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Just scratched my iPhone 4 screen. Advice?

S

Stinkythe1

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 30, 2005
208
0
NOOOO!!

So today I was driving home and was like, "Hey! I want to see if I can make a cool video with my new 720p camera on my phone!" So I started recording (while at a stop light) and put my phone down on my dashboard with the camera facing up to get the sky and just left it there. Well, unfortunately at one point I had to take a turn and my phone slid over to one side.

When I got home I grabbed my phone from the dashboard and saw this long scratch going from the top of the screen down to about 3/4's from the bottom. My heart sank. I haven't had this phone 24 hours and I've already defaced it.

I know that this screen is made differently, so I'm not sure if the techniques used to treat scratches for previous iPhones would do different things to my screen.

Has anyone ever fixed a scratch on their iPhone screen before? What's the procedure like? Any adverse effects? Any words of advice? I hate myself right now. :(
 
Is it a scratch or is it a scuff mark? I'm hoping it's a scuff mark which you'll be able to get rid of:rolleyes:
 
I scratched my 3gs screen and applied a good screen protector after and it helps to hide the scratch.

Here is the second way to fix it. All iPhone 4s (most atleast) have hairline cracks in the glass pannels mostly the back, however you can not see it on the black phones only the white ones. thats why they didnt deliver the white ones, they are trying to fix the issue. the way you identify if your is cracked is with a laser pointer. Use it and go over the back with the beam at an ange so it illuminates a long line along the surface, go very slowly and carefully and you will find these very minute cracks. Then take it to the apple store and tell them its cracked and you want it replaced (bring your laser pointer or they cant se it) Good luck...

And for those who are going to flame me, go try it first then flame me if im wrong...
 
My advice.... stop being irresponsible with your expensive iPhone.

chakraj said:
I scratched my 3gs screen and applied a good screen protector after and it helps to hide the scratch.
Click to expand...
Yes this has worked for me in the past (original iPhone)
chakraj said:
All iPhone 4s (most atleast) have hairline cracks in the glass pannels mostly the back, however you can not see it on the black phones only the white ones. thats why they didnt deliver the white ones, they are trying to fix the issue. the way you identify if your is cracked is with a laser pointer. Use it and go over the back with the beam at an ange so it illuminates a long line along the surface, go very slowly and carefully and you will find these very minute cracks. Then take it to the apple store and tell them its cracked and you want it replaced (bring your laser pointer or they cant se it) Good luck...
And for those who are going to flame me, go try it first then flame me if im wrong...
Click to expand...

Seeing as 600k pre-sales went down on the 15th, and who knows how many "walked" out the door today I say you ARE full of poo. How many did YOU test. Lets say you tested 100. Yeah.... not even CLOSE to being a great enough number for you to say something as baseless as what you did.
 
Where's the first place you put your brand new, shiny, all glass, electronic device?

ON YOUR DASHBOARD!

:D
 
chakraj said:
I scratched my 3gs screen and applied a good screen protector after and it helps to hide the scratch.

Here is the second way to fix it. All iPhone 4s (most atleast) have hairline cracks in the glass pannels mostly the back, however you can not see it on the black phones only the white ones. thats why they didnt deliver the white ones, they are trying to fix the issue. the way you identify if your is cracked is with a laser pointer. Use it and go over the back with the beam at an ange so it illuminates a long line along the surface, go very slowly and carefully and you will find these very minute cracks. Then take it to the apple store and tell them its cracked and you want it replaced (bring your laser pointer or they cant se it) Good luck...

And for those who are going to flame me, go try it first then flame me if im wrong...
Click to expand...

If you need to shine brights beams of light and strain your eyes to see cracks who cares.

You could use a macro lens on dslr and take pics of all sorts of things and spot imperfections. IMHO there are bigger issues with the phone that warrant possible replacement than microscopic cracks that require a laser pointer.
 
chakraj said:
I scratched my 3gs screen and applied a good screen protector after and it helps to hide the scratch.

Here is the second way to fix it. All iPhone 4s (most atleast) have hairline cracks in the glass pannels mostly the back, however you can not see it on the black phones only the white ones. thats why they didnt deliver the white ones, they are trying to fix the issue. the way you identify if your is cracked is with a laser pointer. Use it and go over the back with the beam at an ange so it illuminates a long line along the surface, go very slowly and carefully and you will find these very minute cracks. Then take it to the apple store and tell them its cracked and you want it replaced (bring your laser pointer or they cant se it) Good luck...

And for those who are going to flame me, go try it first then flame me if im wrong...
Click to expand...

Screw laser pointer, I would go with electron microscopy! I bet there are small imperfections that the human eye can't even see. Better yet, swab it, culture it and say you want a new one because this one is contaminated!

Honestly just go back into apple, explain what happened. They are usually all giddy after a new release and will take care of you if they have replacements. I would call first just to ask if they do have replacements available, then make an appointment. Tell them what happened and I bet they would swap it out.

Worst case is that a new screen is 200.
 
Ok, here's a pic:

I can feel it with my fingernail. I tried using some toothpaste to try to buff it out, but it didn't make any difference.
 

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you could go in and say you have been getting lots of dropped calls with your iphone and your roomate has the IP4 also and he does not. Then ask if you can get a replacement. I did that with my 3g twice after scratching it to get a new phone.
 
If what you are claiming as a scratch is that horizontal line, in the picture (vertical when you hold the phone up) then it may not be that deep on the glass. Glass is hard to scratch. However, anti-reflective and anti-smudge coatings, like the ones found on this iPhone and the 3Gs do actually scratch because after all it is a coating. For example, Omega watches has applied anti-reflective coatings to diving watches on the sapphire crystal. That type of crystal is very very very difficult to scratch.

So, there must be a solution to this without having to freak out about it, at least just yet. You can problem try to wipe it off using a water and perhaps you can move to thinning chemical. Be very careful, though.
 
Broph said:
Just above the shadow... OUCH dunno how you'll get rid of that!
Click to expand...

Ok now I see it.

Is your dashboard made out of diamonds?

EDIT: Also OP, I scratched up the back of my 3G while ago and I went in and said I was having problems booting the phone (which was the truth, sometimes it would not turn back on), the Genius easily booted it behind the counter...but then gave me a replacement saying "Just to be sure." The obviously scratched phone eliminated. My appointment time was the last of the day which might have had something to do with it ;)

Although, I don't think they will be able to do anything on the 28th because of the shortage of phones. You never know
 
So does anyone know of any remedies I can do to the screen short of getting a replacement phone?

It really sucks how I had my 3G for 2 years without any scratches, then the second day I have my new iPhone I put a huge scratch in it.
 
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