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Broken iphone 4 power/sleep button!!

L

Little Endian

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 9, 2003
753
204
Honolulu
My 4 month old iPhone 4 has a broken power/sleep button. The button was fine one moment then when I pushed the button to put the phone to sleep 5 seconds later I noticed that it had sunken in. There is no "spring" or "snap" when I push the button anymore. If I push really hard it will activate but I am afraid it will worsen to the point where it is no longer functional. Has anyone else experienced this issue? I searched Apple's support forums and found only a couple of incidents of a failed power/ sleep button on an iphone 4 though the problem seems rather prevalent on older 3G(S) phones.

I plan on going to an Apple Store to have it checked out. Hopefully they will replace or fix it. My 4 month old iphone 4 is pristine with no scratches or nicks, has been in a case or protective skin since day one and has never been dropped. This leads me to believe that there perhaps is a flaw or at least a bad batch of power/sleep buttons on iPhone 4. I still have a 2.5 year old iphone 3G that has been dropped over a dozen times, looks like crap cosmetically but still works perfectly fine.

I must say my faith in the Fit and Finish of Apple products has been shaken recently. My MBP bottom housing got warped and bent at the ethernet connector due to the weakness of the unibody frame in that area. This happened from a 1 foot drop while the MBP was in a neoprene case. This of course was my fault, but with my now broken iPhone 4 button I am beginning to wonder if Apple should do better stress testing or perhaps engineering their products to take a little more real world abuse.
 
T

Thomasso

macrumors newbie
Aug 12, 2010
29
0
I have kind of the same problem on my 3gs, but only one part of the button has slightly sunk in...
 
Givmeabrek

Givmeabrek

macrumors 68040
Apr 20, 2009
3,464
1,161
NY
Cool :cool:

One bad button and you think there is a bad batch?

Why not just get it replaced under warranty????? :confused:
 
V

vp719

macrumors regular
Jan 13, 2007
133
31
Exact same thing happened to me. About three days ago the hold button was working fine, woke up the next morning and it had sunk in and is essentially useless now. Unfortunately I don't live close to a store so it will be at least a week before I can get to one - hopefully I don't need to turn it off or reset it til then. My speakerphone mic is also dead. I treat this phone like a child, there's no reason for things to be breaking on it so hopefully warranty will cover this and they'll swap it out no problem.
 
Dumbledorelives

Dumbledorelives

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2010
255
1
Don't expect it to be perfect, because virtually no phones are. Apple's stress testing is at least up to par with any other company out there. Anything made by human hands (I KNOW they were manufactured by machines, but what were machines made by? In the end, it comes back to humans) is going to have a few imperfections.
 
M

-MRB

macrumors 6502
Jul 1, 2010
414
0
UK
Sorry to bump an old thread, but this has happened to me today.

It has lost it's "click"

I now have to press quite hard for my screen to unlock :(

Has anybody else had this issue?
 
Pink∆Floyd

Pink∆Floyd

macrumors 68020
Nov 21, 2009
2,039
0
Up There
-MRB said:
Sorry to bump an old thread, but this has happened to me today.

It has lost it's "click"

I now have to press quite hard for my screen to unlock :(

Has anybody else had this issue?
Click to expand...

Nobody has, but you should go to your nearest Apple store and get it checked out :D
 
L

Little Endian

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 9, 2003
753
204
Honolulu
-MRB said:
Sorry to bump an old thread, but this has happened to me today.

It has lost it's "click"

I now have to press quite hard for my screen to unlock :(

Has anybody else had this issue?
Click to expand...


Apple replaced my iphone 4 when I brought it in for the same problem. The Genius told me it was a rare problem and the first time he personally seen an iphone 4 with a dead power/sleep button. You should have no problem as long as your iphone 4 is in decent cosmetic condition and your water sensors are good. If they ask if you dropped it just say no.

I was given what I assume was a refurb iphone as it came out of brown box. The replacement phone is in new condition but has a slightly warmer tinge in comparison to my original iphone 4 that was otherwise perfect beyond the faulty button. Good luck and be sure to inspect your replacement phone carefully.
 
