I had thought I recieved a perfect replacement unit (white) but today noticed the cracks in all the usual spots.. Very feint a I have to hit it with light at a special angle... It really doesn't look like they will spread or get longer though so I'm not worried... In regular light, the phone looks flawless... and honestly, I figure something else more serious with the phone might go wrong and I'll return it then...
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
3G - Cracks in Plastic Housing
- Thread starter dogheadboy
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Here's what he wrote and I quote.. The internet's down at my house and they won't let me access me.com from work. Anyone with an email I'll foward it to you and you can copy paste it. PM me
Here's what he said for now. From my iphone.
From: sjobs@apple.com
To
email withheld)@me.com
Re:
August 18,2008 12:55 AM
You should just keep it and move on. The plastic on your previous iPhone was not cracked- sometimes when the anti scratch coating is put on a bit too thick it can crack - but it does not effect the phone any way.
Sent from my iPhone
Here's what he said for now. From my iphone.
From: sjobs@apple.com
To
email withheld)@me.comRe:
August 18,2008 12:55 AM
You should just keep it and move on. The plastic on your previous iPhone was not cracked- sometimes when the anti scratch coating is put on a bit too thick it can crack - but it does not effect the phone any way.
Sent from my iPhone
Here's what he wrote and I quote.. The internet's down at my house and they won't let me access me.com from work. Anyone with an email I'll foward it to you and you can copy paste it. PM me
Here's what he said for now. From my iphone.
From: sjobs@apple.com
To
Re:
August 18,2008 12:55 AM
You should just keep it and move on. The plastic on your previous iPhone was not cracked- sometimes when the anti scratch coating is put on a bit too thick it can crack - but it does not effect the phone any way.
Sent from my iPhone
After getting a replacement one I noticed that the GAP between the plastic case and the silver bezel in the top right corner (near the sleep/wake button) is showing that there is a significant dimensional variation in the plastic case or the silver bezel, this might be one of the factors that has influence in the occurance of the cracks/fissures.
My white 3G had cracks by the volume button and the camera (about 25 in all). It also had the crooked sleep/wake button.
I took it in today, and the Genius exchanged it no problem. If this one has cracking problems, I'm going to wait for Apple to sort things out before I do anything. No use wasting any more of my time, or anyone else's.
I do still love the phone though.
I took it in today, and the Genius exchanged it no problem. If this one has cracking problems, I'm going to wait for Apple to sort things out before I do anything. No use wasting any more of my time, or anyone else's.
I do still love the phone though.
Replacement crack-free so far
I got my _precious_ white replaced at the Genius Bar. (The picture of my crack is on page one of this thread. I noticed it only a week after I got it 7/11.) They gave no resistance. They decided to replace it in a heartbeat, but I had to wait for them to order it. I've had the new one for about two weeks now and no cracks so far. BTW, the genius said that he had read all about the cracks, but had not seen any before mine. Next time I'm in, I'll check out the ones on display. I forgot to do that. I probably could have shown him a few more besides mine.
To those on this thread that don't believe the cracks happen in spite of TLC: May the cracks of a thousand iPhones inflict themselves upon yours. :
I got my _precious_ white replaced at the Genius Bar. (The picture of my crack is on page one of this thread. I noticed it only a week after I got it 7/11.) They gave no resistance. They decided to replace it in a heartbeat, but I had to wait for them to order it. I've had the new one for about two weeks now and no cracks so far. BTW, the genius said that he had read all about the cracks, but had not seen any before mine. Next time I'm in, I'll check out the ones on display. I forgot to do that. I probably could have shown him a few more besides mine.
To those on this thread that don't believe the cracks happen in spite of TLC: May the cracks of a thousand iPhones inflict themselves upon yours. :
Well, I'm now on my fourth one, (16gig white) and after a few days cracks are showing up. Majority are under the clearcoat surface. But there are a few that have gone through the plastic. I now have an appointment tomorrow to replace this one for #5.
Well, I'm now on my fourth one, (16gig white) and after a few days cracks are showing up. Majority are under the clearcoat surface. But there are a few that have gone through the plastic. I now have an appointment tomorrow to replace this one for #5.
why replace it again??
You sound like my girlfriend.
Why not replace it. It is under warrenty and it's not as if Apple is publicly acknowledging this issue. So I shall return everyone that has these defects until 1) the problem is either resolved, or 2) Apple states that they know this is an issue an they will repair the faults.
Quite frankly I am glad that it is costing Apple $ on every warrenty claim with this quality control issue. The Apple that I once stood up for has now gone all DELL on it's loyal subjects. All for the almighty profit gains. Not the quality products they once produced.
sorry I didn't mean like that...
its clearly a product with 'issues' and you clearly don't like Apple at the moment so why not vote with your feet and wallet?
get a refund and buy a phone that isn't defective by design from a different company who may value your business more.
seems strange to me to keep complaining but keep going back. IMO if they can't get it right after 2 tries then they don't deserve the business. I don't care how good the item might be if/when it works.
