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Anyone with a 4s NOT have a camera lens rattle if you tap the back of the phone?

L

Leonard1818

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 15, 2011
2,460
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I know this topic has been beat to death but nobody really pipes up and says they DON'T have an issue with their 4s.... so....

Just curious. Most all phones I've tested (4 and 4s) have had it. Mine rattles around pretty bad... worse than some others. Are there any phones that do NOT have this issue? I have a replacement coming since Verizon and Apple both said I should try a replacment (in case it's NOT the lens) but I wonder what my odds are of getting a "quiet" phone.

EDIT:

Video:
http://youtu.be/B1I4-tLFcUI
 
Last edited:
Did you tap it just below the camera and listen? the 4's either don't do it at all or don't do it nearly as bad as the 4s from what I've observed. This makes sense with the camera being different in the 4s.

Still interested to hear if people just don't notice it or really truely don't have it happening.

I'm not trading in an otherwise good phone for one of equal or lesser quality.
 
If I tap by the camera, I can hear what is apparently the autofocus adjust very briefly (probably 150ms), but I'm not sure why I would call this an "issue." The sound doesn't happen unless I tap on the back of the phone, it's not an annoying or extended sound (it doesn't sound like a rattle to me), and there's no evidence it's correlated with any functional problem with the phone.
 
Here's a question: in what instance would you intentionally be tapping the iPhone directly under the camera? Why would you need to do this?

Seems like an overblown dramatic non-issue to me.

Unless you can actually feel the rattle of something within the iPhone, you have absolutely NOTHING to worry about.
 
It should be normal.

That's what an Apple store guy told me. When I asked my friends, they all said that they didn't notice the rattle noise. But, I could hear that when I tried on their 4 and 4s.
 
Thanks for the replies. I may not have stated properly... My "rattle" is not only present when abruptly tapping on the back of the phone. It's any time I set the phone down, when I lightly tap on the back, sometimes I hear it even when I switch hands with the phone. I'm not trying to revist an old issue or beat a dead horse. I'm trying to categorize the severity of mine vs. everyone elses and also see if there's any chance of getting one that either does not do it or does not do it under all of the above (normal use) circumstances.

I took a video on a co-workers cell phone. I'll try to post it to youtube and will post a link here.

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MotleyGrrl said:
No rattle here, but my 4 had it pretty bad.
Click to expand...

Did it ever cause issues with your 4?
 
Leonard1818 said:
grrr... As I just stated in the last post in reply to the last person who asked the same question... yes.

Read much?
Click to expand...

Yes, too much. Don't come on here looking to cure your OCD itch and not expect repetitive criticisms about it.
 
Rocko1 said:
Yes, too much. Don't come on here looking to cure your OCD itch and not expect repetitive criticisms about it.
Click to expand...

That's just the thing... as a former Android user, I never used to degrade anyone who used Apple products. I never bought into the "apple fanboy" criticism.

However if the noise I'm experiencing is absolutely normal then apple needs to come out and say so because anyone else in my shoes would be equally concerned. Otherwise, maybe people ARE just blindly following a product with utter disregard to any potential flaws... I don't know.

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of course this was recorded using an OG droid (my co-workers) so it appears the sync is a tad off... but here's my point:

http://youtu.be/B1I4-tLFcUI

Listen for clanking marble-like sounds... Even at the end when VERY lightly tapping the top of the phone against the paper, you will hear it...
 
Leonard1818 said:
Thanks for the replies. I may not have stated properly...
Click to expand...

Based on your description, I am not experiencing anything like this -- there is an auto-focus whir pretty much only when I tap by the camera. I have not noticed anything similar in any aspect of daily use.

Overall, in terms of the build quality -- how well put together the phone feels, this is easily the best iPhone I've owned. (I think my original iPhone was better than my 3GS, but this is better yet).
 
mkrishnan said:
Based on your description, I am not experiencing anything like this -- there is an auto-focus whir pretty much only when I tap by the camera. I have not noticed anything similar in any aspect of daily use.

Overall, in terms of the build quality -- how well put together the phone feels, this is easily the best iPhone I've owned. (I think my original iPhone was better than my 3GS, but this is better yet).
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input, greatly appreciated.

Aside from this issue, this phone is easily the most solid in-hand feeling phone I've owned. Coming from an original Samsung Galaxy S that felt like a plastic feather, this phone has bulk (which I actually like) and feels *solid*.

Check out my video above and let me know what you think...
 
Leonard1818 said:
That's just the thing... as a former Android user, I never used to degrade anyone who used Apple products. I never bought into the "apple fanboy" criticism.

