Here's the explained checklist I composed to find one iPhone for me and one for my father - both are working great a year after I bought them. It should also work fine for an iPad.
Time Needed For Checks
Make sure you warn the seller about the time needed to check an iPhone. Usually it takes around 15 minutes to check a fully working iPhone, while sometimes you will find defects in minutes.A honest seller will always be ok to wait a while until you make sure a used iPhone worth buying.
Check for iPhone Screen or Case Damage
Before turning on the device take a closer look on its screen and body. Most likely you wouldn't tolerate deep scratches on the screen and visible dents on the body. It also worth checking a camera lens.
Bring a paper napkin or any similar soft thing to be able to clean the iPhone from dust and fat.
Check for Water Damage
Every modern iPhone has a water damage indicator inside its body. It's easily accessible, you can use an official Apple article to find it. If the indicator is red - just thank the seller and move to the next device.
Since liquid contact indicator is located in a SIM slot since iPhone 5, it's a good time to put your own SIM card in.
Make Sure iPhone Has Been Factory Reset
It's time to turn on the device. When presented to you the the iPhone should be already factory reset or at the owner should be ok to reset it. If the owner says you will be able to do it only after paying money - just leave as there's a common fraud with locked phones.
You can reset an iPhone by opening Settings app, then finding General -> Reset -> Reset All Content and Settings. It might take a while a clean up the device.
Set It Up as a New iPhone With Your Apple ID
Starting from the 'Hello' screen allows you to check if the device isn't stolen on locked.
As soon as you're able to set it up with your own Apple ID it means it isn't locked to a specific Apple ID.
Check iPhone IMEI
Make sure you see the same IMEI on:
- back side of the device
- Settings app (General -> About)
- back side of the original box of the device (if available)
Then use a service like imei.info to get info about the device by its IMEI. Check if the following info corresponds to what you see on About page of the device:
- model name
- memory size
Just leave if there's any inconsistency.
Check Mobile Connectivity And WiFi
Probably you've used one of the two options by that time while setting up you Apple ID. Now it's time to disable mobile network or WiFi and test the second option i.e. via Safari.
Verify Touchscreen Functionality
I usually was doing dragging and dropping of any app icon across all the screen. If you see the icon to be dropping spontaneously it's like the touch sensor has been damaged.
Check The iPhone Screen
Earlier we've checked the screen for physical damage. Now it's time to check if it displays stuff correctly.
To do it just google for 'white', 'red', 'green' and 'blue' pictures and save them. Then go to the gallery and open them fullscreen one by one making sure they cover all the screen (just zoom in). Watch for any not working pixels or not evenly displayed colour.
Assessing iPhone Batter Status
This is a pretty straightforward check - just install Battery Care app from App Store and make sure it says battery health is good enough. I personally was looking for a device with >80% result.
Charging Check
Do the usual routine:
- connect the iPhone to a cable and charging device and make sure it shows status as 'Charging'
- repeat the previous step 3-5 times to make sure the cable is working fine all the time
If the cable isn't working all the time it's a good reason to ask for a discount.
Test External Buttons
Set up a fingerprint for Touch ID. Then test each of the following for 3-5 times:- single-tap on Home button
- double-tap on Home button
- unlocking the device or App Store with Touch ID
- On/Off button
- Volume Up/Down buttons
- Ring/Silent button
Call-Related Checks
Call a friend via a mobile network and make sure:- you can hear him fine via sound speaker, headset and loudspeaker
- he can hear you fine both when using headset and not
Another option is to call Skype Test Call contact and test all of the above.
iPhone Cameras Test
Just take a couple of photos using both front and main camera and check if it's able to focus on things as expected.
Miscellaneous Checks
There're few more important things to look for:
- connect the iPhone to a computer and check if iTunes sees the device correctly
- rotate the device few times - apps like Safari should react to it in a fast way
- check ambient light sensor by covering the phone by hand and seeing the screen dimming
- open any maps app and make sure GPS works fine
Reset the iPhone If You're Not Buying It
Here goes the latest step - if you're not satisfied with the used iPhone don't forget to remove your identity and details by using a factory reset feature. Open Settings app, then find General -> Reset -> Reset All Content and Settings.
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