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Apple Initiates iPhone 5 Sleep/Wake Button Replacement Program [Updated]
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$350 actually seems high to me. Gazelle is quoting $245 for a 64GB unlocked iPhone 5.
It's funny because you actually went out of your way to do exactly what you're making fun of me for...
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I wouldn't know for certain, but I doubt it.
Yeah exactly, I thought that was really high, which is why I'm wondering if that's wrong.
Now if only they admitted the "purple camera spot" problem too... (google "iphone 5 camera purple spots/specks/dots/stripes") It is also a largely widespread manufacturing defect which affects many-many iPhone 5 owners (including me and some of my friends). And it also has the nature of magically appearing just after the expiration of the warranty period...
The sudden fault of the sleep/wake button (about 13 months after I bought the phone) was a painful suprise to me, as this was the first time I encountered a problem that rendered my device pretty much unusable (yes, I am aware of assistive touch, but one can see that it's only a very limited and uncomfortable workaround). Please note that I have never dropped my phone, I always took good care of it. As I learned from Apple Support Communities forums, the very problem of this defect is that the flex cable (aka "Audio Control and Power Button Cable") wears out in about a year. So I had it replaced at a third party repair service for about 50 USD. The button works flawlessly since then.
And just two weeks after, my rear camera also turned out to be defective. I understood in no time that I fell victim to another manufaturing defect: irremovable purple spots appear on the camera picture, ruining your photos and videos. It's not dust, nor scratch but the result of some very strange fault in the optics itself. You have to have the the whole camera replaced to get rid of it, but that would've been way too expensive to me, so I just accepted my situation... I really don't want to incite anyone here, I'm just telling that iPhone 5 was a huge disappointment to me in many respects compared to my good old iPhone 4 which I never ever had any problem with, not even after 2 years of massive use.
How about the iTunes-is-so-sh***y-that-Music-No-longer-Gets-Added-to-Live-Playlists-If-You-Purchase-On-An-iOS-Device problem -- or the fact that you song star-ratings aren't universally updated on the iOS device (under iOS7)?
iOS7 bugs... is Apple's QC made-in-China as well?
Would it work if I had some water damage? I know the sleep/wake button stopped working because of the manufacturing, because the water damage was really minimal, and didn't affect anything at all. But it did trigger the thing that shows that its water damaged.
Not for the dollar amount no. However, if you wanted to walk out with a 5s you'll either have to renew your contract to get the phone on subsidy price or pay the difference for it unlocked.
I went in today with an appointment to drop the phone off and get the loaner. It was anything but a smooth experience as I was there for almost two hours. No fault of the staff as they had not had proper training on this. Most of the time was spent waiting for them to figure out the procedure. There were about 7-8 customers waiting at a table and 4-5 Geniuses all working on getting it going. Before they started, they offer an upgrade to a 5S for $299 with no contract extension but you still have to give them your old 5.
I can address some of the questions posted here...
If the phone is under warranty, they will replace the phone with a refurb. Those people were in-and-out like normal. If you're iout of warranty, you have to take the loaner phone and send yours in (or buy the $299 5S).
If your phone is jailbroken, then this won't work for you. The first thing they do is have you turn off Find my iPhone and they do an Erase All Content & Settings (which won't work if jailbroken). Then they hook it up to their laptop and run a diagnostic utility, and test the button. Basically your phone will need to be restored when it gets sent back.
All the loaner phones are black 16GB ones and are in pretty rough shape. They said they didn't know where they came from but they're not the regular white box refurbs. Mine is pretty scuffed up. The loaner came with a white box with an orange sticker which was designated to go to the repair depot.
I can address some of the questions posted here...
If the phone is under warranty, they will replace the phone with a refurb. Those people were in-and-out like normal. If you're iout of warranty, you have to take the loaner phone and send yours in (or buy the $299 5S).
If your phone is jailbroken, then this won't work for you. The first thing they do is have you turn off Find my iPhone and they do an Erase All Content & Settings (which won't work if jailbroken). Then they hook it up to their laptop and run a diagnostic utility, and test the button. Basically your phone will need to be restored when it gets sent back.
