Is it normal to have a second iPhone with different Serial Number and IMEI on my Apple Account?

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Level 1

5 points

Is it normal to have a second iPhone with different Serial Number and IMEI on my Apple Account?

I have a single “iPhone 14 Pro Max”running iOS 18.6.2 (several years old) with a unique Phone Number, a unique Serial Number and a unique IMEI. I just discovered that a SECOND phone is listed as connected to my account with the identifier “XXX iPhone 14 PRO MAX” with a different iOS 18.1.1, identical phone number, but with DIFFERENT Serial Number and IMEI numbers.

Is this normal? I was under the impression that the Serial Number (?and IMEI) were unique to my single phone and did not ever change.

I had the phone repaired several months ago (lens module broke and was replaced).

2. Could this repair have resulted in different Serial number and IMEI numbers?

If I activate red “Remove from Account” am I going to lose or pollute all my iPhone data? It displays “Last iCloud backup: Yesterday at 20:33.”

Thanks for ANY help!

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Second iPhone

iPhone 14 Pro Max, iOS 18

Posted on Nov 19, 2025 6:28 AM

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Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

427,343 points

Nov 19, 2025 6:44 AM in response to AjaxP21

I would ask Apple about this. I suspect the repair may play some role in this. Apple may have replaced the item with a refurbished unit to speed up the repair time, but if they did that then the old device probably shouldn't appear in your list.

Refer to this page for Apple Support for different countries ➔

Choose your country or region - Official Apple Support

Select your country (if you do not see your country, also look for "other" in regions; e.g., "Other Africa"), then "Choose a product". Click the "show" item under each category for more selections. If you don't see one that handles your issue then keep experimenting with selections until you reach one that gets you a chat session or a telephone call and get the representative to redirect you.

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