivekv 6y ago
I have replaced the keyboard and battery on my2017 Pro in India that was purchased in US I bought it in2017 and replaced both under applecare in 2020. I had the extended global warranty . They took a week to fix it but worked like a breeze . I paid nothing for it.

tonywastaken 6y ago

I was able to repair a US-bought MacBook at an Apple store in Japan with no issues

rolisz 6y ago
MacBooks have global warranty, iPhones don't. I think this is partly to avoid price arbitrage such as going to buy an iPhone in a cheaper country. I'm not sure why this is not a concern for laptops. Maybe those are more targeted towards businesses, which are not so price sensitive.
- DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
  > I think this is partly to avoid price arbitrage such as going to buy an iPhone in a cheaper country. There isn't much arbitrage for new Apple products: if anything, iPhones are more expensive in other countries, especially LEDC countries due to import tariffs (e.g. Brazil and India) and VAT. That said, I can understand phone companies, in general, not having worldwide warranties because localized phones will have different radio hardware (well, prior to LTE...). ----- I just found Apple's current warranty doc for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod and it does mention international coverage ( https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/ios-warranty-document-us.html https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/ios-warranty-d... ). It would be bad PR for Apple if tourists and businesspeople in foreign countries couldn't get their phones repaired on holiday or during a critical business trip.
  - selectodude 6y ago
    The price arbitrage is USA -> basically everywhere else on earth.
    - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
      That still benefits Apple though as it means the profits from the sale is already repatriated - as opposed to being stuck overseas (see: Apple's cash hoard stuck in Dublin or the Netherlands).

t3rabytes 6y ago

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about a story like this. One blew up a few years back on Reddit maybe? I’ll have to dig it up.

intev 6y ago

I had a Macbook Pro bought in SF repaired in an Asian country (not India) through an authorized reseller because I had Apple Care. I didn't even have to pay for shipping. The only downside was I had to wait 2 weeks, but I was shocked at how simple and straight forward the process was. 10/10 would buy Apple Care again.

egwor 6y ago

I have a totally different experience. I accidentally submerged my iPhone X in the sea as I got off a boat[1]. The phone although supposedly considered waterproof went mental and basically stopped working. I was flying back via Singapore (a week later) and went into the apple store at the airport. They replaced the phone and got me back up and running before my flight back to London. I live and had bought the phone in the UK. They even had special versions of the UK phone for this scenario. [1] I was in the Philippines and I was getting off a boat in shallow sea water. My phone was in the bottom pocket of my beach shorts, and I walked through the sea water for maybe two to three metres distance up to waist height depth. This should have been ok for the depth I went. Their suspicion was that the outer seal had failed (even though it had always been in a case).

45ure 6y ago
>I have a totally different experience. I accidentally submerged my iPhone X in the sea as I got off a boat[1] You were lucky and got it replaced under goodwill, as iPhone X has an IP67 rating[1] and specific about sea/salt water damage -- the kind you have described. Back home, you would have had to deal with a lot of grief[2]. [1] https://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/04/iphone-x-ip-67-water-resistant.html https://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/04/iphone-x-ip-67-water-res... [2] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204104 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204104
- egwor 6y ago
  Yeah, we had a sensible discussion about this in the store. I was calm and respectful but firm. I explained that since I had literally walked through some water, and it had never gone remotely deep or been in for a long time (10-15 seconds?) that it seems entirely reasonable that it should have been fine. I explained that this was sold as waterproof and that anyone reasonable would have expected it to be waterproof for two years. They thought that maybe a scratch had damaged the seal, but they couldn’t see any damage. My phone was in good condition. I think I was definitely lucky yeah!
kylehotchkiss 6y ago
I had no idea AppleCare in different countries attempts to get you a phone that matches your origin country. I got a replacement iPhone via AppleCare outside of USA thinking until now that my model was specific to the country I’m staying in, but remarkably it’s an iPhone for Canadian market! Not USA but Canada is close enough for me.

vivekv 6y ago

I have replaced the keyboard and battery on my2017 Pro in India that was purchased in US I bought it in2017 and replaced both under applecare in 2020. I had the extended global warranty . They took a week to fix it but worked like a breeze . I paid nothing for it.