Planning to buy a used Apple Watch from someone else you are not familiar with?
It’s wise to check the status of this watch to see if it’s stolen or lost or out of warranty with its serial number. One of the most things you can learn with a serial number is the blacklist status.
Because a blacklisted (reported as stolen or lost) Apple Watch is useless to you or can’t be unlocked unless the previous owner is glad to offer help.
To avoid buying a blacklisted Apple Watch, we made this post to help you check if the device is worth buying by checking its Serial number.
How to Check Apple Watch Status with Serial Number
As discussed above, it’s necessary to check Apple Watch serial number before purchasing. Here are 3 steps to do this.
Step 1. Find the Serial Number
If the seller hasn’t delivered the watch to you, ask him to take a photo with the SN. According to Apple [1], 3 options are available for the seller to find the SN.
1Check on the Paired iPhone
- Open the Apple Watch app on the iPhone
- Tap My Watch > General > About to find the SN or IMEI
2Check on the Watch
- On the Apple Watch, open Settings.
- Tap General > About.
- Scroll down to find the SN or IMEI
3Check the Case
- For Serial 1 or later, remove the band from your watch [2], then check the band slot.
- For the 1st generation, the serial number is engraved on the back
Step 2. Apple Watch Serial Number Check Stolen
The next step is to check if the Apple watch is stolen with the serial number. There is only one way to check – using an online SN/IMEI checker [3].
Submit the SN received from the seller to the checker, then you’ll get a report like this:
Step 3. Learn the Watch Better from the Report
1To See If It’s Blacklisted (Stolen or Lost)
As you can see from the above report, the Apple watch is reported stolen by SPRINT and the iCloud status is LOST. This means this watch is blacklisted by both the carrier and owner.
You need to ask the carrier provider and seller to remove this watch from the blacklist before making a purchase. Or this watch is useless to you.
2To See If it’s Locked to Activation Lock
What’s more, the iCloud lock is on, which means this watch is associated with an iCloud account and locked to Activation Lock. You need to ask the seller to remove this watch from his iCloud account on iCloud.com. This will deactivate the Activation Lock. Here is how:
- Visit iCloud.com and login in
- Choose Find iPhone option
- From All Devices, choose the Apple Watch
- Finally, click on the Remove from Account.
3To See It it’s Refurbished
One thing you should note is that a replaced or refurbished device can work normally. But it’s cheaper than a new one. Knowing this will help you get a better price from the seller.
4To See the Warranty Status
As is known to all, an Apple Watch which is still under warranty is a little more expensive than those who aren’t. Make sure you know that before purchasing a used device.
FAQs About Apple Watch Serial Number Check
1. What is serial number?
Serial number is also known as SN or S/N is a unique number used for identification purposes. Differing from IMEI which only contains numbers, serial numbers may contain letters and other typographical symbols.
2. What can you do with an Apple watch serial number?
As mentioned above, you can use the SN to check whether an Apple Watch is stolen or still within its warranty period.
3. Can you activate a stolen Apple Watch?
No, you can’t. If the Apple Watch is reported as stolen, you need to ask the previous owner to unpair this watch with his/her iPhone or remove this watch from his/her iCloud account. This is the only way you’ll be able to activate your watch.
4. Can you bypass activation lock on Apple Watch?
If the Apple Watch is not blacklisted (reported as stolen or lost), you can easily bypass the Apple Watch activation lock by contacting the seller or using a unlock service.
5. Is it safe to give Apple Watch serial number?
It’s safe in most cases. If somebody wants to check the status of iCloud lock, age of the watch, status of blacklist before buying your watch, offer them the SN.
The Bottom Line
Checking Apple Watch serial number to see if it’s stolen or worth buying is important before purchasing a used device. Make sure you purchase it from a reliable platform such as Amazon or eBay to avoid being scammed.
If you still have any questions, don’t hesitate to let us know by leaving a comment below.
Very informational!