samer wroteHow do they manage to compete with Apple prices in the US? I wonder if someone has a more thorough answer than "تهريب".
Hi Samer,
There's a few factors. Firstly, for older models, they are all refurbished and put back in boxes in Lebanon. This was proven years ago. You can tell if your iPhone is a refurb by the model number starting with "F" or "N". New devices start with "M".
Edit: if you just found out your iPhone is refurbished, don't sweat it too much. Apple refurbs are indiscernible from the real thing, honestly. I bought an iPhone 7 Plus from Amhaz a year after it came out and I found out a few months in that it's a refurb. I bought it in 2017 and it's still working flawlessly to this day and being used as my work phone. I just swapped out the battery once at the Apple store when the battery health went to 79%.
For the newer models, yeap, tehreeb. The wholesale prices of iPhones are a lot lower than what you see on the Apple website, and this is what Amhaz pays for them. Since they don't add literally any amount to that price, they're able to sell them to the end user at a much cheaper price than Apple themselves. Also, since they can get inventory from virtually any country on the planet, they're able to source the cheapest possible hardware from wherever it's available. Amhaz is like an aggregation of all the cheapest place in the world in one store, which is kinda great if you're into tech and living in Lebanon (and have the money these days!). The only problem is getting a faulty device, you're pretty much out of luck unless you know someone who works with them.
