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3G - Cracks in Plastic Housing

Damon Hill said:
OK. We get if folks. You love your old iPhone with the aluminum back. This thread is for people who are having issues with cracks on their 3G iPhone.

You are adding absolutely nothing to this thread by telling us you love your old iPhone.

How about if you don't have a 3G iPhone, don't post in here. Your adding nothing to the discussion.
Click to expand...

And at this point there is obviously something amiss with the white plastic backing on a good amount of the 3G iPhones. Do you think your voice added to the chorus somehow makes the thread so much better. I think not. Nothing to be done except try to trade it in and hope it doesn't happen again. This is the internet...freedom reigns supreme!

BTW, I love my first generation iPhone! Looks as good now as the day I got it.
 
Heat

I believe that the cracks are developing because of the device overheating.

As well as a Black iPhone 3G which hasn't developed any cracks as of yet, I also own a White late-2007 edition of the MacBook who's outer-shell is constructed from the same material as the 16GB iPhone 3G White is.

After only a couple of months of use, the MacBook developed cracks identical to those which have started to appear on the iPhone 3G's. The Cracks however only appear on a certain part of the MacBook and that is where the White Plastic meets the Air Vent in which the hot air emits from inside the Laptop. The Laptop can get very hot at times, sometimes reaching as high as 60 degrees celsius. I believe that it is this heat which is causing the plastic to crack (constant expanding and contracting).

Take a look for yourself.

Note: My friend who bought his MacBook not so long after me but after the February Revision (increase of processor speeds by 0.2Ghz) is also experiencing the same problem in the same spot of the laptop.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3295/2719190357_90f0e264c9.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3095/2720012140_bef426fbb0.jpg?v=0"

And now compare with the Cracks on iPhone White

"http://images.macrumors.com/article/2008/07/30/194851-DSC01992_800.jpg

Indentical. It must be a design fault with the plastic.
 
andyblila said:
Thank you for contributing to this thread. I am sure your cutting insight will help all of the people who are having problems. Most MAC people are great, but this is a disgrace! The fact that people that chose not to upgrade are rubbing it in the faces of those with problems is unacceptable! :mad: You shouldn't even be posting. You have nothing of value to add to this. Go back to your MAC roots and show a little support.

For the record.....We're glad that you are all happy with your firs gens.
Click to expand...


There is NO SOLUTION. The phone was made with substandard materials thats all there is to it. No need to get scientific about brittle plastic. MY original has some plastic at the bottom and it is NOT cracked at all. Why is that? Why didn't Apple use this same material? The only solution is for Apple to recall and or offer replacements with new material. If the 3G is showing cracks this early out then you can imagine what every 3G will experience when more time passes and people start dropping the phones onto hard surfaces. This problem can only get worse so at this point it makes good sense to hope for a change from Apple.

X-
 
Heres is my take on this situation.

Whenever you increase the hardness of a polymer, especially an injection molded polymer, you also increase its brittleness.

Apple must have made this polymer so hard in order to resist scratching it has become brittle and prone to stress fractures. If the polymer had been softer, it would be more flexible and less prone to fractures, but more prone to scratches.

Anyway, I hope I'm wrong about this, because this would only mean that all Iphone 3gs are flawed, but I don't think I'm wrong.

I also have a White 16GB, about 5 days old now, no cracks, but I do expect them.....
 
Aww.. I wish I'd never seen this story. Now I've noticed cracks all over my nice new white 16GB. No less than four!
 
xploit said:
There is NO SOLUTION. The phone was made with substandard materials thats all there is to it. No need to get scientific about brittle plastic. MY original has some plastic at the bottom and it is NOT cracked at all. Why is that? Why didn't Apple use this same material? The only solution is for Apple to recall and or offer replacements with new material. If the 3G is showing cracks this early out then you can imagine what every 3G will experience when more time passes and people start dropping the phones onto hard surfaces. This problem can only get worse so at this point it makes good sense to hope for a change from Apple.