M

-MRB

macrumors 6502
Jul 1, 2010
414
0
UK
Little Endian said:
Apple replaced my iphone 4 when I brought it in for the same problem. The Genius told me it was a rare problem and the first time he personally seen an iphone 4 with a dead power/sleep button. You should have no problem as long as your iphone 4 is in decent cosmetic condition and your water sensors are good. If they ask if you dropped it just say no.

I was given what I assume was a refurb iphone as it came out of brown box. The replacement phone is in new condition but has a slightly warmer tinge in comparison to my original iphone 4 that was otherwise perfect beyond the faulty button. Good luck and be sure to inspect your replacement phone carefully.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, my phone is in pristine condition, and the water sensors are good. Hopefully they will replace my phone as I do not want to be without a phone while it's out for repair.

The sleep button is now completely broke, and I've resorted to an app called "QuickLock" which locks the phone upon opening :)
 
ulbador

ulbador

macrumors 68000
Feb 11, 2010
1,554
0
This must be wider spread than I thought.

Mine started this the other night. I would get it replaced, but I'm not living without a jailbreak. Hopefully the untethered comes soon.
 
zman2100

zman2100

macrumors regular
Apr 26, 2009
237
14
Florida
ulbador said:
This must be wider spread than I thought.

Mine started this the other night. I would get it replaced, but I'm not living without a jailbreak. Hopefully the untethered comes soon.
Click to expand...

Had this happen to me today as well. Sleep/wake button sunk in and stopped working so I had to restore everything to get rid of the jailbreak and will be getting it replaced tomorrow. Life without jailbreak sucks BAD. You never realize how many nice little enhancements you use everyday until they are all removed entirely. Fortunately for us it looks like we won't have to go to long without a new JB.
 
N

neil1980

macrumors 6502
Nov 1, 2008
422
19
Mine broke round about the 20th Dec. Nothing out the usual really... took it to Apple on the 27th and they swapped it no issue.

The only PITA is its on 4.2.1 which doesn't work with my car stereo. I had my SHSH saved for the last phone which is no real help so guess im waiting till 4.3 and hoping!
 
S

shanew21

macrumors regular
Jul 10, 2008
177
0
This happened to me today. Didn't drop it or anything. Taking it to apple tomorrow. Goodbye Jailbreak :(
 
M

madshackle

macrumors newbie
Jan 6, 2011
1
0
My four day old iphone 4 had the same thing happen, with the reset button suddenly fail and I had the hardest time just turning it back on. I will take it in on Saturday to see if something can be done.
 
F

frankwhite217

macrumors newbie
Jun 16, 2010
14
1
DMV
The same thing has happend to me, however I am a little reluctant to get a replacement because how will I be able to get my music, photos, apps, etc. Onto the replacement?
 
N

NYR99

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2007
718
80
Ugh. This happened to me like 3 minutes a go. Time to make an appointment for the ol' genius bar.
 
macingman

macingman

macrumors 68020
Jan 2, 2011
2,147
3
It's likely that a piece of dirt caught caught in the button jamming it down. Take it into Apple and it will definatly be repaired/replaced.

I have had an iPad replaced due to one dead pixel with no questions asked.
 
O

ozred

macrumors 6502
Feb 19, 2011
473
0
This is nothing more than a reflection of the declining quality of Apple products. The good news is Apple Care will take care of it. The bad news it the time you will have wasted dealing with it. I have a brand new, very well cared for iPhone 4, and already the home button is going south. Every one of the previous models had better quality and quality control.
 
C

CK1Czar

macrumors member
Jan 21, 2010
84
26
Considering that they produce millions of these things, I understand that a few will have issues. Luckily I live with in 30 minutes of about 3 apple stores
 
E

elie.fares

macrumors regular
Sep 13, 2008
186
238
This happened to me on Saturday. I've never dropped the phone and there are no Apple Stores in my country. So I shipped it to my friend in Canada to get it fixed/replaced.
I have no idea if my water sensors are triggered but I've never dropped it in water.
Hopefully it all turns well.
 
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