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Iphone 3g "light leak" thread

Mikey B said:
nope, you don't have to bring all the accessories, box, receipt, etc with you. you will get a replacement unit that live behind the genius bar that comes in a plain white box. it may be a refurb or a new unit- Apple guarantees a replacement device for warranty-related swaps, but implicitly state that it may be new or refurbished. since the 3G is a relatively new device, there's a good chance that it will be new, but not even the geniuses really know what stock levels of new and refurbs they posses. the serial number might give you a clue- the 1st gen iPhone refurbs started with "5K" and there are 3Gs with that distinction. But, an employee of Apple posted on their discussion board that new 3G's now come with 5K serials.

Apple refurbs in general are great. you don't really have a choice and honestly it doesn't much matter. there as much chance for another QC issue with a new iPhone as a refurb.

also, while new iPhone's are only batch-inspected- 1 unit out of a large batch at the factory, refurbs are individually inspected.
Click to expand...

Well, I ahve spoken to over 20 (yes, 20) Product Specialists in the iPhone dept. (Stationed in Utah, Minneapolis, Austin, Dallas, and Toronto. These are just the ones I dealt with). I am on my 9th phone, due to sever lgith leak and dust intrusion (both on service phones AND customer replacements *see below) and rattling, and a phone or two dropping 3G like it is its job.

So I am now basically replacing my phone every week, and Apple Reps are not thinking anything about it. yes, it is an issue, and this is what 2 and 1/2 months of talking to every person imaginable (I even got people on the phone that I dealt with on some of my first phones, and didn't dial an extension or anything!)
  • The light leak issue on 3G devices is being investigated
  • The dust intrusion has been confirmed by Apple Engineering, and has been "addressed." I provided pictures of EVERY device I had along with every bit of info and dates that I had pertaining to them, and the Engineer said that the issue was applicable to all of the serial batch numbers I had.
  • When given a phone from a Service Box (white box) at the Apple Store, ALL of the serial numbers will have a 5K in them. Basically, these phones along with customer replacements, are made in the factory in their own batches. Others, are refurbished. But ALL service phones (whether mailed by NORMAL mail-in replacement or via Apple Store Exchanges), will all have a 5K in the serial number.

This isn't a lie or joke or anything. I seriously have been dealing with these people for months now and to no avail. At this point, I am getting my 10th phone and I told the Tech. that if this one was just as bad or worse, I was going to keep the one that I have now and just send that one back.

The light leak I could care less about (as long as the dust intrusion doesn't get worse) and the dust, as long as it is small, I could also pass off. But RATTLING INSIDE THE PHONE?!?!?! That's like getting a strange noise coming from your car: YOU GET IT REPAIRED! I have had phones right out of the Customer Replacement boxes that do this, even before I take the plastic off.

Relevant links for info gurus:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/574421/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/570822/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/588596/
http://geeks.pirillo.com/profiles/blogs/2300301:BlogPost:655272


So basically at this point I am regularly returning phones and Apple Reps. have been continually submitting engineering tickets so that the problem could be solved.

Techie out,

John


NOTE: A "Customer Replacement" is a phone that is still in the black retail packaging, with all accessories and even a new sim card. HOWEVER, it is produced separately from the phones going to retail stores, and they are stored in Elk Grove, CA until a customer rep. requests one be sent to a customer. When they are back ordered, they are sent directly from a warehouse in China.
 
techdude13 said:
Well, I ahve spoken to over 20 (yes, 20) Product Specialists in the iPhone dept. (Stationed in Utah, Minneapolis, Austin, Dallas, and Toronto. These are just the ones I dealt with). I am on my 9th phone, due to sever lgith leak and dust intrusion (both on service phones AND customer replacements *see below) and rattling, and a phone or two dropping 3G like it is its job.

So I am now basically replacing my phone every week, and Apple Reps are not thinking anything about it. yes, it is an issue, and this is what 2 and 1/2 months of talking to every person imaginable (I even got people on the phone that I dealt with on some of my first phones, and didn't dial an extension or anything!)
  • The light leak issue on 3G devices is being investigated
  • The dust intrusion has been confirmed by Apple Engineering, and has been "addressed." I provided pictures of EVERY device I had along with every bit of info and dates that I had pertaining to them, and the Engineer said that the issue was applicable to all of the serial batch numbers I had.
  • When given a phone from a Service Box (white box) at the Apple Store, ALL of the serial numbers will have a 5K in them. Basically, these phones along with customer replacements, are made in the factory in their own batches. Others, are refurbished. But ALL service phones (whether mailed by NORMAL mail-in replacement or via Apple Store Exchanges), will all have a 5K in the serial number.

