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Merkie

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 23, 2008
2,125
740
As you might've read, I dropped my iPhone 4, causing the glass to have cracked. However, when I handed it in for repair (unfortunately we have no Apple stores where I live), the guy there said that the damage might be covered under warranty because it was just a single diagonal crack and the glass was by no means "shattered".

I found one other story to support the statement that the damage might be covered under warranty here. Anyone willing to shed his or her light on this?
 
Pics or it didnt happened.

edit: if you want it replaced NEVER say again that you droped it.....
 
Generally a hairline crack is covered under warranty as long as it doesn't show signs of being dropped. My brother-in-law had is 3GS replaced under warranty by Apple when he dropped his face down on the concrete and it got a hairline crack.
 
Pics or it didnt happened.

edit: if you want it replaced NEVER say again that you droped it.....

Time to replace that moral compass, seems to have a hairline crack of it's own.


OP, generally it wouldn't be covered.
 
It's not covered by warranty since it was damage caused by misuse; however, a Genius might be kind enough to do a one time exception.

They replaced my iPhone when it had a pink water sensor. I knew I never put that thing near water though. I'm not really sure if they need 2 sensors for a replacement, but only 1 was tripped. Either way, i got a replacement from the kind lady.
 
Pics can help the decision. A friend of mines got his replaced no charge for a several tiny cracks in the front. He didn't drop it though. It cracked when it was in his front pocket while working. He's a mechanic so he squats alot working, explained everything truthfully to Apple.

Maybe they will let you slide if your just truthful and nice.
 
Whether you lie or tell the truth, I think you'll most likely get it replaced for free. It sure doesn't look like damage from a drop.
 
They replaced mine when I had a single hairline crack. One though you should know though. There was no evident point of impact, only a singalong crak on the bottom corner. Apple said It was covered and they replaced it for free. Assuming it was the back, you should he good to go. I highly doubt they'd replace the front though because of the costs involved.
 
Whether you lie or tell the truth, I think you'll most likely get it replaced for free. It sure doesn't look like damage from a drop.

It is caused by the user.
That does not qualify as a factory defect but as abuse.
Glass doesnt crack on its own.
But if he's polite and gets a cool Apple rep they'll most likelly take care of it for free.
But dont be 100% that they have to cause they dont.
 
You can try but I wouldnt place any bets on it. Thats pretty huge crack. Even if you push that it was some sort of factory defect ("But it came that way!!!") its pretty unlikely that that thing would have gotten past QC. But common sense kind of dictates that glass, especially chemically strengthened aluminosilicate glass (within normal use) doesnt splinter or spider like that without an external force.

The only other time i've seen glass do something like that is if it was subject to an extremely hot temperature and then thrown into the freezer by which the contract/expanding action of the glass created too much stress and it cracked itself.

You can try it with an ice cube. They crack almost as soon as they hit your drink.

But honest, OP, Apple stores lately have been pretty cool if you just told them the truth about it. Ive read more than a handful for stories where phones have been replaced when the owner has just been outright with it. Im not going to judge you for choosing one way or the other. But I personally think just be honest with them. If you lie them (and it sounds like it would have to be a pretty involved lie to me based on the damage) more than likely not they'll now whats going on and it makes you look bad and its just insulting and disrespectful for the genius.
 
Huge bump (I was looking through all my old topics I started), but I just want to say that I got a replacement for free! It was covered under warranty because it was just a single crack, just like I was told when I handed it in. So if you have just one single crack, Apple might just replace it for free.
 
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