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dmk1974

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 16, 2008
2,385
460
I love my new iPad Mini, but I noticed that my sleep/wake button seems kinda loose and has a considerable amount of wiggle. My iPhone 5 and kids 5th Gen iPod Touch sleep buttons are all pretty tight. Anyone else have this on their Mini? Thanks!
 

matt18012

macrumors member
Apr 24, 2003
65
0
Same here. There is less play in my mini than in my iPad 2, but it is still annoying. The rest of the mini including the home button, and volume rocker is flawless.

I hate to mail mine back for such a small issue, but if few people have this issue, I might consider it.
 

matt18012

macrumors member
Apr 24, 2003
65
0
Sorry to bump this so early, but I'd love to get feedback from other mini owners on this issue. Interestingly, every ios device so far has been affected by this problem. There must be some serious manufacturing challenges in aligning and securing the buttons on these products.
 

Fissure

macrumors 6502
Jul 28, 2010
300
11
mine is loose as well, like my iPad 2's
you can lightly tap on it and hear and feel that it's loose
I don't think it's a bug deal, probably not a defect
I need to start using gestures more anyway
 

parseckadet

macrumors 65816
Dec 13, 2010
1,489
1,268
Denver, CO
Mine is like this as well, nut as long as it stays the way it is it won't bother me. Are you bothered just because the fact that it's loose bothers you, or are you worried about it breaking in the future? If its current conditions is what bothers you, then go check out some display units, either at an Apple store or Best Buy. If all those have the same problem, then that's just likely the way it is.

For me, I'm going to keep my eye on it, and if I see it getting worse over time I'll just get Apple Care. Will probably get it anyway. I figure I'll use this for two years or so, and by then I'll want whatever the shiny new thing is anyway.
 

eaglehawk28

macrumors newbie
Nov 5, 2012
1
0
mine is loose as well, like my iPad 2's
you can lightly tap on it and hear and feel that it's loose
I don't think it's a bug deal, probably not a defect
I need to start using gestures more anyway

Same with mine. When I lightly tap on (or even just press the button normally) I hear a plastic tapping sound as the button makes contact with whatever is behind it. It also wobbles slightly.

I took my mini in to the Apple Store (Brisbane) this morning to the Genius Bar. The guy there took it out the back to "compare it and get some opinions," as he said, but came back and told me it is normal. Apparently because there is nothing wrong with its function, they cannot replace it.

I checked out the iPad minis on display and found about half of them have a noticeably wobbly home button like mine but the rest seem fine. I have never had this problem with iPhones or an iPad 2 I used to own (although from reading this thread some people do). I suppose it is just the luck of the draw, whether your device has a wobbly button.

Does anyone think their wobbly button could stop working sometime down the track?

----------

Same here. There is less play in my mini than in my iPad 2, but it is still annoying. The rest of the mini including the home button, and volume rocker is flawless.

I hate to mail mine back for such a small issue, but if few people have this issue, I might consider it.

According to an Apple Genius I saw this morning, unless the button does not actually function properly, they will charge you to repair it.

The rest of my mini is also flawless like yours, which I suppose is what makes the slightly loose home button stand out...
 

yogi682

macrumors newbie
Nov 9, 2010
1
0
My sleep/wake button and home button were both loose. I returned it to an apple store via Genius Bar (I have AppleCare) and the replacement unit has loose buttons too. This time it's the silent toggle and volume up buttons. Thinking about taking it back again.
 

jclardy

macrumors 601
Oct 6, 2008
4,139
4,319
Mine has a slight bit of wiggle room, but less than my iPhone 5 does. Volume buttons feel completely solid (no wiggle.)
 

JayDH

macrumors 6502
Jan 20, 2008
279
54
Finally found the retina mini that I was looking for (Gray/32/AT&T) the other day. My screen is perfectly white and uniform with no pink or yellow tint. It failed the image retention test, but there is no image retention in normal use. Since the display looks so good, I'm tempted to keep it.

BUT, my unlock button is loose just like yours. Based on this thread and other, it seems like many iPad minis have the same problem, so I'm probably not going to worry about it. It's not worth starting a game of exchange roulette. I could get a display with worse image retention, or the yellow tint problem.

While I'd prefer one that's perfect, it just isn't worth the time. Just my two cents.
 
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