This isn't a lie or joke or anything. I seriously have been dealing with these people for months now and to no avail. At this point, I am getting my 10th phone and I told the Tech. that if this one was just as bad or worse, I was going to keep the one that I have now and just send that one back.

The light leak I could care less about (as long as the dust intrusion doesn't get worse) and the dust, as long as it is small, I could also pass off. But RATTLING INSIDE THE PHONE?!?!?! That's like getting a strange noise coming from your car: YOU GET IT REPAIRED! I have had phones right out of the Customer Replacement boxes that do this, even before I take the plastic off.

Relevant links for info gurus:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/574421/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/570822/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/588596/
http://geeks.pirillo.com/profiles/blogs/2300301:BlogPost:655272


So basically at this point I am regularly returning phones and Apple Reps. have been continually submitting engineering tickets so that the problem could be solved.

Techie out,

John


NOTE: A "Customer Replacement" is a phone that is still in the black retail packaging, with all accessories and even a new sim card. HOWEVER, it is produced separately from the phones going to retail stores, and they are stored in Elk Grove, CA until a customer rep. requests one be sent to a customer. When they are back ordered, they are sent directly from a warehouse in China.
Click to expand...


wow 9 phones.. one phone replacement a week...do you have a real job ?

Here's a link that might help you
http://www.biologicalunhappiness.com/DSM-OCD.htm

just get over man
 
Dr. Cabrera said:
wow 9 phones.. one phone replacement a week...do you have a real job ?
Click to expand...

From his other post, it sounds as if he's in high school.

However, if THIS phone has the same problem, either they give me some stuff for free along with another new phone, or I am not going to continue my service with AT&T. I still have enough time to cancel, so I am good.
Click to expand...

They always want free stuff...
 
Dr. Cabrera said:
wow 9 phones.. one phone replacement a week...do you have a real job ?

Here's a link that might help you
http://www.biologicalunhappiness.com/DSM-OCD.htm

just get over man
Click to expand...

Well, I am sorry. I don't have OCD, I can assure you. But I don't want to pay full price for a phone and then another $110 a month just to have one that is having all of these stupid problems and is not pleasing to look at or has technical problems. If Apple did not want me to keep getting exchanges, the Corporate Care Administration Office Manager for Product replacements said when responding to my comment about going through so many phones and people putting me in a loop, "Don't worry. If we didn't want you to keep getting replacements we would have done that after your first customer replacement. Apple doesn't call any issue 'stupid' or 'not affecting to the customer's experience of the device'. This is what we are here for, to get you the product you payed for."

So buddy, I know what you mean and I don't blame you for saying it. But when the money is coing out of my own pocket, and my own savings account, and especially since it is my phone, that I can return it if the manufacturer has made a defective phone. I also have had 5 out of the 9 phones confirmed by a genius and by engineering to have a defect and were liable for replacement. The other 4 were done because of repeated issues and were captured once received by Apple.

Thanks for you link, I thought that kind of funny. I will surely forward that to my friend who really does have OCD about his gadgets, but like I said in my other posts: I could care less about the light leak or the small dust, but FIBERS?!?! under the screen and power issues / rattling / and low signal strength, I am not dealing with.

btbrossard said:
From his other post, it sounds as if he's in high school.



They always want free stuff...
Click to expand...

Yes, I am in high school. And no, I work for my money. I work for my parents and for a supermarket chain around here. The money for everything I buy comes from my accounts and my pocket, not crying to mommy and daddy "I want a cadillac. BUY IT NOW!" No, I don't do that. Yea, free stuff is nice, but i actually transfer the amount of the bill to my parents' bank account each month to pay for the bill. And I am again not going to live with a product that doesn't perform as intended.

However I can say that my best friend will go for anything for free. Of course, that is the same friend who has OCD about everything xD
 
techdude13 said:
Well, I am sorry. I don't have OCD, I can assure you. But I don't want to pay full price for a phone and then another $110 a month just to have one that is having all of these stupid problems and is not pleasing to look at or has technical problems. If Apple did not want me to keep getting exchanges, the Corporate Care Administration Office Manager for Product replacements said when responding to my comment about going through so many phones and people putting me in a loop, "Don't worry. If we didn't want you to keep getting replacements we would have done that after your first customer replacement. Apple doesn't call any issue 'stupid' or 'not affecting to the customer's experience of the device'. This is what we are here for, to get you the product you payed for."

