Rattling iPhone SE's lock/power buttons. An old flaw reinvented?

[MrGuder]

No rattle on my SE.

 

[stopcryingmaxap]

No rattle on my SE.

GOOD JOB. you killed the rattlesnake!

 

[maflynn]

I am willing to take on that hassle for science. As I mentioned, I am going to try a max of 2 replacements, if they both do it, then I'm done and put up with it.

My wife's SE and mine both have cases on them and they still rattle. They aren't the Apple leather cases though. I got these at Amazon for $7 each and I like how they are transparent so you are protecting the phone but not covering its looks up.

http://www.amazon.com/DACHUI-Transp...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I'll be getting an otterbox commuter series case, and that covers the button up, there by preventing the rattle. I have an older full otterbox case on there until I get the case I want.

 

[Mainiac]

I'll be getting an otterbox commuter series case, and that covers the button up, there by preventing the rattle. I have an older full otterbox case on there until I get the case I want.

My case covers the button up but it still rattles. Even if I hold the power button down it still rattles. Again, it's not anything I'm concerned about, just a minor annoyance. If I'm moving the camera like I'm taking video it doesn't rattle. It's only if I'm moderately shaking the phone.

 

[maflynn]

I'll be putting my phone through its paces over the next few days, to make sure its working within defined parameters

 

[PaladinGuy]

If you're someone that is bothered by details/small imperfections, it's always nerve racking to get a new iPhone. I've not found any issues with my 6S, which is part of what's making it almost an impossible decision to get rid of it. On top of the newer features being useful to me.

It's a good idea to fully test things out for the 14 day period. I'm a big believer in making sure you get your money's worth. My general rule is that I'll tolerate any issue that is unnoticeable to the naked eye or unnoticeable in normal use. Having bought a handful of very nice watches, this has become my standard.

 

[0087215]

Great comments, guys! It appears that some of you don't have any rattle which is good news. Let's hope there are iPhones SE out there without any rattle in power buttons.

 

[ascender]

Has anyone just taken the phone back yet to ask for one which doesn't rattle or called Apple?

 

[PaladinGuy]

I did tell the specialist that helped me return mine that the power switch rattled a lot and that the screen had two defects. Really not sure that it'll matter, but yes, I did mention it.

 

[Sonic]

small rattle here, but not enough rattle to bother me. my SE's home button is super loud and clicky though, and makes different sounds depending on where it's been pressed. makes it feel cheap compared to the consistent midrange click on my 5. debating whether to exchange it

 

[MrAverigeUser]

wow, so many people have rattle
tough luck, in Australia, we ain't scared of the rattlesnake, so they all dead
So, mine doesn't have any noise

which colour did u get initially? I got the gold version

Perhaps - as an Australian - you could claim your SE works "snappy as one of our millions of sharks" around ….

I think I will wait some months until I can be sure that there is no "xxxx-gate" with the SE.
I did this all the time with apple hardware and software - and I did well so...

 

[Decker39]

I wonder how Decker39 is getting on with his 3rd phone.

Hi folks, not the update i hoped to give you. Took my SE back to CPW after work only to be told they have no replacements in stock, as they had all gone due to pre orders. The guy looked surprised to see me again, but even more surprised that my second handset had a rattle. He had a look on his system for other stores with them in stock, but i wouldn't of made closing time. Instead, my son will be taking it back in the morning and asking the techie to open the box and " rattle test " the 3rd device before leaving the store.
Hopefully a better update tomorrow

 

[Phat Ham]

Hi folks, not the update i hoped to give you. Took my SE back to CPW after work only to be told they have no replacements in stock, as they had all gone due to pre orders. The guy looked surprised to see me again, but even more surprised that my second handset had a rattle. He had a look on his system for other stores with them in stock, but i wouldn't of made closing time. Instead, my son will be taking it back in the morning and asking the techie to open the box and " rattle test " the 3rd device before leaving the store.
Hopefully a better update tomorrow

I had the same problem. I took my SE back to the Apple store and the employee I spoke with immediately heard the rattle and wanted to do an exchange but they were all out of SIM free SE's. He said my best option was to either come in first thing in the morning and hope they have more in stock or to buy another one online and then return the one I have. The employee talked to his manager to see if they could reserve one for me but he said there's no way for them to do that.

 

[Decker39]

Guess the sim free are most popular due to the price, and no network lock restrictions. Mine is the sim free device also

 

[PaladinGuy]

I had the same problem. I took my SE back to the Apple store and the employee I spoke with immediately heard the rattle and wanted to do an exchange but they were all out of SIM free SE's. He said my best option was to either come in first thing in the morning and hope they have more in stock or to buy another one online and then return the one I have. The employee talked to his manager to see if they could reserve one for me but he said there's no way for them to do that.