X-
Click to expand...

Except that you can't yet claim all of them have this issue. The other thread in this very forum has had almost 100 people provide feedback and at this point 82% don't have cracks.
 
peterdevries said:
Exactly, that's the reason why there is netiquette and good manners, something that is missing from some people lurking around this (and other) threads.
Click to expand...

As long as people aren't calling people names or being threatening as things seem to be going, I think it's okay. Internetting is part of life and rolling with the punches is part of life, yes?

There have always been and, I believe, will always be the "previous gen. was better" crowd as there will always be the "newer is best" crowd. Who cares? Some are saying, myself included, that 1rst gen. iPhones rule and then there are those who are complaining that their 3G iPhones are cracking. It's a Mac forum talking about cell phones. We are not talking about healthcare for children. People can get so thin-skinned about their overpriced gadgets that they don't really need! Your suffering is of your own making, it has nothing to do with me and my perfectly non-cracked 1rst gen. iPhone.
 
Ferris23 said:
Great, enjoy life in the slow lane. Sorry to keep flamming these 1st gen douchebags but seriously, do you need to rub salt on the wound of those having problems?

Get a life.
Click to expand...

Uhhh will this name calling be tolerated by the mods? Sure you can look at it as rubbing salt in the wounds or you can look at it this way:

the mentioning of the first generation iPhone is to show that the 3G was made with less care over all. Just a comparison point. I think some of you need to be less defensive about this. We are all iPhone owners (for the most part) and we obviously like Apple products. Why are we fighting amongst ourselves over the 3G being a lemon?

X-
 
7/11/08 from Apple Store, Maryland
Model MB048LL Black 16GB
S/n 88828*****

No Visable cracks (yet) to the naked eye, on careful inspection under bright daylight.

Phone has been sitting in car for days on end in the 90's outside and hotter in the parked car. Covered with either a Insidio vinyl, or a Contour Flick hard case the entire time.



I'm thinking that in making this plastic of very scratch resistant material, they have inadvertently made it very stress crack prone. The question still remains what sort of stress? Physical, heat, quick changes in temp from very hot to cold, etc.
 
andyblila said:
Thank you for contributing to this thread. I am sure your cutting insight will help all of the people who are having problems. Most MAC people are great, but this is a disgrace! The fact that people that chose not to upgrade are rubbing it in the faces of those with problems is unacceptable! :mad: You shouldn't even be posting. You have nothing of value to add to this. Go back to your MAC roots and show a little support.

For the record.....We're glad that you are all happy with your firs gens.
Click to expand...

ok, cool it. that was a tongue in cheek response to an angry poster who's world is apparently falling apart.

of course I hate to see this happening. of course i do. but getting all worked up over people who are simply pointing out that aluminum > plastic is a little silly. ;)

This is why I have a MBP, and not a MB, and why Apple is supposedly dumping plastic cases from that line this fall.
 
SamWhittaker said:
I believe that the cracks are developing because of the device overheating.
Click to expand...


I'm thinking maybe more like overheating and then quickly cooling. Like sitting out in the hot sun and then into the cold a/c repeatedly. Repeated expansion and contraction will produce cracks like this in some material. I just hope a clear pattern emerges with enough units that Apple makes everyone whole over this and doesn't try to cover it up. I find it unlikely that Apple will acknowledge this publicly unless they have figured out the exact problem, a solution, and then have no choice.
 
.:R2theT said:
As long as people aren't calling people names or being threatening as things seem to be going, I think it's okay. Internetting is part of life and rolling with the punches is part of life, yes?

There have always been and, I believe, will always be the "previous gen. was better" crowd as there will always be the "newer is best" crowd. Who cares? Some are saying, myself included, that 1rst gen. iPhones rule and then there are those who are complaining that their 3G iPhones are cracking. It's a Mac forum talking about cell phones. We are not talking about healthcare for children. People can get so thin-skinned about their overpriced gadgets that they don't really need! Your suffering is of your own making, it has nothing to do with me and my perfectly non-cracked 1rst gen. iPhone.
Click to expand...