So buddy, I know what you mean and I don't blame you for saying it. But when the money is coing out of my own pocket, and my own savings account, and especially since it is my phone, that I can return it if the manufacturer has made a defective phone. I also have had 5 out of the 9 phones confirmed by a genius and by engineering to have a defect and were liable for replacement. The other 4 were done because of repeated issues and were captured once received by Apple.

Thanks for you link, I thought that kind of funny. I will surely forward that to my friend who really does have OCD about his gadgets, but like I said in my other posts: I could care less about the light leak or the small dust, but FIBERS?!?! under the screen and power issues / rattling / and low signal strength, I am not dealing with.



Yes, I am in high school. And no, I work for my money. I work for my parents and for a supermarket chain around here. The money for everything I buy comes from my accounts and my pocket, not crying to mommy and daddy "I want a cadillac. BUY IT NOW!" No, I don't do that. Yea, free stuff is nice, but i actually transfer the amount of the bill to my parents' bank account each month to pay for the bill. And I am again not going to live with a product that doesn't perform as intended.

However I can say that my best friend will go for anything for free. Of course, that is the same friend who has OCD about everything xD
Click to expand...

I agree with this 100%! I got so much crap for replacing mine 4 times, but it wasn't that I couldn't live with the defects... it's the fact that I paid $500 (early upgrade fee) and then over $100 each month after that and I think exactly like you... That's a lot of money and I should get an iPhone without defects for that price. Software defects, I can live with because the software can get updated but, the hardware defects don't magically go away. You had every right to replace your iPhones. Also, when you have a defective iPhone... all you see is other people with perfect iPhones and that makes me even more angry for having the defective one. Now that I have the most perfect iPhone I will ever have... I am happy... although it's already starting to crack on both sides of the headphone jack... sigh.

The other day I got to use my brother's friend's iPhone and I noticed that he has the horizontal lines in his screen and one side of his glass is raised up, but I DIDN'T tell him these things because he didn't notice and I didn't want him to start obsessing over it. Heh. Oh well... at least I don't have to use it. I love *my* iPhone now.
 
I wish people would stop moaning about tiny things like light leaks which you can only really notice when it's dark!!!

My iPhone is fine but you lot would probably find something wrong with it somehow... :rolleyes:
 
TheSpaz said:
I agree with this 100%! I got so much crap for replacing mine 4 times, but it wasn't that I couldn't live with the defects... it's the fact that I paid $500 (early upgrade fee) and then over $100 each month after that and I think exactly like you... That's a lot of money and I should get an iPhone without defects for that price. Software defects, I can live with because the software can get updated but, the hardware defects don't magically go away. You had every right to replace your iPhones. Also, when you have a defective iPhone... all you see is other people with perfect iPhones and that makes me even more angry for having the defective one. Now that I have the most perfect iPhone I will ever have... I am happy... although it's already starting to crack on both sides of the headphone jack... sigh.

The other day I got to use my brother's friend's iPhone and I noticed that he has the horizontal lines in his screen and one side of his glass is raised up, but I DIDN'T tell him these things because he didn't notice and I didn't want him to start obsessing over it. Heh. Oh well... at least I don't have to use it. I love *my* iPhone now.
Click to expand...

Thank you. My thoughts exactly. And I didn't even pick over this last phone either, I just looked at it and HEARD it and immediately I was like: "Oh, God."

So I don't know. Hopefully this one will be decent and I can not have to worry about it being less than what I payed for.

TechDude
 
Like most people on this thread I used to think that people are too picky and need to quit whining about the minor problems they have with their phones. I discovered quite a bit of light leaking from my phone the first week I got it. I put a case on it, problem solved. I haven't worried about it since... until today. I noticed about a dozen small dust particles underneath the glass on top of the display. They are quite noticeable when the phone is off against a dark background but not as noticeable when the phone is on. I am concerned that it is just going to get worse and feel I may be justified in sending the phone in for repair. Unfortunately I live 4 hours away from an apple store and I am going to have to use the mail in option. Has anyone done this and if so, what is the turnaround time to get the phone back or a replacement if they send one??
 
CrazyLazyMan said:
Like most people on this thread I used to think that people are too picky and need to quit whining about the minor problems they have with their phones. I discovered quite a bit of light leaking from my phone the first week I got it. I put a case on it, problem solved. I haven't worried about it since... until today. I noticed about a dozen small dust particles underneath the glass on top of the display. They are quite noticeable when the phone is off against a dark background but not as noticeable when the phone is on. I am concerned that it is just going to get worse and feel I may be justified in sending the phone in for repair. Unfortunately I live 4 hours away from an apple store and I am going to have to use the mail in option. Has anyone done this and if so, what is the turnaround time to get the phone back or a replacement if they send one??
Click to expand...


