Repairing the iPhone headphone jack fastener?

September 24, 2009 6:49 PM

iPhone 3G: The little silver ring around my iPhone 3G's headphone jack has gone missing, and now headphones don't stay in the jack...they just slide right out. The jack still works--if I press down really hard on the headphone connector, sound comes out of the headphones--but as soon as I let up the headphones come right out. Everything else on the phone works fine. What are my options for getting this repaired?

Maybe my Google skills are weak, but I can't find anyone else online who's had this problem, so I don't really know what to do. It's out of warranty, but I don't mind paying a reasonable repair bill. But where should I take it?

1. The Apple Store. The closest one is about an hour and a half away, which isn't that bad of a drive and I could have lunch with friends, but is this even the answer? Would I have to leave my phone there and then pick it up again in a week, or could they fix it that day?

2. The local AT&T store. If this is really a viable option, I'd be glad to do it, but I don't want to lose time or my patience by dealing with AT&T if I don't have to.

3. The local authorized Mac repair place, whom I've happily worked with before when my MacBook Pro had a faulty fan, but do these repair shops even deal with iPhones? And yes, I'll call them in the morning to find out, but I'm curious if it's desirable to go this route even if they do.

4. Nowhere, and fix it myself. Apparently the part is available for purchase (1, 2, 3) but unless one of you is like "Oh I did it and it's totally easy, you just pop it in" I'd rather just pay someone to fix it for me.

posted by Ian A.T. to technology (9 comments total)

Call up the Apple store and ask if they can do it there, then make an appointment online for the Genius bar. My 3G was less than a year old, and they replaced the screen for free in about 10 minutes.
posted by martens at 6:54 PM on September 24

Grommits, man. Just slice this one in half with a razor blade, put it in and you're golden.
posted by chambers at 7:23 PM on September 24

My boyfriend had a loose headphone jack, and when they couldn't figure out a fix they just shrugged and replaced the whole phone. Probably worth taking in to the store.
posted by Madamina at 7:30 PM on September 24

You don't mention whether it's under warranty or not, which is a rather big point, but the Apple Store is going to be the safest bet either way. I'm still on my original 3G, but I know more than two people who have walked in with problems and walked out with a replacement unit in 30 minutes each.
posted by rokusan at 8:16 PM on September 24

"You don't mention whether it's under warranty or not, which is a rather big point"

I agree, it IS a big point...so big, in fact, that I went out of my way to point out in the question that it's out of warranty. (I'm not calling you out--I'd use a :) here if I were the type--but I didn't want anyone else to make the same mistake.)
posted by Ian A.T. at 9:14 PM on September 24

Dammit, and I read it twice to check that too. I stink.

Apple Store's still the safest bet.
posted by rokusan at 9:23 PM on September 24

Apple doesn't so much fix as it replaces; they'll do that for you, but you'll have to pay (AFAIK) $200 for the privilege as your phone is out of warranty. you'll get a "like-new" phone out of the deal, though, so it'll be in better cosmetic condition than yours. AT&T will tell you to go talk to Apple - they don't do hardware support for iPhones at all. (or, rather, they haven't been, but I doubt that's changed.) Apple doesn't really let local service providers do repairs on iPhones/iPods but there's nothing really stopping an AASP from finding the parts elsewhere and doing it for you, so that could be the cheapest alternative if you don't want to try it yourself. I've never tried to do this, but the parts seem to look like you're going to have to take the phone apart to replace that bit.

alternatively, you could check with AT&T to see if you're eligible for early upgrade pricing and then move upwards to a 3GS. the 16GB 3GS is $200 if you're eligible and willing to reup for a couple more years.
posted by mrg at 7:59 AM on September 25

I completely recommend Mission Repair : http://www.missionrepair.com/Mission_Repair_3G_iPhone_Headphone_Jack_Repair_p/222-4046.htm
posted by CorporateHippy at 10:09 AM on September 25

OMG I'm so embarrassed. I took it to the Apple Store and guess what? You know how I said I couldn't find anyone with the same problem on Google? That's because the problem doesn't exist. The silver ring doesn't hold the headphones in--and now that I think about it, it's probably been gone for months--and there's no internal mechanism like a clip or a grommet (sorry, Chambers). The problem was that a tiny piece of paper had gotten jammed down in the bottom. THAT'S why my headphones wouldn't stay in. 

The problem was fixed in about thirty seconds with tweezers and compressed air, and at no cost except for the gas I spent making the 90 minute trip and the embarrassment I had to suffer for not doing the MOST BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS thing and shining a light in the jack before posting an AskMe and going shopping for grommets and generally freaking out. I was so convinced the problem was at the top of the jack that it never even occurred to me that the bottom might really be the issue.

Lessons learned:
1. Consider the entire mechanism when diagnosing a problem.
2. Remember that I'm not an expert and whatever diagnosis I make is just a theory.
3. In fact, I should probably leave the diagnosis to the experts.
4. Don't be snarky in your AskMe thread, even in jest. They're just trying to help.
BONUS LESSON: If you can't find your problem on Google, you might not have the problem you think you do.
posted by Ian A.T. at 9:45 AM on September 26 [1 favorite]