They werent fake, they were "unauthorized", as fake as _original_ Apple batteries and screens being seized by customs because they bear Apple logo.
How the scam works - Apple sends their junk to China to remanufacture/recycle. There instead of being ground into a fine dust some end up in chinese panties to be smuggled out of the facility. Next someone pulls out most profitable still working parts, puts the phone back together and tries to pass it thru warranty process again: https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/10/09/rampant-chinese-i... Apparently they managed to get a grip on Chinese fraud, so scammers moved operation into US.
There is no such thing as Genius at the "genius" bar, they arent allowed to repair anything (can only sent it up the chain to Texas afair) and often dont even know how to open products, not to mention being able to tell what should be inside.
I think Apple just shreds. No harvesting and re-marketing of spare parts, unless its for their own internal repairs.
It's why I have been able to harvest my old units for parts and cover a substantial cost of each upgrade. I even sold a completely broken iphone 7 mainboard for $40, without fingerprint reader. I literally found the phone smashed to pieces on the ground (with SIM removed).
Replacement phones are refurbs - previously returned broken phones with trivial defects, fixed in US using parts re manufactured(motherboards) in China.
How the scam works - Apple sends their junk to China to remanufacture/recycle. There instead of being ground into a fine dust some end up in chinese panties to be smuggled out of the facility. Next someone pulls out most profitable still working parts, puts the phone back together and tries to pass it thru warranty process again: https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/10/09/rampant-chinese-i... Apparently they managed to get a grip on Chinese fraud, so scammers moved operation into US.
There is no such thing as Genius at the "genius" bar, they arent allowed to repair anything (can only sent it up the chain to Texas afair) and often dont even know how to open products, not to mention being able to tell what should be inside.