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3G S raised bezel edge.

tejaykay

tejaykay

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 22, 2008
279
53
Edinburgh
Hey, had my 3G S for about 8 hours now, just noticed that whilst the screen glass runs smoothly over the edge of one bezel width-wise. I am met with a raised edge to the bezel (about 1mm), it feels like a bit of a fault and a horrible edge. Has anyone else got this problem?

I bought it from O2 in the UK, for a replacement handset- do I head to Apple or back to the network provider?

I just want it to be perfect!
 
Me too. Everything else checks out, though. No light leaks or dead pixels to report. I'll accept a misalignment of the bevel before I start returning phones 4 or 5 times and winding up with something worse. Judging by the amounts of problems these things have, I consider myself lucky, considering.
 
My bezel feels like it's going to cut me!

I just got my 3Gs from the UPS man. I have to wait to get home to activate, but I was "fondling" it to see how it felt. I instantly noticed a very rough edge where the metal bezel meets the plastic back. It is on both sides and VERY noticeable. I almost feel like I could cut myself on it. I picked up my old 3g, and it is smooth as a baby's butt in this area.

I don't normally whine about build quality, but I don't carry my phone in a case, so I will feel this all the time. When it rubs against your skin, it almost feels like fingernails on a chalkboard, it is very rough.
:mad:
 
Just a little on the right side.
If I run the back of my fingernail across the left side its smooth over the edge and if I do it to the right side it stops at the bezel.

But man is it just ever so slight. No light leaks and no dead pixels and it is wicked fast compared to my 2G i was rockin' this morning so i am very happy with it and am going to forget about it. Besides its going in a case and the edge issue will never be noticed again.
 
Yup. Mine's on the right side as well. Same thing as EarthDawn. Fingernail just falls straight off the left, but on the right it gets caught on the chrome a bit.
 
This has been an issue on every single iphone since the initial one. It's starting to become ridiculous.

Don't just accept it, the more returns from it the more likely they'll take notice.

Luckily my 3gs is smooth there.
 
Versus said:
Yup. Mine's on the right side as well. Same thing as EarthDawn. Fingernail just falls straight off the left, but on the right it gets caught on the chrome a bit.
Click to expand...

I'm right hand side too. I guess it's a batch fault. I can already see dirt accumulating there though. Very frustrating.
 
Is it possible to take a pic of this? And please post your numbers on this phone to see if there's a batch trend.
 
dlamin517 said:
i have it too. forget about it and move on.
Click to expand...

its hard after you notice it though (thats what she said) but everytime i grab it i notice it.

Eallan said:
This has been an issue on every single iphone since the initial one. It's starting to become ridiculous.

Don't just accept it, the more returns from it the more likely they'll take notice.

Luckily my 3gs is smooth there.
Click to expand...

true true, ill wait to see if any other issues arise in th coming days to see if it warrants an exchange. within 30 days, they cant say no to an exchange right? ;)

meagain said:
Is it possible to take a pic of this? And please post your numbers on this phone to see if there's a batch trend.
Click to expand...

good point my first 5 in the serial are: 869234
 
Sorry, I wasn't aware this was an issue with the original 3G. Don't really want to exchange as I daren't risk a worse trade-off, trust me though - it's very very noticeable, as you end up running your finger over it all the time to remind yourself it's there. Thanks.

Batch number: 88923******
 
tejaykay said:
Sorry, I wasn't aware this was an issue with the original 3G. Don't really want to exchange as I daren't risk a worse trade-off, trust me though - it's very very noticeable, as you end up running your finger over it all the time to remind yourself it's there. Thanks.

Batch number: 88923******
Click to expand...
It's very annoying i've exchanged an iphone for this reason alone. Just go through a few when they try to give you a refurb.

You'll slide your finger over it every single time you unlock your iphone. It gets VERY annoying. Plus it rips out facial hair.

Swap it!
 
Eallan said:
It's very annoying i've exchanged an iphone for this reason alone. Just go through a few when they try to give you a refurb.

You'll slide your finger over it every single time you unlock your iphone. It gets VERY annoying. Plus it rips out facial hair.

Swap it!
Click to expand...

These phones will NOT be perfect, I exchanged my iPhone 3G 12 times in the past year because of the plastic cracks... which is legit... but the metal bezel really doesn't sound like that bad of a problem... people are being too picky. Get a case for the phone - problem solved.
 
Exchanged.

Went into an O2 store to get it exchanged, he admitted I was the first. All of their replacements had the same problem so I guess it is a batch issue. Although their display model did not.

I then went to another store (again, display model was perfect), this O2 had a replacement which wasn't 100% smooth but was a huge improvement over my 1-2mm raised edge. The new one is again raised on the right hand-side, but only 0.5mm or so. I can live with that. They were happy to replace it as they said they had to do it a lot with the original 3G.

So, there are good ones out there! Call me fussy, but I'm the one that's paying.
 
I wonder if there's a way to take an exact-o knife and gently pull up the glass on that side? Maybe while pushing the glass down on the left?
 
I had this problem with my 3g and had it exchanged, while I was in the store i felt the display models and they all had the sharp edge bezel. Its very annoying and makes the phone feel cheap and thrown together. I used to work quality control at a machine shop so perhaps my standards are rather high. Since its so widespread im guessing that the general design of the assembly is at fault and not so much the person assembling it..
 
Let me tell you something, you will not find a PERFECT iPhone. I went through maybe 5 3G's last year and my gilfriend also returned a few as well. Some had light leaking problem, others had uneven glass, etc, etc...

You will get over it after a while. Like others said, this is a mass produced product (made in China). It was "designed by Apple" not made by Apple. I got over my OCD of having a perfect iPhone. I am extremely happy with my iPhone 3G S even though it still has an uneven bezel. There is no light leak and absolutely no dead pixels, I couldn't be happier.

You take your chances at getting a worse iPhone if you try to get a replacement. You could get another one with a dead pixel that Apple deems as "in spec". If the only problem is the bezel, I would keep it.
 
The very first thing I noticed when I took my iPhone out of the box was the edge - it was not smooth where the metal trim meets the black on the sides. As far as I can tell, the glass is flush. And since I've noticed more spots on both sides where the edge is not smooth. I compared this to my friend's 3G phone and his too had this issue. When my case finally arrives in the mail, this won't really be an issue for me since those edges will be kept covered but it did make me wonder if I should return the phone to get another. I suppose I could check the demo models at the Apple Store see if they are all the same... It's fairly minor - can't expect perfection, right?
 
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