iphone 4 home button... wil apple replace it?

Happened to me three weeks ago. $150 for a replacement phone is probably what you will be told.

How about getting the home button for $3.91 and replace it yourself?

I have the same problem with the home button, but I recently got my phone unlocked by At&T so if I give them $150, will they give me a factory unlocked phone? I'm on T-mobile and I got it unlocked before they enforced the whole "you have to have an AT&T account to unlock" policy.

Not thread jacking, I have the same issue so why make another thread.

If you can't repair it yourself, there are plenty of people you can take it to for repair. As mentioned, the part itself is only a few dollars. A qualified tech can do the repair in 30-60 minutes, or even less if they are very good. This should cost much less than $150.

It is not a repair to take lightly though. You have to remove the logic board and LCD/digitizer assembly, and deal with a bunch of screws that make a grain of rice look big.

Apple will only give you a swap... I am not sure what AT&T will do but I think they have a better process now to clear replacements for unlocking. I have a 4S, 4, and original iPhone, the latter 2 unlocked by AT&T (and on TM now). My 4's home button was a pain too. But I just fixed it myself.




Michael

angrydog said:

I have the same problem with the home button, but I recently got my phone unlocked by At&T so if I give them $150, will they give me a factory unlocked phone? I'm on T-mobile and I got it unlocked before they enforced the whole "you have to have an AT&T account to unlock" policy.

Not thread jacking, I have the same issue so why make another thread.

Click to expand...

A replacement from Apple will have the same activation profile as the device it is replacing (i.e. an unlocked iPhone will be replaced with an unlocked iPhone).

Daveoc64 said:

A replacement from Apple will have the same activation profile as the device it is replacing (i.e. an unlocked iPhone will be replaced with an unlocked iPhone).

Click to expand...

Thanks dave, exactly what I was looking for.

First try this, recalibrate the button, works for many.

Open the included Stocks app, press the power button until the slide to turn off screen appears, then HOLD down the home button until the Stocks app force closes and you are back at the home screen.
Repeat a few times if needed and you will see an improvement.

EDIT:

A random You Tube search found lots of videos, they also have videos showing how to replace the button if you search:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cujErKjh85o

apolloa said:

... then HOLD down the home button until the Stocks app force closes

Click to expand...

My home button is soo bad that I cannot even do that part & I also did try the USB connector trick (from youtube) and was deemed useless, my button is physically bad and no software nor physical gimmick will fix it; but I do appreciate the tips.

angrydog said:

My home button is soo bad that I cannot even do that part & I also did try the USB connector trick (from youtube) and was deemed useless, my button is physically bad and no software nor physical gimmick will fix it; but I do appreciate the tips.

Click to expand...

Ah, sorry then. But I would go to an Apple store and ask what they will do. It's a common fault, I have known people in the UK get it fixed for nothing because of this.
Try and be fair but firm and polite and see where you get to? If it costs too much then see how much the button is and again watch You Tube videos to see how tricky it is to replace if you want to.

UPDATE: So I went to the Apple Store and got a new iPhone 4. They did not give me a factory unlocked iphone, instead the "Genius" puts in a request ticket to Apple's unlock servers. I waited 20 minutes to turn the iPhone on as per "Genius'" request. Once I turned it on, the phone did accept my T-Mobile sim. Also the "Genius" told me I only have a 90 day warranty but I checked my serial on Apple's website and I have a full 1-year apple-care warranty.

EDIT: Yes, I did pay $150; To me it was plausible so don't give me the "you could have done it for $5" speech. Oh and the best part, I received a phone which was on 5.0.1 FW, Here I come untethered JB!

Did you have to pay the $150?

I realize this is a bit off topic since it's about apple replacing the phone, but I recently did the isopropyl alcohol fix on my iphone which would sometimes not register home button clicks, even if I pressed hard. Now the home button works like new! For others, this might be worth a try.

I was forced to replace 2 iPhone 4 models & one iPhone 4S. All stopped working as the home button failed. I keep my phones exceptionally clean, carried in an enclosed case & never dropped.

Apple is generally considered as a premium company. To foist off these old low tech mechanical buttons is just dumb. None of my Androids with touch sensitive buttons have ever presented problems.

Why Apple clings to these cheap buttons, must be for planned obsolesce. It creates a ready market when they brick the phone.

angrydog said:

Also the "Genius" told me I only have a 90 day warranty but I checked my serial on Apple's website and I have a full 1-year apple-care warranty.

Click to expand...

That will correct itself in the next couple of days. It still has the previous owners warranty info under that serial number.

Yea the home button is the disaster of the iPhone4 lol...had to get mine replaced.

oneapple said:

I realize this is a bit off topic since it's about apple replacing the phone, but I recently did the isopropyl alcohol fix on my iphone which would sometimes not register home button clicks, even if I pressed hard. Now the home button works like new! For others, this might be worth a try.

Click to expand...

Second this too.

I don't know why people don't try cleaning it first before going on doing useless software trick and repairs.

Dab some isopropyl alcohol on a cotton pad, press down the home, and clean the edges of home button area.

The fix worked for many iPhones so far including my friends.

Alcohol is the answer

My better half has been having this issue with her Iphone for ages and we had resorted to the "virtual" home button as per accessibility options.
Whilst its always been an intermittent fault (and I for one dont fancy the 90 minute minute screw repair job mentioned) just wanted to say thank you for the Isopropryl cleaning tip.
I happened to have some lying around (what are the chances!) from working on my bicycles hydraulics and used a cotton bud whilst depressing the home button.
Early days but so far appears to have fixed the problem (and is a quick enough fix if I need to do it again every few weeks/months.

Thank you!