All the loaner phones are black 16GB ones and are in pretty rough shape. They said they didn't know where they came from but they're not the regular white box refurbs. Mine is pretty scuffed up. The loaner came with a white box with an orange sticker which was designated to go to the repair depot.
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It's very doubtful any design change Apple made to this part fixes the real issue. Because from what I understand, flexing in the longer softer aluminum frame of the iPhone 5 series causes the button ribbon cable to break. And because most of us carry our iPhone's in our back pocket the phone can flex if we bend over, causing the problem. I believe the iPhone 4 series had less of this issue due to their stronger and shorter frame.Max(IT) said:
Either way Apple really should include all the buttons that are connected to this ribbon cable in the free repair and not just the sleep/wake button.
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I do just because it's easy. You really think you're to get much more than that on craigslist?
I wish my sleep/wake button were busted so I can pay an extra $500 to get a 64GB replacement iPhone 5s...
... waitaminnit... I think I see what's going on here...
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Unless your iPhone bends 90º I somehow don't see how that would break. Surely there is enough allowance for a ribbon to flex -- especially since some Chinese lad needs to get it all together in the first place.
I just replaced the battery in my 3Gs -- I can't see those ribbons ever snapping due to flex.
... waitaminnit... I think I see what's going on here...
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Unless your iPhone bends 90º I somehow don't see how that would break. Surely there is enough allowance for a ribbon to flex -- especially since some Chinese lad needs to get it all together in the first place.
I just replaced the battery in my 3Gs -- I can't see those ribbons ever snapping due to flex.
What I don't get is...
Why are they bothering with loaners?
They have to fix the phone ANYWAY. Why not just give you a refurbished phone, then repair your phone and turn it into another refurb that they'll hand out next time?
It's senseless to make the customer wait so long, AND have to come in again, when it's so easy to replace the phone with a refurb, then repair the customer's phone at a central location.
Apple is changing the way they do things in an (apparently) nonsensical way.
Why are they bothering with loaners?
They have to fix the phone ANYWAY. Why not just give you a refurbished phone, then repair your phone and turn it into another refurb that they'll hand out next time?
It's senseless to make the customer wait so long, AND have to come in again, when it's so easy to replace the phone with a refurb, then repair the customer's phone at a central location.
Apple is changing the way they do things in an (apparently) nonsensical way.
Does anyone know if I trade in my eligible iphone 5 for a future upgrade, can I save the credit or get a gift card for a later date?
I think it's technically $350 towards a trade in, taking the $649 out of contract price down to $299 for a 16GB. I have a 64GB phone so I would imagine it would cost $499. It I didn't ask since I wasn't interested. Not worth it IMO.
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This is exactly what I said to the group of Geniuses working on this and they all agreed 100%. They said it's probably costing a lot more money & time to do this and would rather just "open the drawer of 100 refurbs and hand me one" but they supposedly had strict direction not to swap phones if they're out of warranty.
People on craigslist are poor but on ebay you can get $300 easily for a used 16gb, so with a 64gb you can probably get $450 or even higher, if it's unlocked, you can sell it worldwide and make even more.
The iPhone doesn't need to bend that much to effect a ribbon cable. And the breaks are actually micro breaks, not a snap that you could see with the naked eye.
To prove this in my situation I can get my volume down button to work if I flex my iPhone 5 in a specific way, it reestablishes the connection for the button. But when I let go and try to use the volume down button in a normal way, it won't work. It's clearly a ribbon cable issue and others have replaced the ribbon cable to fix it. The problem is that even though the part is very inexpensive, it's a long intensive repair because you have to basically gut the phone to get to the ribbon cable. The buttons themselves are simple and don't really fail, the issue is all about the ribbon cable.
Not worth it when many iPhone 5 contracts are up when the iPhone 6 drops, and it's only 4-5 months away
Apparently it's just for out-of-warranty customers, although I've no way to confirm this.
It does seem a little convoluted though.
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Yep, it's for out of warranty phones only. Two people had their phones swapped while I was waiting but one was still under warranty and one had AppleCare+
So I don't need to bother with this program. No issues so far, and I have AppleCare+. I don't really want a refurb if/when it happens.
Interesting that people are noting that it's a ribbon cable issue related to flexing. I'm a woman, so my phone is either in my purse or a coat pocket if I'm not using it. It's very rarely in my pants pocket.