Apple couldn’t tell fake iPhones from real ones, lost $2.5M to scammers

The replacement devices are just remanufactured using parts of iPhones people surrendered for repair anyway.

Mic breaks out of warranty, go to Apple, give them a shitload of money for a "new" phone, they replace mic in your old one with another salvaged one, confirm rest all works, and that's the next person's "new" phone.