How can I tell if my iPhone refurbished or new?

I somewhere found this sometime on the INet:

ervau

Lawrence Finch wrote:

There is no way to tell. All warranty replacements come in a plain white box.

Doesn’t Apple occasionally pull one out of a retail package for a warranty or other service replacement?

Only in the rare instance that they don’t have an exact replacement in the replacement inventory. Or if the item being replaced was sold in an Apple store and is less than 2 weeks old. Which happened to me when my new AirPods Pro failed 2 days after I got them. But the replacement inventory for the first few weeks after a product launch will have only new devices in plain boxes. Once they pull a device from retail inventory it is one less device they can sell so they will avoid that if possible.

I get that they would prefer not to. We’ve seen posts here asking how to guarantee getting a new one or perhaps getting a service replacement that’s new and not refurbished. But the replacement is going to be done on Apple’s terms.

There is no way to tell. All warranty replacements come in a plain white box.

The model number indicates new, refurbished or carrier return.

Then you know how to find out about your device.

Except you really don’t know, because a replacement device can be new or refurbished. And not everything you find on the Internet is true ::GASP!::