iPhone battery swap review: Apple sent me someone else's SIM?
So about a week ago, I sent in my iPhone for a mail-in repair because my battery health had dropped to 80%. (It was actually lower than that, with diagnostics showing the battery at around 77%, but for some reason the settings page stubbornly displayed 80%, as if taunting the fact that my AppleCare+ was about to run out. Thankfully, the customer agent saw the same value as I did through diagnostics, and I was approved the swap.)
A week later and it’s today, and I got my phone back. The itemized receipt was the first thing that I saw out of the box, and it showed that Apple replaced my battery and the ambient light sensor for some reason:
My only guess is either the sensor was damaged during repair, or it was damaged in such a way that it worked okay during regular use but failed diagnostics. I certainly didn’t notice the light sensor misbehaving while I used it for the last two years.
When I opened up the enclosed box-within-a-box that had my actual iPhone, I noticed that they’d removed the tempered glass screen protector, which was understandable since they had to remove the screen to get to the battery. However, they’d manhandled the removal, because the border of the frame showed gouges where they inserted their metal pry tool to lever the display up:
Sure, it’s not noticeable unless you look really closely, but I’m still bummed about it because I took very good care of my device, and it was in pristine condition when I sent it in. Anybody would expect their iPhone back in a similar condition they sent it out, especially if it went to the official repair center. And before you start to defend Apple in the comments, ask yourself if you’d say the same thing if a third-party repair center made the same marks on your phone?
Anyway, that wasn’t the most surprising thing I found with the repaired phone. I booted it up, and the initial setup wizard greeted me, because of course they’d wiped the device. (It’s okay, I have a backup, obviously.) But as I went through the setup process, I noticed the signal strength meter showed bars, and the 5G Ultra Wideband text showed up next to it. But I hadn’t even swapped in my SIM card yet…?
Turns out, someone at Apple made a mistake, and put in someone else’s T-Mobile SIM card in my repaired iPhone. I know the iPhone itself was my original iPhone, because the serial number matched what I wrote down previously.
I called up T-Mobile and explained the situation, and the agent said I was free to toss the SIM as the owner of the SIM would probably just request another SIM. Still, I plan on holding onto it for a while just in case Apple asks for it back, but really this shouldn’t happen in the first place. Also, if you’re sending in any of your devices for repair, remove all accessories and especially your SIM card for precisely this reason! You never know who might get hold of it, and nothing good can come out of someone having access to your number.
Conclusion: battery swapped, health 100%, frame damaged, and Apple gave me someone’s number just in case I was lonely. 6/10?