Remember if you repeatedly hit yourself with a hammer..it isn't the hammers' fault!
good luck.
this thread is what might be termed "bad press"... It's certainly turning me off the idea of a 3G iPhone... until I see a few of you all saying you don't have cracks anymore!
I can't disagree with your logic. I am debating on just getting out of it and stepping away. It I hard when otherwise the phone is great and I came from the original iPhone since shortly after it's release last year. The first Gen had a great build quality too it, but this one is on the it's own route to fame and not following in it's older brothers footsteps.
fair enough...I got rid of my 3g and I've got a friend (Apple store) trying to hunt me down a 1st Gen with some warranty left on it for a decent price..we'll see.
I've been looking at Blackberry's and Palm aswell.
I've had the Palm Treos 600 and then the 650 a few years back. Both were great for their time but are now really dated on the technology front. They were tough and reliable phones. I have used various Crackberries by have not (as of yet) owned one. They would be my next choice if it were not for the iPhone.
Just picked up a black 8GB, week 32... no cracks (knock on wood). Funny enough, the display model (black 8GB) as well had no cracks and was in good condition.
I have a black 16GB iPhone and I noticed several hairline cracks have formed radiating outward from the headphone bezel ring toward the front of the phone. They are hard to notice and can only bee seen at a certain angle under bright light.
It doesn't bother me much at the moment but I'm just concerned that they may spread/widen.
It doesn't bother me much at the moment but I'm just concerned that they may spread/widen.
I think the reason the plastic *might* be cracking around the headset jack is that there is very little material (plastic) around the hole (jack), especially towards the chrome bezel.
I figure people have their headsets plugged into the phone and they stick it into their pockets. When walking you (your leg) constantly push back and forth on the phone and especially the protruding plug... thus adding additional stress around the hole, which in turn cracks due to "sub-quality" plastic.
I just thought about today when I went for a bike ride, with my phone in my front pocket and I noticed the additional "pressure" on the phone.
I figure people have their headsets plugged into the phone and they stick it into their pockets. When walking you (your leg) constantly push back and forth on the phone and especially the protruding plug... thus adding additional stress around the hole, which in turn cracks due to "sub-quality" plastic.
I just thought about today when I went for a bike ride, with my phone in my front pocket and I noticed the additional "pressure" on the phone.
I hadn't thought about that. Great thought. I seem to remember reading that they think that the other cracks may be caused by the stress of leaning against an object with the phone in the pocket.
I am now using a 3rd 14.6GB black iPhone "3G".
1st one had the plastic crack.
2nd one was badly repaired with flushness between the silver bezel and the plastic case + burs on the silver bezel.
3rd one: noticeable GAP between the silver bezel and the plastic case.
What is doing is recycling all the returned iPhones between us.
And sadly they poorly repair them.
My Theory is:
has a significant dimensional variation with this plastic case production, due to this dimensional variations the plastic case is forced to fit and the cracks appear later on.
Only quality department knows which cavities, where they inject the plastic cases, generate this variation. I hope they identified this and generate a clean point soon.
Only after this happens and when they supply good replacement units all over the different stores, we will be able to obtain good replacement units.
Also if they don't stop recycling the returned phones, will keep passing the bad phones between us.
After a 2nd replacement we deserve a new flawless unit in replacement of the defective one.
1st one had the plastic crack.
2nd one was badly repaired with flushness between the silver bezel and the plastic case + burs on the silver bezel.
3rd one: noticeable GAP between the silver bezel and the plastic case.
What
is doing is recycling all the returned iPhones between us.And sadly they poorly repair them.
My Theory is:
has a significant dimensional variation with this plastic case production, due to this dimensional variations the plastic case is forced to fit and the cracks appear later on.Only
quality department knows which cavities, where they inject the plastic cases, generate this variation. I hope they identified this and generate a clean point soon.Only after this happens and when they supply good replacement units all over the different
stores, we will be able to obtain good replacement units.Also if they don't stop recycling the returned phones,
will keep passing the bad phones between us.After a 2nd replacement we deserve a new flawless unit in replacement of the defective one.
Well, I hardly have the headphones plugged in while the phone is in my pocket. Most of the time it's lying on my desk when I'm listening to music so I'm wondering how those hairline cracks appeared.
What I think might be happening is heat expansion which causes stress on the plastic housing. Btw i'm using a Griffin Wavecase for my iPhone
What I think might be happening is heat expansion which causes stress on the plastic housing. Btw i'm using a Griffin Wavecase for my iPhone