However if the noise I'm experiencing is absolutely normal then apple needs to come out and say so because anyone else in my shoes would be equally concerned. Otherwise, maybe people ARE just blindly following a product with utter disregard to any potential flaws... I don't know.

----------

of course this was recorded using an OG droid (my co-workers) so it appears the sync is a tad off... but here's my point:

http://youtu.be/B1I4-tLFcUI

Listen for clanking marble-like sounds... Even at the end when VERY lightly tapping the top of the phone against the paper, you will hear it...
Click to expand...


Why not call tech support and have them ship you a new 4S? I can hear the slight rattle too if I tap near the LED but I don't think it means the phone is broken. It's the shutter rattling a bit. Yours is a bit worse, but again, call apple if the Genius bar didn't work out.
 
Rocko1 said:
Why not call tech support and have them ship you a new 4S? I can hear the slight rattle too if I tap near the LED but I don't think it means the phone is broken. It's the shutter rattling a bit. Yours is a bit worse, but again, call apple if the Genius bar didn't work out.
Click to expand...

I live in BumFuct Ohio, there's not an apple store anywhere close to me. I guess I didn't phrase it right in my first post... I activated my phone Sunday, noticed this Monday, went in to Verizon on Tuesday, was told it was "normal" and they all do it, called apple today and they said it certainly should NOT be making that kind of noise and called Verizon and they put in an order for a new one for me.

the purpose of this thread was to try to catch some of the people who would otherwise stay silent (you really only come online to voice a complaint, right?) and to poll them to see if they have a 4s that is NOT similar to mine.
 
Leonard1818 said:
I live in BumFuct Ohio, there's not an apple store anywhere close to me. I guess I didn't phrase it right in my first post... I activated my phone Sunday, noticed this Monday, went in to Verizon on Tuesday, was told it was "normal" and they all do it, called apple today and they said it certainly should NOT be making that kind of noise and called Verizon and they put in an order for a new one for me.

the purpose of this thread was to try to catch some of the people who would otherwise stay silent (you really only come online to voice a complaint, right?) and to poll them to see if they have a 4s that is NOT similar to mine.
Click to expand...

Well please post back when your new phone gets here. I am interested to see if the new one makes that noise when tapping near the lens.
 
Rocko1 said:
Well please post back when your new phone gets here. I am interested to see if the new one makes that noise when tapping near the lens.
Click to expand...

I'll surely keep you guys posted. If you happen across another 4s that can have the issue duplicated by lightly tapping the top of the phone on a table/notebook/whatever... let me know... that will at least tell me that it's more common and I ought to just get used to it.

Mine in comparison with all of the others I tested was by far the worst... that's why I didn't think mine was within the "norm". Most all others you had to REALLY hold it up to your ear and REALLY tap on the back and listen VERY closely to hear anything... mine can be heard at a normal distance across a room.
 
mkrishnan said:
I don't think my 4S does that, as far as I can tell by comparing it to your video.
Click to expand...

Yeah, most that I encountered didn't.

Now when I do the test of the autofocus, it DOES get better (You know... bring up the camera, start tapping to get a baseline for what it's going to sound like, stop just long enough to let it auto-focus and keep tapping).

But it never really STOPS. I can lightly tap the top of it against my other hand and it will sound like I'm clanking my marbles. I couldn't show that in the video since I had to use one hand to record the video... but it is another drastic test showing a normal thing; not something someone would never do like tapping on the back... something someone may be prone to do when standing there holding a phone.

Thanks for viewing and commenting. It really honestly helps me to assess how severe/normal mine is. Millions of these darn things sold and I can't find anyone around me who has one to compare to lol.

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mkrishnan said:
I don't think my 4S does that, as far as I can tell by comparing it to your video.
Click to expand...

btw, are you familiar with where BG, OH is or even Toledo, OH? Do you happen to know where the closest apple retail store is to toledo (or BG)? I saw there were several in MI. but I'm not extremely familiar with the state...
 
Absolutely no noise at all from my 4s, 16g, black. It is very quiet. Except when Siri is answering a stupid question or i have a call....
 
Jacooch said:
Absolutely no noise at all from my 4s, 16g, black. It is very quiet. Except when Siri is answering a stupid question or i have a call....
Click to expand...

Hmmm, do you just mean because siri is talking or your phone is ringing? or do you mean because you get some buzz from the speakers when siri speaks or you get a buzz when your phone vibrates (both are issues I've read about but don't experience)?
 
Mines the same as your video. I don't want to change it yet as I may get a worse screen or battery. I figure I'll phone in for a replacement some time in the year and send a video showing the noise like yours. It's clearly not right on a £600 phone

Oh If you turn it over and tap it goes away right?
 
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