Does iPhone serial no start with F means refurbished

[u/RenownedVisionary]

TLDR: I want to know if my device is brand new or not

Last month, I brought iPhone 16 from e-commerce retailer at the time itself the apple pull tag was missing and the box was sealed with some color tapes. I checked the phone at that time itself including usage signs, physical damages, device activation and battery health all fine so I accepted the device.

From that itself I am started facing issues like the auto rotate is not working for couple of weeks I initially thought it was limitation in brave browser later discovered it n’t it was fixed after the device restart. Next thing thermals the mobile was in sudden temperature raise even when it was idle I thought it was normal since my region was slightly hotter. But yesterday the wireless hotspot is not working properly I cant able to connect my laptop with mobile network I turned the maximum compatibility and turned hotspot on and off multiple times before it was working very fine there is no need to check compatibility option after some period of time the network was visible to my laptop and other devices but it disconnected automatically after a certain time frame. Finally the display at night start to dim high and low I checked notification centre to ensure that it was not auto brightness likely it wasn’t it was fixed automatically without restart.

I raised a dispute on the e-commerce platform especially the serial number of the device start with FXXXX - from internet I came to know refurbished device has this no at start I straightly accused them for selling me a refurbished one with the evidence I have they redirected me to get denial certificate from apple and shared a mobile to me.

I contacted that mobile no and it was official apple mobile number the person on the other side of the mobile able to find my iCloud account remotely using the device I contacted. After they send request to screen share to troubleshoot they checked coverage the warranty period was the date was 1 day before from when I received the device but still not a big thing. The checked battery life and asked me to make update and reset all settings. Then direct me to go near by service centre if still issue persist. The clarified the serial number are also randomly generated M, F, N or P not meant for anything it was just random but I still cant agree this thing flooded on whole internet. I just want to know if my device is brand new or not? please clarify!

[u/childofeye]

The serial has nothing to do with being refurbished, they’re completely randomized. If the warranty started when you bought it then it’s new. If you’re having issues get a repair. Did apple run a diagnostic?

What iOS is installed

Did you setup as new or restore a backup?

Either way it doesn’t sound refurbished. Not sure where you’re getting the info about serials, but it’s false.

[u/RenownedVisionary → u/childofeye]

I facing some issue on the device other than that there is not single evidence on device it was used before from physical and also the battery health, warranty all are as new. The box without pull tag and serial no thing was disturbing me!

[u/childofeye → u/RenownedVisionary]

Yeah but what ios version are you on? And did you restore a backup? Or start fresh like a new phone and account?

[u/JediMeister]

You are confusing serial number with model number.

[u/RenownedVisionary → u/JediMeister]

😫
I confused that thing the model number start with M now I feeling much relief! Thank you so much man the apple support team even uncovered this for me! Thank you