Portion of screen doesn't respond to touch

[gwass]

There is a portion of my iphone screen that doesn't respond to touch. it's about 1/2" high and runs straight across the screen. on the main screen, i can't hit the buttons for clock, calculator, notes or settings. for text messages, i can't hit the send button. on the phone keypad i can't hit the 7, 8, or 9 keys. I've tried rebooting and also resetting the phone in itunes. No luck. Has anyone else had this problem?

[mmccaskill]

I had a similar problem but it was at the very bottom of the screen. Whenever I used the keyboard in portrait mode and hit the number key, space, etc, the keys responded like I had hit the shift, z, x, c, etc.

After a few hard reboots and iTunes restores, I made an appointment at the Apple Store and showed a Genius. Within 5 mins he said I needed a new phone. I went up front and gave my phone. I watched as a brand new phone was unwrapped, my SIM exchanged, and handed the new phone.

The only thing was I had to have the box, USB cable, headphones, dock, rest of the box contents, and the receipt.

Not sure if that will happen to you. But I'd go to the Apple Store and get an exchange.

[gwass]

Didn't even bring the receipt, box, etc with me. The genius found my receipt in their online system and kept the box from the new phone - just gave me the new phone with my old SIM card in it. We re-activated the new phone there at the genius bar.

Hope others don't have similar issues. Luckily mine was within 14 days of purchase. Had it been after, they would've sent it out for repair instead of giving me a new one.

[swordfish5736]

Originally Posted by mmccaskill

I had a similar problem but it was at the very bottom of the screen. Whenever I used the keyboard in portrait mode and hit the number key, space, etc, the keys responded like I had hit the shift, z, x, c, etc.

After a few hard reboots and iTunes restores, I made an appointment at the Apple Store and showed a Genius. Within 5 mins he said I needed a new phone. I went up front and gave my phone. I watched as a brand new phone was unwrapped, my SIM exchanged, and handed the new phone.

The only thing was I had to have the box, USB cable, headphones, dock, rest of the box contents, and the receipt.

Not sure if that will happen to you. But I'd go to the Apple Store and get an exchange.

I have been having the same problem since yesterday. I called apple since our store hasn't opened yet and they said try to exchange it at att which I figured wouldn't work. Apple is overnighting me a loaner phone while they fox mine which I thought cost money but its free.

[AJsAWiz]

Originally Posted by CRIIM44

I have been having the same problem since yesterday. I called apple since our store hasn't opened yet and they said try to exchange it at att which I figured wouldn't work. Apple is overnighting me a loaner phone while they fox mine which I thought cost money but its free.

Great service

[ahand]

happened to me, but mine was a week after the 14 day swap period. i'm using my old phone with the iphone sim. my iphone is in texas for a week being repaired or something. it's good to know i wasn't the only one who this happened to.

[mmccaskill]

Damn. Now like 1/4 of the screen, starting from the bottom doesn't work. Yet another exchange. Actually they will probably send it in for repair. What are the chances of having two phones with bad touch sensors.

[scaredpoet]

I wonder how many of these bad screens would be easily "fixed" if the iPhone had a touch sensor calibration feature, like most other PDA touch-sensitive displays have. I was a bit surprised to see the iPhone lacked this.

[aristobrat]

I have the same problem too!

On my iPhone, the area of the screen where the Clock, Calculator, Notes and Settings icons are displayed won't respond to touches. I've tried rebooting and restoring.

Off to the Genius bar tomorrow.

[mmccaskill]

The worst part is I cannot unlock my phone. The "Slide to Unlock" doesn't work. So I cannot answer a call if I get one.

Just as worse is if they send it in for repair, I have to pay for a loaner. For $600 they should just give me a loaner. Especially after going through 2 phones in less than a month.

[benspratling]

Originally Posted by scaredpoet

I wonder how many of these bad screens would be easily "fixed" if the iPhone had a touch sensor calibration feature, like most other PDA touch-sensitive displays have. I was a bit surprised to see the iPhone lacked this.

I've used the products from the supplier of the iPhone multi-touch screen before, if I correctly understand that they're from Quantum. Quantum's chips are better than all other similar chips in that they constantly self-calibrate. The developer does not have to consider calibration or the associated nasty equations in the design.

If you are referring to how some touch screens require you to click on cross hairs that move around the screen, that's because the touch sensors in the iPhone do not use the same technology as single-touch screens like, resistive 4 and 5 wire, or acoustic shockwaves, that suffer annoying if not significant manufacturing variances that cause the readings to be biased. The iPhone sensor, from my understanding, is integrated with the display to avoid such calibration problems, and does not experiece the same kind of lifetime degredation and drift as do resistive sensors.

