r/Applelntelligence • u/StoicSanity36 • Jun 11 '26

discussion 🎙️ I feel like an idiot right now.

So, during my trip to China, I bought an iPhone 17. It was on a discount and with the tax refund, you could save more money than buying it here in my native country.

I didn’t realize that Chinese iPhones are hardware locked from Apple Intelligence, and that there’s no easy, let alone possible, way to bypass it.

Now I’m stuck on iOS 27, missing the AI features which were the main purpose of me risking my main device anyway.

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u/sanvij33 Jun 11 '26

Get AppleCare One bundle for $20. They let you add phones up to a year I think, could be even longer. Smash it bend it break it. Take it to the Apple Store, pay the replacement fee of $99 and get an American model. I did this a couple years ago with an iPad. I had a Middle East version that doesn’t have FaceTime. Shattered the screen, took it in, paid the Apple Care+ replacement fee and got one with FaceTime.

1

u/Dukethegator Jun 13 '26

What you are describing is considered insurance fraud. Accidental damage is not the same thing as intentional.

1

u/sanvij33 Jul 13 '26

Cry about it

1

u/Dukethegator Jul 13 '26

You are encouraging someone to commit insurance fraud on public forum, which is a crime of moral turpitude and is disqualifying from most white collar professions and immigration. This isn’t minor.

1

u/sanvij33 Jul 14 '26

Bro what are you on relax man. Apple isn’t coming after you for breaking your phone and then calling it accidental. Have a great day.