Same thing happened to me. I just returned it.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

But generally, if we talk about technology and a certain device rattles, it is considered a bad sign. (Something must have been broken or is loose) Look at the 6S that feels and sounds rocksolid, it means it has properly been manufactured and will serve you well a long time. If you know that there are iPhone models out there that do not produce any rattling sounds, it makes you wonder whether you have a well-built product in your hands. That's why some of us are concerned with these rattling buttons.

It's just the way the phone is designed. Nothing is broken. The "button" is just a cap on the actual switch and sits there held in by the case. It's free to wiggle a bit.

It one of these phones doesn't do this it is probably defective since the parts are misaligned or something is stuck in between.
[doublepost=1459544570][/doublepost]

Personally, I wish this thread would never have been created because all iPhones SE were perfect (again, it is more a philosophical discussion whether perfection exists in our imperfect world) or at least without major flaws. I honestly hoped that Apple would rectify all issues that the 5/5S had and that there would be no rattles, backlight problems and other issues.

Sadly enough, I also think that these rattles with the SE are here to stay and Apple will do nothing to fix this "problem" that bothers some of us. Now, I can choose between two evils: the sturdy iPhone 6S, which does not have a sealed screen and dust gets inside, has a protruding camera and is expensive, or the rattling iPhone SE, which cannot have dust under the screen, has a great camera that does not protrude and is less expensive. (I think the SE would be the winner here and my videos would have a nice rattling background music thanks to Apple's innovation and incredibility)

Why does Apple make it so difficult for us? Or do some of us simply expect too much?

If I was buying a cheap Android phone, which I do not care about and do not care about its ecosystem, I think I would certainly not be looking for a "perfect" or "great" device because the expectations would be much lower. But again, I also played with some Android phones and even these less expensive devices were sturdy and did not have any rattling buttons.

In my view, Steve Jobs and his passion for technology taught us that it is possible to have a nearly flawless device (yes, I know... the iPhone 4 - among others - and the famous adagium "you hold it wrong"... we all make mistakes) or at least to strive to attain that unattainable level of perfection he was always occupied with. It has been already said so many times by others but it is all about money today and selling as many iDevices as possible: yes, I know that Apple is a company and not a charity and that the only thing companies do and want to do is making financial profit. But still, if a business has a person such as Steve running it, priorities can shift from merely making money to following some great ideals that formed the basis of Apple and its philosophy when it was created.

Oh, Apple! I hope I will not have to say goodbye to you soon.

So your argument is a problem that existed under Steve would not exist if he still ran Apple??

 

[PaladinGuy]

There just seems to be an awful lot of variance in the tolerances with these buttons. I find that a bit odd for things made by machines. Whereas, I totally get differences/variance with processor chips and batteries because of their chemistry/physics.

 

[maflynn]

asking the techie to open the box and " rattle test " the 3rd device before leaving the store.

This is why I'm not really having an issue with the button rattle. I think its less of a defect and more of a manufacturing variance where some phones rattle and some may not.

Its not worth the hassle, and aggravation imo

 

[AlecEdworthy]

This is why I'm not really having an issue with the button rattle. I think its less of a defect and more of a manufacturing variance where some phones rattle and some may not.

Its not worth the hassle, and aggravation imo

I tried double-triple clicking the like button but it still only registered one like

A

 

[e93to]

I'm surprised some people actually got refund/exchange. I was denied exchange when I brought my 5S back to Apple Store, and was told that it is normal...

 

[Barrierfreeman]

I'm surprised some people actually got refund/exchange. I was denied exchange when I brought my 5S back to Apple Store, and was told that it is normal...

As discussed it probably is normal. In that variance in manufacture means some buttons might be looser than others. Most on this thread will be using the initial 14 days 'no questions' returns process to send back their units.

Its not worth the hassle, and aggravation imo

You could have returned your SE in the time it's taken you to repeatedly state it would be too much hassle

 

[e93to]

So, does the camera cause the rattle, like Geniuses told me? Or is it actually the power button? Was this ever verified during 2012-2014?

 

[macuser27]

No different from the 5 and 5s in my experience

 

[Barrierfreeman]

So, does the camera cause the rattle, like Geniuses told me? Or is it actually the power button? Was this ever verified during 2012-2014?

In my case it's clearly the power button. As an aside, my 5S never had a rattly anything. I honestly think this is only a tiny percentage of units with this issue.

 

[Mainiac]

For what it's worth my cousin come over tonight with his SE and it had the same rattle as my wife's and mine. He also brought his 5s that we are buying from him for our daughter and that also had the rattle.

Obviously this is not a manufacturing defect but just caused by the way the phone was designed. There haven't been significant reports of the 5s having issues due to this rattle so even though it is a small annoyance it appears to not have any adverse effects.