For those of you with problems, I suspect your problem is either simply a faulty product, which does happen, or the cable from the sensor's matrix has been partially over-strained in which case a section of the conductors may have come disconnected.

[Chakalaka]

I had the same issue and swapped it out with a new one right away at the apple store.

Question for those with these problems, was it a 5 or 7 series phone?

[aristobrat]

Mine was a 7 series.

[mmccaskill]

Not sure about my first one (didn't know about field test mode then) but my second is a 7 series. The loaner is a 5 series.

[twoodcc]

i'm having a similar problem. it's been more than 14 days, so i guess i don't get a new phone? does a loaner cost money?

[twoodcc]

Originally Posted by twoodcc

i'm having a similar problem. it's been more than 14 days, so i guess i don't get a new phone? does a loaner cost money?

well my whole screen wouldn't respond, except to unlock. so following apple's online support, i just had to restart my iphone and it works now!

[mmccaskill]

Originally Posted by twoodcc

i'm having a similar problem. it's been more than 14 days, so i guess i don't get a new phone? does a loaner cost money?

Yes a loaner costs money. ~$30 with tax. Outrageous.

[aristobrat]

Originally Posted by mmccaskill

Yes a loaner costs money. ~$30 with tax. Outrageous.

The guy at the Genius Bar didn't charge me for mine. I just had to sign something (and let him swipe my credit card) that says if I don't return the loaner within 30 days, they can charge me.

Dropped my iPhone off at the Genius Bar yesterday. They overnighted it to the repair center, who received it today, repaired it, and are overnighting it back. I can pick it up tomorrow. If it's in before 11:00AM, the whole repair time would have been 48 hours.

[mmccaskill]

Originally Posted by aristobrat

The guy at the Genius Bar didn't charge me for mine. I just had to sign something (and let him swipe my credit card) that says if I don't return the loaner within 30 days, they can charge me.

Dropped my iPhone off at the Genius Bar yesterday. They overnighted it to the repair center, who received it today, repaired it, and are overnighting it back. I can pick it up tomorrow. If it's in before 11:00AM, the whole repair time would have been 48 hours.

Interesting. Genius I talked to said the charge was required. Even better is I went to the Apple Store on Monday (7-30) but found out today (by calling same Appple Store to get FedEx Tracking number) that my phone wasn't actually picked up by FedEx until 9am 8-2. Arrived today at repair facility and should arrive tomorrow. 5 days to send? WTF?

[aristobrat]

Originally Posted by mmccaskill

Arrived today at repair facility and should arrive tomorrow. 5 days to send? WTF?

I'd be raising heck about that! IMO, when you know something needs to go back for repair (i.e. it has no chance of getting repaired at the Genius Bar), the only value add the Genius Bar can do is knock a day off the process by overnighting it in ASAP for you (vs. the alternative of you having to wait an extra day for AppleCare to overnight you a box to your house for you to ship the phone back to them in).

[mmccaskill]

Well it arrived like Apple said it would. But the interesting part is they sent me a new phone! Didn't think that was going to happen.

The weird part is at the Apple Store the Genius gave me a box to return the loaner, but according to the instructions that came with my phone, I am to use the same box as it has a return shipping label.

[Calvinatir]

happened to me too, couldn't hit the space bar (would hit keys above it). I went in (32 days after purchase to the Sherman Oaks, CA store) and they just swapped me out!

[GotPro]

Originally Posted by Calvinatir

happened to me too, couldn't hit the space bar (would hit keys above it). I went in (32 days after purchase to the Sherman Oaks, CA store) and they just swapped me out!

Having the same problem on my Fiance's iPhone. Mine works great, but hers has the bottom spacebar dead spot problem.

They wouldn't exchange it because it had been over 2.5 weeks, oh well...

They didn't charge her for the rental, that was cool!

Hopefully will be back soon ;-)

[mmccaskill]

Originally Posted by mmccaskill

Well it arrived like Apple said it would. But the interesting part is they sent me a new phone! Didn't think that was going to happen.

The weird part is at the Apple Store the Genius gave me a box to return the loaner, but according to the instructions that came with my phone, I am to use the same box as it has a return shipping label.

So the thing is I bought my phone Sunday, July 1. Between then and Aug 4, I am on my third phone. The first two had the same touch problem. What are the odds?

[~J~]

I just had this problem over the weekend, and after reading this post I took my iPhone to my friendly local Apple store. They gave me a temp phone, but didnt charge me the $30. I've established a bit of a repore with the staff there, so that may help. Fortunately for me, Apple's repair center is in Ft. Worth, TX - which is only about 45 min from me, so I should get mine back in a day or 2. There was another guy in the Apple store right before me, had the same prob... he had to pay the $30 tho... sorry about that. But it looks like that is the way to get this taken care of. I will post when I get my new phone and let you all know if it was fixed or replaced.