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Best place to buy new logic board

N

noiseordinance

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 12, 2012
249
8
Hi there. I have an iPhone 5 that is giving me the dreaded "No SIM Card" message of doom. My original iPhone 5 had a couple dead pixels and they gave me a refurb on the last day of my original warrantee. Now, one month after my three month refurb warranty expired, I'm getting constant "no sim" errors. If I leave the phone in the same spot without physically jarring it, it'll stay connected for days. However, just a minute or two in my pocket and I get the error. Sometimes I have to turn it off, smack it lightly, and turn it back on for the sim to connect. I've tried wiping iOS, cleaning the sim, even placing a piece of tape on the backside of the sim to force contact... no good. It's clear I have a physical defect with this.

I'm looking on eBay and all I see are logic boards that claim to have a bad ESN. Is there anywhere that you guys know of where a logic board can be acquired for cheaper than Apple's $400 fee to replace this thing?
 
T5BRICK said:
Apples replacement fee is $269 in the US.

Does iFixit have the part you're looking for?
Click to expand...

The only option Apple gave me was a $400 replacement fee. I live in Texas, for what it's worth. I don't see the part on iFixit unfortunately. :/
 
noiseordinance said:
Hi there. I have an iPhone 5 that is giving me the dreaded "No SIM Card" message of doom. My original iPhone 5 had a couple dead pixels and they gave me a refurb on the last day of my original warrantee. Now, one month after my three month refurb warranty expired, I'm getting constant "no sim" errors. If I leave the phone in the same spot without physically jarring it, it'll stay connected for days. However, just a minute or two in my pocket and I get the error. Sometimes I have to turn it off, smack it lightly, and turn it back on for the sim to connect. I've tried wiping iOS, cleaning the sim, even placing a piece of tape on the backside of the sim to force contact... no good. It's clear I have a physical defect with this.

I'm looking on eBay and all I see are logic boards that claim to have a bad ESN. Is there anywhere that you guys know of where a logic board can be acquired for cheaper than Apple's $400 fee to replace this thing?
Click to expand...

Other than eBay, I believe it's a little more difficult finding vanilla iPhone logic boards with clean ESNs. Replacing the main logic board, where the SIM card is mounted to, will essentially come with a new serial number, too.

Really, you'd want to replace the inner SIM slot on your existing phone logic board, and it is no easy task. Here is the part you need:

SIM Slot

It will require a skilled technician to complete this job, unless you decide to go to an Apple Store; service requires an OOW exchange and fee, but you extend warranty for 90 days (this is the preferred option). Good luck! Sent from my iPad.
 
It's the hardest and most expensive part to get.

Not really worth replacing. Better off selling the phone for parts or as an iPod and then putting the money towards a new phone.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Maybe I'll just pay the $400 and try to offset the cost by selling my current phone on eBay and describe the Sim card error. Could any of you guys give me pointers on how to sell the phone on eBay? For instance, the phone is currently linked to my Apple ID. What would I need to do so that a buyer could use it, besides simply removing the sim card?

----------
T5BRICK said:
Strange, Apple actually has the price listed on their website for out of warranty replacement cost.

http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/repair/other/
Click to expand...

Interesting... I wonder why they didn't mention that. I wonder if I'd be without a phone for a few weeks for this though. I'm in clinical rotations in school right now and on call 24/7 though and can't be without a phone, so maybe I just need to do a full replacement.
 
noiseordinance said:
Interesting... I wonder why they didn't mention that. I wonder if I'd be without a phone for a few weeks for this though. I'm in clinical rotations in school right now and on call 24/7 though and can't be without a phone, so maybe I just need to do a full replacement.
Click to expand...

You may want to call Apple support and see what they say. Usually the out of warranty replacement swap is done on the spot.
 
T5BRICK said:
You may want to call Apple support and see what they say. Usually the out of warranty replacement swap is done on the spot.
Click to expand...

This is correct. As long as you can take it into the Genius Bar you would only be without it for a few minutes while they switch the SIM card out. If you have to get one through AppleCare then they can ship one out to you in advance so long as you provide a credit card to ensure you ship the old one back. Usually their shipping is overnight.

If you're one month past the 90 days allotted to the replacement phone then I'd encourage you to call Apple or bring it up to a manager in store. They really aren't obligated to replace it but the timing does suck quite a bit, they might side with you on that and decide to make an exception in your favor.
 
So it looks like $270 replacement is accurate. I'm not sure why I was originally quoted for $400. The sad thing is, the info I provided in my first post is actually not accurate... I started having this problem a month after receiving this phone, but was directed to get a new sim card at Verizon. Replacing the sim helped for a while, but when it came back, I brought it to the Apple store and they suggested I restore the phone... it fixed it for a month, but returned. Now it's happening 5-6 times per day. Even though I originally started trying to conquer this issue within the 3 month warranty, the Apple support rep I spoke to said they won't honor the warranty since it is no longer in warranty, and they have no record of my Verizon store sim replacement, or subsequent Apple store visits. Tis a shame, but my fault for not insisting on a replacement during the 3 months.

I'll just go bite the bullet and shell out the money for a replacement and hope that this one isn't a dud. Thanks for the replies, guys.
 
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