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iPhone 4 Rattles when Shaken

A

am17

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 5, 2009
53
1
I noticed the other day that my less-than-3-week-old iPhone 4 makes a rattling sound when shaken, as if there is something loose inside. I have been EXTRA careful with this phone and have never dropped it, so this worries me. I go back to school next week, where there is no Apple store within 100 miles, so if anything were to happen I wouldn't be able to quickly remedy the problem.

I'm looking for opinions on what you think I should do. I have an appointment at the Genius bar tomorrow because I googled it and saw that others have done the same and had it replaced. Thoughts?
 
I'm not sure if you have the same issue, but my phone rattles when I shake it as well, but its a loose Sleep/Wake (Power) button, nothing inside the phone.

others on this forum have complained of the same thing, loose sleep/wake button, but their has never been a time were I had to shake my phone really hard and was annoyed enough of the rattle that I had to take it into an Apple Store for a replacement.

but if the rattle is really that annoying to you, I guess you should get it replaced.
 
If it is rattling BADLY then this is not good, but my sleep button on top rattles a tiny bit when i set my phone down, so if it's a small rattle that is probably your issue.
 
Don't forget about the vibrator motor. It's an armature with a weight on one half of the end of a shaft. It's job is to make noise.
 
It's probably the disk heads. They've come off the spindle of the micro hard drive and are busy scratching your data into oblivion. Get it fixed, because if you leave it too long they will crack the glass back from rattling around so much and make the camera fall out.
 
Tonsko said:
It's probably the disk heads. They've come off the spindle of the micro hard drive and are busy scratching your data into oblivion. Get it fixed, because if you leave it too long they will crack the glass back from rattling around so much and make the camera fall out.
Click to expand...

lol =)

The iphone uses flash memory for storage.
 
Mine rattles a bit if you tap it on or around the camera, but nothing when you shake it. This has happened on i think 3-4 of my past iP4's (this is my fifth, I think :eek:) so I'm assuming this is normal.
 
I'm the OP, never updated on what happened. Apparently a screw was loose/had fallen out of place inside, the Genius opened it up and tightened the screw, and that was it. Hope that helps :)

----------

However, when I got my phone back, I did have the different screws on the bottom - remember that debacle? Hasn't been an issue for me, but still.

http://www.ifixit.com/blog/blog/2011/01/20/apples-diabolical-plan-to-screw-your-iphone/
 
am17 said:
I'm the OP, never updated on what happened. Apparently a screw was loose/had fallen out of place inside, the Genius opened it up and tightened the screw, and that was it. Hope that helps :)

----------

However, when I got my phone back, I did have the different screws on the bottom - remember that debacle? Hasn't been an issue for me, but still.

http://www.ifixit.com/blog/blog/2011/01/20/apples-diabolical-plan-to-screw-your-iphone/
Click to expand...

THANKS A LOT, I wasn't sure what the issue was. It bothers me to know something rattles and not know why especially when I never drop it and take extra caution on it. So it was a breather to know that someone else had this issue and it wasn't anything but a loose screw.

Last time I'm going to bother you (am17) but last question... So the person at the genius bar just tighten the screw up and it hasn't rattle since then? is your camera and power/sleep button working fine?

I like my iphone (because I know I've taken care of it well) and dont want to have to get a refurbished one and have problems like some people i know are having with their replacement.
 
Yup, he just opened up my phone, tightened the screw that was loose inside, and gave my same phone right back to me. No issues with camera, sleep/wake button, or vibrate switch before or since. Hope you get your issue resolved just as easily! :)
 
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