+1 ;)
 
wronski said:
Except that you can't yet claim all of them have this issue. The other thread in this very forum has had almost 100 people provide feedback and at this point 82% don't have cracks.
Click to expand...

But out of the remaining 18%, how many are white ones? They need to adjust this poll for color to get a clearer picture.
 
Ferris23 said:
Great, enjoy life in the slow lane. Sorry to keep flamming these 1st gen douchebags but seriously, do you need to rub salt on the wound of those having problems?

Get a life.
Click to expand...

Here's the deal, Ferris. I like the slow lane (it's really not that slow -- email is just as fast, and really, how much serious web browsing am I doing.)

But that isn't the point. We aren't rubbing salt in your wounds. We wish it wasn't the case -- phones shouldn't be cracking. But you can't stop me from pointing out that...

I'm 374 days crack free.
 
guffman said:
Here's the deal, Ferris. I like the slow lane (it's really not that slow -- email is just as fast, and really, how much serious web browsing am I doing.)

But that isn't the point. We aren't rubbing salt in your wounds. We wish it wasn't the case -- phones shouldn't be cracking. But you can't stop me from pointing out that...

I'm 374 days crack free.
Click to expand...

I'm sure Dr. Drew Pinski is proud at your milestone.
Have a token.
 
Are the cracks growing? If it's just an aesthetic thing then it's not so bad. Some of the cracks look absolutely miniscule, and could be mistaken for a standard scratch or a little hair stuck to the phone.

Unless the entire thing starts splitting apart I don't think Apple should have to replace any iPhones. They'll just find a new supplier for their next revision.
 
cleanup said:
Are the cracks growing? If it's just an aesthetic thing then it's not so bad. Some of the cracks look absolutely miniscule, and could be mistaken for a standard scratch or a little hair stuck to the phone.

Unless the entire thing starts splitting apart I don't think Apple should have to replace any iPhones. They'll just find a new supplier for their next revision.
Click to expand...

Especially considering some people have pretty much said things like "I did not know I had a problem until you guys told me to look for it really hard."
 
I've dropped my White iPhone 3G twice from at least three feet high, have used the phone for at least six hours a day and I attach and remove headphones regularly.

No scratches. No cracks. No nicks. No bumps.

Not to say that it won't happen. But it hasn't at this point.

Some of the 1st Gen iPhoners need to arrive into this thread with a bit more tact as the issue doesn't really concern them. You shouldn't show up to post a message that could be perceived as smug when people are trying to find solutions to their problems. I'm sure if the shoe was on the other foot, you wouldn't want 3G users to rub it in.
 
cleanup said:
Are the cracks growing? If it's just an aesthetic thing then it's not so bad. Some of the cracks look absolutely miniscule, and could be mistaken for a standard scratch or a little hair stuck to the phone.

Unless the entire thing starts splitting apart I don't think Apple should have to replace any iPhones. They'll just find a new supplier for their next revision.
Click to expand...

If it's a known defect, Apple must exchange it. It would be smart if they could narrow the class of phones that are effected and just stage a recall.
 
xploit said:
the mentioning of the first generation iPhone is to show that the 3G was made with less care over all. Just a comparison point
Click to expand...
I agree it's useful as a comparison point, but I think the conclusion you reach is flawed. The choice of plastic back was made to increase reception, not because Apple was careless or cheap. More cracks is the apparent tradeoff for this increased reception, much like decreased battery life is the tradeoff for 3G.
 
bigmouth said:
I agree it's useful as a comparison point, but I think the conclusion you reach is flawed. The choice of plastic back was made to increase reception, not because Apple was careless or cheap. More cracks is the apparent tradeoff for this increased reception, much like decreased battery life is the tradeoff for 3G.
Click to expand...


I say less care overall because of the other complaints coming from 3G owners.
 
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