Carrying a kid and an iPhone sover hardwood floors is a bad idea, because you never know when you might have to choose which one to drop

January 29, 2010 12:04 AM

My iPhone has a cracked LCD, and I'm considering sending it to Mission repair, who I found via this ask. Does anyone else have any experiences with them to share before I send away my phone? Are there any steps I should take to make data safe, or am I just being paranoid there? Are there any alternatives I should consider in the Seattle area? Note that the phone is not under warranty.
posted by Artw to computers & internet (11 answers total)

Are there any steps I should take to make data safe

I'm not sure how sensitive your data is, but I'd have a huge problem with sending my iPhone off to somebody without making sure they can't peek at anything they shouldn't. The easiest and most effective way to make sure there's nothing of use on the device is to do remote wipe, which will get rid of the key used to decrypt the contents, making everything on the phone effectively useless scrambled garbage.
posted by floam at 12:45 AM on January 29, 2010

Just a note, Apple replace my screen (hairline crack) without hassle - but it was under warranty. Worth considering if yours is too.
posted by backwards guitar at 4:49 AM on January 29, 2010

Have you tried the apple store. It might be the same price . Your screen would be repaired while you wait. Prob at most 20 min or less.
posted by majortom1981 at 5:47 AM on January 29, 2010

I also had mine swapped for a new phone at the Store. It was under warranty (about 6mos old) when I, um, dropped it onto cement and the screen cracked.
posted by rokusan at 7:29 AM on January 29, 2010

I've heard plus and minuses about going to an Apple Store ... some Apple Stores will do the repair, some will not.

I can say that I was in the same situation as you (cracked screen glass due to an encounter with a raised tile floor). I had Mission do the replacement, and I was very pleased with their work. They do very fast turnaround (the phone shipped Tuesday morning, was there and fixed Wednesday, and I got it back Thursday morning). The replacement glass and repair runs for about $99.00, the last I checked, and that includes a 1-year warranty on the phone, post-work.

You might want to do a backup of your phone, but I'm pretty sure nothing was touched on mine ... the phone came back with everything on it when it was shipped. Just remember to pull your SIM before shipping. FYI, I would recommend using their shipping container to FedEx the phone ... it's very sturdy and very padded.

Note: the repair cost just covers the glass and does not include the bezel; they can probably replace the bezel as well, but that's likely an extra charge.
posted by Gingercat at 9:00 AM on January 29, 2010

It's probably immaterial, but it appears to be the actual LCD that is damaged and not the screen - there's an odd jagged line of rainbow coloured pixels leading to the edge of the screen, and then a series of solid colour vertical lines. I've actually dropped it twice now, the first time resulting in a little bit of damage (the jagged line was shorter, only one vertical line), which I never got round to doing anything about, and then the second time making it much worse. If I had to guess I'd say that the jagged line is a crack and the vertical lines are where it intersects with some kind of connector.

Both droppages were from about 3-4ft onto a hardwood floor, and entirely due to me trying to do too many things at the same time, so if I go into the Apple store I'm going to be telling them I straight up broke the thing myself, in a manner in which it would not be unexpected for some damage to occur.
posted by Artw at 9:37 AM on January 29, 2010

Also the local Apple store is here, if that helps.
posted by Artw at 9:38 AM on January 29, 2010

I broke my iPhone 3G a couple of months ago and replaced the screen myself with a kit from iFixit.com. That cost $150 (for the kit with the both the screen and the glass panel) and the process of swapping that out wasn't difficult: took me about 30 minutes. That might be an option...
posted by baggers at 12:05 PM on January 29, 2010

I work at an Apple Store. I'll just say you should take the value of your time, and time away from your phone, into consideration.
Any Apple store will swap your phone for a new one for $199 in about 15 minutes.
Just remember to make a Genius Bar appointment in advance at www.apple.com/retail
As far as data goes, if your phone is useable enough to get into settings, sync your phone to make a backup and then on your phone, go to Settings>General>Reset>Erase All Content And Settings. Then when you replace your phone you can restore it from backup.
posted by raygan at 12:38 PM on January 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

My aforementioned, fixed for free, crack was also on the lcd - sounds similar to what you've got going on.
posted by backwards guitar at 8:43 PM on January 29, 2010

So, I took it in to the Apple Store today - as it turns out I was wrong about it no longer being under warranty. They carried it off into a back room and "fixed" it for free, though I suspect that it may have been a new unit as it didn't seem to take much time and it came back suspiciously clean. Service was excellent, the whole thing took no time at all. I'm glad I didn't send it off to any weird third party.
posted by Artw at 11:54 PM on February 13, 2010