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my love affair with the iPhone 4S is over.
- Thread starter metsomaniac
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If your the type of person who drops things often why buy a phone made of glass and not use a decent case?
Have had the iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4 and now the 4S. So far I have always paired my iPhone with a mophie case, usually the mophie juice pack air. I did accidentally drop each of my older iPhones a couple of times, so far none of them have incurred any sort of fall damage. The current case I am using with the iPhone 4S is the mophie juice pack plus, dropped my phone only once, no damage yet. Hope that helps. =]
You can get aluminum backs for these for cheap on ebay. I did that so the back wasnt glass. I then use a screen protector on the front glass and a rubber snap on bezel for the sides. I have dropped it a few times and havent had it break. Replacing the back glass is easy. 2 screws. The front is simple too, search youtube for a tutorial and get your replacement parts on ebay as well. Usually they come form china and take 2 weeks to get to you, but its the cheapest way you can fix your phone
My 4S survived a car accident where I ran straight into the side of another vehicle (accident wasn't my fault), and then my car did a complete roll-over. The phone flew out of one of the broken windows during the roll-over and landed on the side of the road. I had a case and a screen protector on it, but still expected major damage to the phone. There's not a scratch on it. My case got scratched up, but the phone itself is in perfect shape.
A lot of it depends on how the phone hits the ground when you drop it. But everyone that buys an iPhone knows it's glass. If you don't put a case on it, you should know that the chances of it breaking in a fall are much greater. That's the risk you take.
A lot of it depends on how the phone hits the ground when you drop it. But everyone that buys an iPhone knows it's glass. If you don't put a case on it, you should know that the chances of it breaking in a fall are much greater. That's the risk you take.
If this were an Android phone we were talking about, made of all glass, you all would be reacting much differently. With that being said, before buying an iPhone its best to add the cost of Applecare + for the true purchase price.
And OP, loved the creative post.
And OP, loved the creative post.
Hot Potato
Wow quite a hot potato I have here, I've never had such a response to a forum post before.
Thank you for suggestions of insurance, naturally I thought of this and after much investigation I was left confused. Living in UK there are a few options where you can pay as little as £6 / $9 per month (£72/$108 per year) and an excess to pay this is pretty much equivalent to what I paid for the replacement.
Though talking about insurance etc is besides the point.
The point is .
A few made comparisons with Ferraris and motorcycles etc, and a few suggested a bumper or a case.
I don't think someone owning a Ferrari would want to wrap their car in a silicon bumper! and I'm sure if any motorcycle manufacturer made a bike that after the equivalent of a mobile dropping 2 1/2ft in motorbike terms became unusable, i'm pretty sure motorbike enthusiasts would think twice before buying a motorbike.
If you buy an iphone, shouldn't you be confident that the product is going to be able to withstand the rigours of its intended purpose. I'm not saying that iPhone's should be dropped, but surely Apple must have tested their latest and greatest product to be able withstand a drop. Gadgets get dropped!
Reading this topic it appears that the original Iphone 3G & 3Gs can withstand a drop more than the latest and greatest.
I'm surprised that Apple having released the iPhone 4 and the number of incidents Apple Geniuses must have had to deal with, Apple design engineers would have addressed this issue.
The skeptic in me feels that Apple need to release a phone a year to maintain its foothold within the phone market and released the 4S as a new and improved version of the 4, In fact what owners of the iPhone 4 should have got in the first place. ( I write this cautiously because I can only imagine the kind of response I going to get for that . but lets hear it!) But if you need to maybe open up a new topic with this paragraph so this topic remains focused on the 4S and the fragility of the screen.
and lastly (couldn't resist)
Whilst there are a few of us who can barely string a sentence together I thank you for your contribution. Especially
Big tree and William Mantle (come on lets hear your constructive tirade (a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation : a tirade of abuse.)
Wow quite a hot potato I have here, I've never had such a response to a forum post before.
Thank you for suggestions of insurance, naturally I thought of this and after much investigation I was left confused. Living in UK there are a few options where you can pay as little as £6 / $9 per month (£72/$108 per year) and an excess to pay this is pretty much equivalent to what I paid for the replacement.
Though talking about insurance etc is besides the point.
The point is .
A few made comparisons with Ferraris and motorcycles etc, and a few suggested a bumper or a case.
I don't think someone owning a Ferrari would want to wrap their car in a silicon bumper! and I'm sure if any motorcycle manufacturer made a bike that after the equivalent of a mobile dropping 2 1/2ft in motorbike terms became unusable, i'm pretty sure motorbike enthusiasts would think twice before buying a motorbike.
