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I think i know why iphone 4s dont have capacity etched on the back cover

M

melterx12

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 22, 2010
508
0
well iPhone 4 backs are extremely easy to take off, unlike previous iphones where you basically need to dissassemble the entire phone starting with the screen, and void warranty to get to the back, the iPhone 4 back comes off by just unscrewing the 2 bottom screws. also Its possible to replace the back cover without voiding warranty, or leaving any evidence it was ever replaced.

If iphone 4s had the capacity laser etched on the back, apple employees would just look at the back of the iPhone to see capacity to know what capacity iPhone they should replace it with (i have seen them do this). Even if they go into settings to check something else, there is still a chance they will not look or forget to look at the capacity in the about section.

If the iPhone 4 had the capacity etched on the back cover, a person could have just replaced his 16GB iphone's back cover with a 32GB one bought off ebay or something, ask for a replacement for whatever reason, and there could have been a good chance the "genius" would just look at the back of the phone, see that it is a 32GB unit, and give a 32GB iPhone as a replacement.

... or they could have decided not to etch the capacity on the back for cosmetic reasons :)
 
-aggie- said:
Or it could be for Apple to save money not making two different backs?? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

then why would they have introduced the white iphone's white front glass? they could have left it as before where white iphones only had a white back.
 
Since it's so easy to remove the back..
...I wonder if a 3rd party will make a replacement back that's not glass or has patterns or something cool.

Frankly, I'd like to replace the back of my phone with a matte black piece of hard rubber or something that:

A: Allows me to keep the glass back perfect for resale
B: Makes my phone not slide all over the place
C: Easy to grip
 
I would speculate that it is a production save. Where adding the physical memory is an assembly line function (same person can add different memory without time lost), the back engraving would require an completely seperate and independent manufacturing run. With all other parts being equal.
 
Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the device serial number etched on the back of every one?????? So that blows the warranty thing out of the water. Secondly it is etched in the same manner , whether it be serial number or device capacity. So that throws cost out the window.


Nice try on the theory though:D:D
 
nospeed411 said:
Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the device serial number etched on the back of every one?????? So that blows the warranty thing out of the water. Secondly it is etched in the same manner , whether it be serial number or device capacity. So that throws cost out the window.


Nice try on the theory though:D:D
Click to expand...

there's no serial number on the back of the iPhone 4. You need to go into your about screen to see your serial number. ( i think it might be on the sim tray too? could be wrong)

The theory stands
 
I think it may be simply because unlike the more easily manufactured plastic backs of the previous iterations, the production required to manufacture two different GLASS backs is very high, vs the plastic backs of the past. Also, I'm not sure, but isn't there a way (with a jailbreak of course) to change the readout of the "About" section of your iPhone's settings, so wouldn't selling a 16GB as a 32GB be quite easy for CL scammers?
 
melterx12 said:
...If iphone 4s had the capacity laser etched on the back, apple employees would just look at the back of the iPhone to see capacity to know what capacity iPhone they should replace it with (i have seen them do this). Even if they go into settings to check something else, there is still a chance they will not look or forget to look at the capacity in the about section...
Click to expand...

Every swap I've seen is based around the device's serial number which yields the correct capacity.
 
nospeed411 said:
Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the device serial number etched on the back of every one?????? So that blows the warranty thing out of the water. Secondly it is etched in the same manner , whether it be serial number or device capacity. So that throws cost out the window.


Nice try on the theory though:D:D
Click to expand...

The serial number is not on the back, but is printed on the SIM tray.
 
Or... it might be cheaper for Apple to manufacture just one style of back instead of two or three... duh...

melterx12 said:
well iPhone 4 backs are extremely easy to take off, unlike previous iphones where you basically need to dissassemble the entire phone starting with the screen, and void warranty to get to the back, the iPhone 4 back comes off by just unscrewing the 2 bottom screws. also Its possible to replace the back cover without voiding warranty, or leaving any evidence it was ever replaced.

If iphone 4s had the capacity laser etched on the back, apple employees would just look at the back of the iPhone to see capacity to know what capacity iPhone they should replace it with (i have seen them do this). Even if they go into settings to check something else, there is still a chance they will not look or forget to look at the capacity in the about section.

If the iPhone 4 had the capacity etched on the back cover, a person could have just replaced his 16GB iphone's back cover with a 32GB one bought off ebay or something, ask for a replacement for whatever reason, and there could have been a good chance the "genius" would just look at the back of the phone, see that it is a 32GB unit, and give a 32GB iPhone as a replacement.

... or they could have decided not to etch the capacity on the back for cosmetic reasons :)
Click to expand...
 
they go into settings to get the serial number..

they put the serial number into the computer, which will give them all the info about your phone.

and like someone already said, it saves them money.
 
So the back cover, if broken can be easily replaced? providing no damage was done to anything else.

How about the front, im guessing its glued or laminated to the display and touch control panel.

To get back on topic, you raised an interesting point but I doubt they would just look at the back of your iphone to determine what your model was, I think they didnt included it on the back was because they would have to have to different runs, 2 different batches, and then another 2 just for the white backs, so they are saving a lot of money doing it the way they are doing it although I would still like to see the original Apple storage capacity on the back like most of their products.
 
apple doesnt like to differentiate their products through appearance.

also, im pretty sure a genius would type in an IMEI number to be sure at least...
 
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