Stop official deliveries of Apple technology to Russia and the transition to parallel imports quite strongly influenced the domestic smartphone market. In addition to the fact that iPhones marked “for other countries” appeared on sale, the standards of after-sales service have also changed. Now, if the device was not officially imported into the country, apply for a warranty and even more so non-warranty Repair at an Apple Authorized Service Center became basically impossible. And the only option to fix the breakdown, as they explain in retail, was to contact the store or any workshop “at the choice of the buyer.” But, as it turned out, the problems did not end there.
Sell activated iPhone
iPhones imported to Russia Parallel Import can now be forced to be activated prior to being sold to the end customer. The DNS was the first to use this practice, but it is possible that other retail chains are doing the same. The retailer directly writes about this on its website.
The check showed that the corresponding notice is present on the pages of almost all iPhone models available for purchase. The only exceptions are those devices that were brought into the country with the permission of Apple. Basically, these are refurbished iPhone XS and XS Max with a PCT certificate.
In response to your question to tech support, why DNS started activating iPhone, I got only two words: parallel import. The operator did not consider it necessary to go into details, either considering me too smart to figure out the rest on my own, or not having the visa of the authorities to give more intelligible explanations.
iPhone activation in Russia
The only thing I have been able to find out is that non-activated iPhonesbrought into the country by parallel import are not in the DNS. The operator did not say this directly, but he said clearly enough to make everything clear: non-activated iPhones are only those that do not mention activation.
But it is possible that in reality everything is not so scary. There are most likely non-activated iPhones on sale, they simply refer to an old batch imported into the country before 2023. Because in 2022, if I don’t confuse anything, no one was activating smartphones and didn’t even print them. However, times are different now.
It’s hard to say for sure why DNS started activating iPhonesupplied from abroad. It is highly likely that this decision was forced and had good reasons. In the end, to activate even a thousand or two smartphones, you have to spend a lot of time. So, for this you need a special person on the salary.
Most likely, the devices are activated not upon arrival at the store, but at the stage of purchase. Why, ask? Well, I have only one version, although it is not confirmed in nature. In my opinion, in this way DNS is trying to protect itself from a possible iPhone Activation Lock after the sale to the buyer.
Why are they selling activated iPhones?
Remember, the other day we wrote about rumors about a possible iPhone blocking in Russia? So it is quite possible that this is not nonsense or even speculation, but a controlled leak of information that is near-official in nature. Say nonsense? Perhaps, but so far the puzzle is shaping up too well.
Let’s take a look at how things unfolded:
- First, Apple warns that it will fight parallel imports, preventing the supply of iPhones and other branded equipment to Russia in every possible way;
- Apple detects cases of mass purchases of branded electronics through Asian retail and punishes employees who allowed wholesale by blocking this supply channel;
- Margarita Simonyan “throws in” the thesis that Russians are afraid of blocking iPhones, which looked rather strange, since no one remembered this for almost a whole year;
- DNS starts to activate iPhoneimported by parallel imports to avoid possible blocking of smartphones, as they are intended for sale in other countries.
As it was said in the well-known meme? You are here, seems. Everything shows that the situation is getting worse, and each side is trying to do (or at least pretends to try) everything possible to deceive the other. Apple is trying to stop shipments and possibly even threaten to block the activation of devices that have not yet been activated, and retailers are proactive to prevent this.
Is it really so is the question. But it looks logical. Anyway, at this stage. After all disable already activated iPhone, for which its owner has already paid and which is successfully used, even from a moral point of view, it is more difficult than just preventing it from being activated. But people still work at Apple, don’t they?
Will iPhones be disabled in Russia 2023
What is curious about this situation is that so far no other retailer has practiced preliminary parallel iPhone activation it does not follow. In any case, neither M.Video, nor Eldorado, nor Svyaznoy, nor even Re:Store informed their customers of anything like that. But it seems to me that if the DNS is doing this, then most likely – if this precaution shows its effectiveness – in the foreseeable future, others will do the same.
Does Apple block iPhones Currently? So far, no such cases have been heard. Even situations are unknown when people do not their smartphones would be activatedimported from abroad. But buying them on foreign marketplaces can now really be dangerous. At least until all circumstances are clarified.
How much it is safe to buy an already activated iPhone for us? By and large, for consumers, pre-activation does not change anything. First, because the retailer promises not to use in advance registered Apple ID, and the smartphone remains unattached. And secondly, because Apple warranty in Russiawhich is counted from the moment of activation, still no longer works.
The only negative is that now it will be difficult to understand how much you are actually buying a new smartphone. Nothing will stop some seller from slipping you used iPhone under the guise of a new one, having previously pasted all the films on it. And this is what I think can be a problem. However, let’s wait and see.