If you buy an iphone, shouldn't you be confident that the product is going to be able to withstand the rigours of its intended purpose. I'm not saying that iPhone's should be dropped, but surely Apple must have tested their latest and greatest product to be able withstand a drop. Gadgets get dropped!
Reading this topic it appears that the original Iphone 3G & 3Gs can withstand a drop more than the latest and greatest.
I'm surprised that Apple having released the iPhone 4 and the number of incidents Apple Geniuses must have had to deal with, Apple design engineers would have addressed this issue.
The skeptic in me feels that Apple need to release a phone a year to maintain its foothold within the phone market and released the 4S as a new and improved version of the 4, In fact what owners of the iPhone 4 should have got in the first place. ( I write this cautiously because I can only imagine the kind of response I going to get for that . but lets hear it!) But if you need to maybe open up a new topic with this paragraph so this topic remains focused on the 4S and the fragility of the screen.
and lastly (couldn't resist)
Whilst there are a few of us who can barely string a sentence together I thank you for your contribution. Especially
Big tree and William Mantle (come on lets hear your constructive tirade (a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation : a tirade of abuse.)
Correct me if I'm wrong, if this were any another phone, the replacement cost would be 100% of the phone, not a fixed rate of £140 (when damaged was made by the user). What is the issue here again?
[edit] I see now your point is about the robustness. I dropped my iPhone 4 on tile floor from my pocket previously. It survived and only resulted in a small dent at the corner this is barely noticeable. So I really depends on the angle and where exactly it lands on floor.
[edit] I see now your point is about the robustness. I dropped my iPhone 4 on tile floor from my pocket previously. It survived and only resulted in a small dent at the corner this is barely noticeable. So I really depends on the angle and where exactly it lands on floor.
Guess that'll learn you to buy a case for your phone and not try to be like the people who walk around naked as fashionable.
some of us don't seem to be getting the point i'm making......
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If you live in US you have Apple care plus which costs $99 and then you have a $49 fee per incident up to 2 incidents.
therefore for the first incident $100 & $49 = $149 / £100
In the UK broken glass equivalent to an incident = £140 / $210
second incident
In the US= $49
in the UK= £140/$210
No doubt Apple are aware of these incidents and have responded appropriately with Applecare plus.
Unfortunately living in Uk, iPhones costs you more.
I just personally think its hilarious when people drop their iPhones and crack the screen or back, thinking that glass bounces. But a good 95% of all of these "my screen cracked" threads happen because they use those "cutesy" minimalistic cases.
If you're going to live dangerously, I suggest getting a lanyard for the headphone jack or something.
I feel your pain and I sympathize with not having insurance, but of I didn't have insurance, I'd be just that more cautious. That and iPhones ain't cheap. If you can afford one, a replacement shouldn't be that much hard to find.
If you're going to live dangerously, I suggest getting a lanyard for the headphone jack or something.
I feel your pain and I sympathize with not having insurance, but of I didn't have insurance, I'd be just that more cautious. That and iPhones ain't cheap. If you can afford one, a replacement shouldn't be that much hard to find.
Precisely ... depends on what Angle it drops at!, wow there should be a warning on the side of the box, do not drop at any angle between 70˚ and 180˚.
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Glass is an incredible material, have you entered an Apple store recently and walked up the stairs, ooops no thats not glass thats perspex... but glass is a strong material, they use it on the side's of buildings now a days.
I don't get your point about being able to afford one, meaning I can afford a replacement, you don't know my circumstances, but not the less....
Please try and stay on the subject of robustness....
How about if I titled this The Apple iPhone 4S is not robust!
No, but Ferraris get dented, dinged and wrecked anyway. And that isn't Ferrari's fault. The owner must then either learn to live with their obscenely expensive piece of damaged goods, or spend the money to make repairs.
That said, repairing a wrecked Ferrari costs far more than repairing a shattered iPhone 4S.
Actually, quite a few motorbikes suffer damage after simply being knocked on their side. And no, no one thinks to blame the maker of the bike for this. The nerve of them! Making a device that must be propped up when stationary, or else it could be damaged! Clearly no potential buyer of such contraptions would ever think that something which only has two wheels might be remotely unstable on its axis while stationary, and could be knocked over.
And again, typically the damage from such an event tends to be quite a bit more than repairing your shattered iPhone 4S.
I've owned an iPhone, a 3G, a 3GS, a 4 and a 4S. Each one was dropped at least once during the time I've owned it, usually from higher than 2.5 feet, and landing on materials ranging from carpet, to hardwoord flooring, to the foot of a steel table leg, to the edge of a concrete curb from the seat of a car, and onto road pavement. There have been tiny chips on the edge of the glass on occasion, but never a crack of a shatter.