This is exactly why I exchanged my iPhone for a more put together one. "no light leaks, dead pixels etc etc"
I sound picky I know, oh well I like it done right the first time. We all do **** our different ways right? Some are easier satisfied then others and some are not.
What I did though to get another phone was just a str8 exchange.
I purchased from best buy so I am sure it's different sorry.
 
CrazyLazyMan said:
Like most people on this thread I used to think that people are too picky and need to quit whining about the minor problems they have with their phones. I discovered quite a bit of light leaking from my phone the first week I got it. I put a case on it, problem solved. I haven't worried about it since... until today. I noticed about a dozen small dust particles underneath the glass on top of the display. They are quite noticeable when the phone is off against a dark background but not as noticeable when the phone is on. I am concerned that it is just going to get worse and feel I may be justified in sending the phone in for repair. Unfortunately I live 4 hours away from an apple store and I am going to have to use the mail in option. Has anyone done this and if so, what is the turnaround time to get the phone back or a replacement if they send one??
Click to expand...

I did it a few times in Europe, I think it should work even better in the US..call Apple care..
in my case, they sent me a UPS guy with an empty box, I put my iPhone in there and got the tracking number,got a new or reconditioned(refurb) in a few days through UPS again.
 
Sorry to bump an old thread, especially as a new member..

But - I feel this issue NEEDS to be addressed further! I bought my iPhone on the 23rd of December this year at an AT&T store, and it has the light leakage problem.. in about 4-5 spots, fairly wide in each.

As with most people my light leakage occurs on the left side of the phone.

I'm waiting patiently for a certified non leaking batch to be made so I can get a replacement with good faith..

This -has- to be a genuine factory defect because after noticing that mine had the problem, I immediately checked my girlfriend's phone and it has the -exact- same spots of leakage! (They were bought at the same store and the same production run.)

I'm extremely disappointed in this issue..
 
Wow, this is soooo wired.

My brand new iPhone is sitting on front of my iMac in a dock, syncing to iTunes - while i scroll down the 'iPhone Forum' i noticed a light leak on the left side of the phone... 2 Seconds later, i spot this thread! :confused: ...Wired.

It's not that bad to be honest, the line(s) is/are around 1 pixel thin, so i won't bother returning it as I've just installed a Bodyguardz seal on it.
 
Mac. said:
Wow, this is soooo wired.

My brand new iPhone is sitting on front of my iMac in a dock, syncing to iTunes - while i scroll down the 'iPhone Forum' i noticed a light leak on the left side of the phone... 2 Seconds later, i spot this thread! :confused: ...Wired.

It's not that bad to be honest, the line(s) is/are around 1 pixel thin, so i won't bother returning it as I've just installed a Bodyguardz seal on it.
Click to expand...

For me, it's not that it's "so bad" - it's the fact I just dealt with about 3 other electronics of mine with the same issue and I can't tolerate another one.

I am waiting patiently for a confirmed report of a new batch of non light leaking iPhones so I can do my exchange.
 
I don't have light leaking out of the sides, light leaks straight through the plastic on the back of the phone!
 
chakraj said:
I also have a light leak on the left side of my 16 gig black. please let us know if they exchange it for you.
Click to expand...

I didn't know about this problem until now..

I checked it out and mine also has a leak on the left side around the upper half..
I have a white 16 g 3g.
 
I have a very tiny light leak on my home button! And about 4 other very tiny ones where the screen meets the bezel (the four are in the four corners of the screen)
 
Yeah, my phone is a Black 3G 8GB model.

Had I know this was such a rampant issue I wouldn't have bought mine yet.
 
To those who have gone to the genius bar and successfully gotten an exchange, what was said and is there anything you SHOULDN'T say?
 
I got an exchange a few months back for another reason and i noticed on this phone there's this light leak that stretches up the entire screen. It looks like those ghostly twin tower lights they put up after 911. You can only see it when the screen is displaying something semi dark but it's kinda annoying.

Ya think they'll swap?
 
I got my Iphone 3g replaced yesterday, I went in and simply got it replaced, however the light leak wasnt the only problem, I also had a few dead Pixels.

However i now have the same issue only now I have it some light leak on the right side. Im going to go in and ask them to put a note on the side of my serial number so i can come in and get a replacement when a good batch comes in
 
I just got my iphone replaced because of service/signal strength/dropped call issues and the new one they gave me had light leaks.....argggg. I'm going to return it tomorrow and hopefully not get unlucky again.
 
you can always try what once worked for me with a light-leaking iPhone- drop it on the floor! i had had a light leak along the left side and after the drop it was gone. :eek:
 
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