Is the Power Button Necessary

[TallManNY]

So a year and a half or so into owning my iPhone 4, my power button has stopped working. I understand that this is a not unheard of problem. I will attempt to take it back to Apple, but I'm well past the warranty stage. I did not drop the phone and it has no signs of abuse, but my habit was to push the phone off every time after use before putting it in my pocket.

Anyway, I haven't made it to the apple store yet. So far not having a power button hasn't been a problem. In the past, powering down was a necessary feature for nights where I didn't make it home to a charger. But I'm settled down and don't have those types of nights anymore. If I have to do a long flight, I can put the phone in airplane mode and conserve battery so at least it isn't searching for a signal.

Can anyone think of any issues I might have without having a power button? My plan was to hold on to this phone until iPhone 5. But I am also eligible in a month for a new phone, so I could get iPhone 4S for $200. Do people think that it is likely I will need to do some sort of reset and not be able to do it without the power button? If Apple won't fix this for free, I might try to hang on for the next seven or so months for iPhone 5. But if I'm just tempting fate, maybe I should replace it. I do not have a land line at home and the phone is also used for work email, so it is "mission critical" and prudent for me not to take chances.

 

[Small White Car]

The only 2 major things I can think of are:

1) No screenshots

and

2) You can't hard-reset the phone if it locks up


I dunno how important those are. You could conceivably end up with a frozen phone some day and you'll have to wait 30 hours for the battery to die. That could be a problem but it's not certain to happen. It's only happened to me 4 or 5 time in 4 years. Not much, but it happens.

So I dunno. Depends on how critical your phone is to you.

 

[TaterToT]

You could jailbreak it and then you could install SBSettings which has Power Off, Reboot, Lock options. Another option is Activator which lets you set buttons/gestures to different actions. For example you could triple click the home button to lock the phone.

 

[mrsir2009]

What Small White Car said, plus you won't be able to manually lock the phone. You'll have to wait for the timer to do that.

 

[Small White Car]

Ok, 20 minutes after I posted that my phone froze and I had to hard-re-boot it.

It KNEW what I'd typed and decided to mock me for it.

Yeah, you probably do need a power button. Get the replacement-cost iPhone from Apple. I think it's like $200 or something.

 

[iceterminal]

Ok, 20 minutes after I posted that my phone froze and I had to hard-re-boot it.

It KNEW what I'd typed and decided to mock me for it.

Yeah, you probably do need a power button. Get the replacement-cost iPhone from Apple. I think it's like $200 or something.

Your iPhone was mocking you, nay, taunting you.

 

[verwon]

Ok, 20 minutes after I posted that my phone froze and I had to hard-re-boot it.

It KNEW what I'd typed and decided to mock me for it.

Yeah, you probably do need a power button. Get the replacement-cost iPhone from Apple. I think it's like $200 or something.

iPhone vengeance is nothing to trifle with.

 

[scaredpoet]

Yeah, you probably do need a power button. Get the replacement-cost iPhone from Apple. I think it's like $200 or something.

It's $149 now, for the 4. The 4S is still $199 for OOW replacement.

 

[Rampant.A.I.]

Word to the wise, taking your phone in to the Apple Store is not the same as contacting Apple. The Apple Store is more likely to give you the finger and reach for your wallet, whereas Apple may try to help you out, even if it's well out of warranty.

 

[ericg301]

Did you originally purchase your phone with a credit card? You may have extra coverage. My Chase card doubles the original warranty, basically giving me AppleCare for free. My launch-day iPhone 4's home button has become quite finicky. I called Chase a few days ago to start the process for a warranty claim. Assuming it's approved, I will pay Apple the $149 for a warranty replacement, and Chase will reimburse me.

Hopefully the replacement will hold up until the iPhone 5 comes out, whenever that may be.

 

[cynics]

Not to change the subject too much but if I'm reading this right. If I broke my 4s apple store would replace it for me for 199?

And if that is correct would I be able to upgrade to a 5 if I broke my 4s for 199 or whatever when it comes out? Or are you stuck with the same model? I'm not going to purposely break my phone but if you need one that seems like a good time to upgrade.

 

[scaredpoet]

Not to change the subject too much but if I'm reading this right. If I broke my 4s apple store would replace it for me for 199?

Yup.

And if that is correct would I be able to upgrade to a 5 if I broke my 4s for 199 or whatever when it comes out?

No, you'd still get a 4S.

 

[TallManNY]

Thanks for the advice. I think not being able to hard reboot could be a problem. As I mentioned, I've got no home line and phone is also used for work email (including RSA token to access work email from desktop). So if I were traveling or just home for the weekend, it would be a super pain to have to wait 20 - 30 hours for the battery to drain off of a frozen phone. I don't think I can risk that for the next 8 months or so before the 5 comes out.

If Apple will sell me a replacement for $150, I might do that instead of a 4S for $200 and then I will save my subsidized phone for the 5.

 

[TallManNY]

I bought the $149 replacement 4. It is all shiny and new looking. I figure as long as I don't break this one, it should have good resell value when I upgrade to the 5 later this year. And now I don't have to worry about not being able to do a hard reset and I can turn off my phone on an airplane when I travel.