At the same time, there are other phones, and other devices that have suffered significant damage after being subject to my clumsiness.
So yes, I'm confident that the iPhone will be able to withstand some stupidity on my part, but I should count my blessings if it in fact has.
Yes, and short of encasing the device in pure diamond and reinforced titanium, not every drop is survivable!
Nothing is completely impervious to damage from a drop or fall. But some drops and falls are fatal and others are withstood quite well. It all spends on physics and a little luck.
In any case, buying a phone whose outer covering is probably 95% glass, and for whom there has been reports before of shattered screens from drops, seems to me to be fair warning to any reasonable person capable of operating that phone that perhaps precautions should be taken, and perhaps they should even be prepared to have to replace that phone somehow, because it's probably possible to break it if you're not careful enough.
It's not as if you had never seen an iPhone in your life before, and had never known that it could possibly be damaged. Sorry, if you buy an iPhone and break it, you have only yourself to blame if you are unprepared to handle the consequences of that.
I would disagree with that. They suffer damage too, particularly the front glass where it counts. The back however, will scratch and crack, but by virtue of the material being what it is, people are probably more willing to tolerate slightly more damage to a plastic casing than a glass one.
And I'm shocked - utterly shocked! - that despite this design being out there for over a year, and your being aware of apple geniuses having to deal with cracked screens, and with the cost of replacement for damage being well known, that it still took you buying one and damaging one to make the inference that gee, these things can be broken!
So now we've gone from criticizing the exterior design to the interior design. This is looking more and more like a classic case of sour grapes.
Look, it's clear you need to make a decision. either the iOS interface, or your perception that Android devices can withstand damage better, is more important. You should pick one, stick to it, and move on.
So can make personal attacks against others, but can't accept the "tirade of abuse" if directed back at you. If you can't take the heat...
Yes, and windows on the sides of buildings also break now and then when - wait for it, now - something impacts them, at just the right angle, and with just the right amount of force. That's generally how glaziers stay in business.
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My point is the glass doesn't always shatter on every drop. It's just your luck. By the way, it's hard to get people to side with you when you are being so ... let's just say unfriendly.
I understand what you are saying and I feel for you. But did you even have a case on at the time? I had a iPhone 3G, 4 and now 4S never dropped them hard enough to shatter. *knocks on wood* With the 3G and 4 I didn't have cases on them but with the 4S I decided to use a case. The price Apple charges for first repair is pretty ridiculous tho.
So...now that I've read this tragic story and am afraid...
has anyone found and used a case that allowed their phones to survive rather intense bumps and falls a few or more times? Really need to get something protective on this thing I think. I dropped my 3GS dozens of times and I'm a very clutzy person. In fact, my body is actually crooked and off balance from a spine problem and I have few options for remedying that save for taking ballet perhaps....
My trusty 3GS, I'm amazed the thing hasn't shattered yet. I dropped it down a flight of stairs the first day I got it.
Otter box defender series
In all honesty I don't feel sorry for any of you. You bought and paid for this device....which was an expensive piece of technology. Do you even bother to try and protect it?
First thing I did when I got my is put it in an otterbox. I honestly don't care if it takes away from the look of it....the phone is protected from just about anything now.
I swear you all should go back to using flip phones until you can figure out how to treat things properly.
First thing I did when I got my is put it in an otterbox. I honestly don't care if it takes away from the look of it....the phone is protected from just about anything now.
I swear you all should go back to using flip phones until you can figure out how to treat things properly.
I do understand the point the OP is trying to make. Somehow I don't see a point of spending so much of accessories to 'protect' the phone and making it look ugly.
Currently, I have a couple screen protectors on my 4S, but nothing to protect against a drop. Afterall, it is just a phone. I want to use it, and not pamper it. However, I understand it is a choice that I make and I will face the consequence. "I break, I cry", I am prepared to suck it and not to regret about it.
Currently, I have a couple screen protectors on my 4S, but nothing to protect against a drop. Afterall, it is just a phone. I want to use it, and not pamper it. However, I understand it is a choice that I make and I will face the consequence. "I break, I cry", I am prepared to suck it and not to regret about it.
Attachments
Yep. My friend shattered his HTC Evo and had to pay some $500 bucks to get a replacement.
I have free phone insurance with my Barclays bank account in the UK. Both my wife's and my iPhone 4S are covered on the policy. £25 excess first claim, £50 excess 2nd claim.