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merrickdrfc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 8, 2011
473
131
Doncaster / Berlin
Purchased my iPhone 5 (32 GB, White) in early November last year, had absolutely no problems with it, loved using it. Came to about 2 weeks ago and the lock button started playing up, only slightly, but this worsened as it always does and it eventually became unusable around last weekend so I booked into a genius appointment on Monday.

Went to the appointment, got my phone replaced no questions asked. And now I sit here 3 days later with a phone that I want to throw against a wall. This time, the home button has stopped working all together. This wasn't a gradual problem, worked fine one minute and then not at all after. I've got another genius appointment tomorrow for my mac, so going to see what they say tomorrow, will be asking for a refund if they do not replace it. Trekked to my nearest Apple Store 3 times the last week for genius appointments, really not amused!

Has anybody else had any problems with the buttons on the iPhone 5 or have I just been unlucky? :(
 

aerok

macrumors 65816
Oct 29, 2011
1,491
139
Purchased my iPhone 5 (32 GB, White) in early November last year, had absolutely no problems with it, loved using it. Came to about 2 weeks ago and the lock button started playing up, only slightly, but this worsened as it always does and it eventually became unusable around last weekend so I booked into a genius appointment on Monday.

Went to the appointment, got my phone replaced no questions asked. And now I sit here 3 days later with a phone that I want to throw against a wall. This time, the home button has stopped working all together. This wasn't a gradual problem, worked fine one minute and then not at all after. I've got another genius appointment tomorrow for my mac, so going to see what they say tomorrow, will be asking for a refund if they do not replace it. Trekked to my nearest Apple Store 3 times the last week for genius appointments, really not amused!

Has anybody else had any problems with the buttons on the iPhone 5 or have I just been unlucky? :(

First time I hear of this for an iPhone 5, I had the same issues with my iPhone 4 in the past.
 

ericg301

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2010
2,259
2,424
I literally just got back from replacing my iPhone 5 for a broken wake/sleep button.
 

Minhimalism

macrumors 6502a
Jan 6, 2012
997
141
Texas
Two of the past iPhone 5s I've had prior to replacement had power/lock buttons that were sunk in. They literally were sunk in to the phone. Then the last one had a home button that would only press on the left side, the right side was jammed. On my fourth replacement now and the phone is flawless, finally. Really not what I expected a $750 phone to put me through. :mad:
 

uscmba02

macrumors newbie
Mar 16, 2012
16
5
Got a new iPhone 5 today from apple. Lock button gradually quit working. First I had to push it at an angle to get it to lock, then it quit working completely.

On the upside, Apple was great. Sent me another phone in 2 days.
 

Menel

Suspended
Aug 4, 2011
6,351
1,356
Yea, I had to have mine warrantied.

Seen a lot of problems with sleep/wake button on forums.
 

chumawumba

macrumors 6502
Aug 9, 2012
471
1
Ask the NSA
:p
 

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JoeG4

macrumors 68030
Jan 11, 2002
2,828
494
If it makes you feel any better, this is a pretty common problem with smartphones in general. It's kinda ironic considering they have just one or two buttons to function, and yet somehow they screw that up anyway. xD

The power and home buttons on smartphones should be extremely durable and made to outlast the phone, not some piece of junk. Sorry to hear you had to deal with that, and unfortunately nobody yet makes phones with good power buttons.
 

zamudiovsky

macrumors regular
Sep 17, 2012
219
1
I got mine replaced for the lock button too.
It gradually stopped working until it just wouldn't do anything, got it replaced no questions asked!
 

SomeDudeAsking

macrumors 65816
Nov 23, 2010
1,250
2
If it makes you feel any better, this is a pretty common problem with smartphones in general. It's kinda ironic considering they have just one or two buttons to function, and yet somehow they screw that up anyway. xD

The power and home buttons on smartphones should be extremely durable and made to outlast the phone, not some piece of junk. Sorry to hear you had to deal with that, and unfortunately nobody yet makes phones with good power buttons.

That's dishonest what you said. It's not a general smartphone issue, it is poor design and workmanship by Apple. It is common knowledge on this forum that the iPhone buttons fail very easily, something not seen commonly in other phones. There are lots of threads here that pop up every week about failed iPhone buttons.
 

itzAstonish

macrumors member
Dec 23, 2012
75
0
Got one on Craigslist with the lock problem. Saw three people in line that day with the same problem, so it doesn't seem to be uncommon. Thankfully apple offers great customer service
 

JoeG4

macrumors 68030
Jan 11, 2002
2,828
494
That's dishonest what you said. It's not a general smartphone issue, it is poor design and workmanship by Apple. It is common knowledge on this forum that the iPhone buttons fail very easily, something not seen commonly in other phones. There are lots of threads here that pop up every week about failed iPhone buttons.

Hang out at xda or search google for broken power button. It happens a lot on all kinds of smartphones, which is really screwed up. I also agree it's unacceptable, and that was the tone of my post actually.
 

decafjava

macrumors 603
Feb 7, 2011
5,122
7,171
Geneva
Hang out at xda or search google for broken power button. It happens a lot on all kinds of smartphones, which is really screwed up. I also agree it's unacceptable, and that was the tone of my post actually.

Ignore him, this "Dude" takes every opportunity to trash Apple (and this is a problem for them as you indicated) and play up the competition even when they have the same problem. :rolleyes:
 

tstathakis

macrumors member
Oct 3, 2012
94
235
Atlanta, Ga
OP I had the same issue, the power button just randomly started acting up. Like most said before, get a Genius appointment and get it switched out. I just did this yesterday and they swapped it no questions asked.
 

bsmith4832

macrumors regular
Jul 27, 2010
154
94
North East, USA
Stumbled on this thread because just this morning my Sleep/Wake button started acting up.

Worked 100% flawless since launch day, then randomly this morning if I press on the right side of the button, nothing happens. Left half of the button works fine.

These are the times when I'm glad Apple is always pretty good with warranty issues.

I've had Home button issues with multiple iP4's in the past... I'm not that worked up about it... they get used hard.
 

Sir Ruben

macrumors 68000
Jul 3, 2010
1,884
1,199
UK
Same here, launch day phone, perfect condition, Sleep/Wake button has started not responding and is getting gradually worse.

Funny how these threads have started to pop up now.

Have a genius appointment on Monday. Saying that if the Sleep/Wake button fails every few months that means I'll keep getting a mint condition replacement every so often. Great for resale value IPHONE 5 ONLY 2MONTHS OLD!
 

merrickdrfc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 8, 2011
473
131
Doncaster / Berlin
Just to say the genius took one look after hearing my story and replaced the phone, he did however tell me that they now repair home button issues on the 5.

Got a flawless replacement with both buttons behaving up to now. Absolutely love the phone except for the issues I had.
 

ElectroGeo

macrumors newbie
Dec 12, 2012
4
0
My iPhone 5 started having this problem about a month ago. Got it on release day. Left side of button works fine and the middle to right doesn't work at all. Should I get it replaced or should I wait until they fix the issues with the refurbs too?

Or have they fixed this hardware problem already on the newer models?
 

JoeG4

macrumors 68030
Jan 11, 2002
2,828
494
Yea, I kinda like the idea of them fixing them. If you have an otherwise flawless phone, that's ok.. I dunno about the 5, but the 4 unscrewed apart. Does the 5?

When my first Note 2's power button stopped working I REALLY wanted to just replace the button since the phone was great otherwise, but since it was so new I didn't want to do that...

kinda wish I had now lol.
 
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