iPhone repair question

September 14, 2017 11:57 AM

iPhone 6 was completely soaked (in the rain outside at a concert) - we dried it out, but didn't do the silica, and it was on when the damage happened and left on / used. Now, it randomly powers off, the power button on the right no longer works (so when it powers off, it has to be plugged in to get it back on). Is this fixable, or should we look at another phone?

It's my niece's phone, and she tends to be hard on them - I don't know if we should look at a phone that isn't an iphone, or look at getting her a newer model.

We don't currently have a spare iphone laying around - we've been taking advantage of the upgrade plan, so we don't have the hand me downs that we used to. We may have a 6S if I upgrade, but I'm unsure about losing my headphone jack, so I am tempted to stick with it.

She tends to use her phone to store photos for art inspiration in addition to everything else, so looking at storage, I would want her to have at least 64GB - but that means several hundred dollars for even another used iphone.

posted by needlegrrl to Technology (7 answers total)

Best answer: It sounds like this is more of a 'what should we replace her phone with?' since you seem to know it can't be repaired (?). The iPhone SE is pretty cheap; you may want to check if your carrier will give you one for free for a contract renewal or similar.
posted by destructive cactus at 12:13 PM on September 14, 2017

Best answer: First check if the phone is covered through AppleCare. AppleCare now covers water damage, although they charge more ($100) for a replacement. But that's definitely the best option. My phone got ruined by rain several weeks ago, I just made an appointment, forked over $100 and my old phone, and walked out with a new one.

If you're on Apple's upgrade plan (not your carrier's) AppleCare is included in the price.
posted by vogon_poet at 12:25 PM on September 14, 2017

Best answer: How long ago did this happen? I've gotten a phone wet and had it take a couple of weeks or more to become fully useable again.
posted by MexicanYenta at 12:30 PM on September 14, 2017

Best answer: if you do end up buying a new phone the iPhone upgrade program is a good option. It's a better deal than equivalent programs offered by carriers, usually. AppleCare is included in the price which is good if you break your phone a lot. It's a monthly payment plan but there's zero interest so it's the same deal you'd get paying up front.
posted by vogon_poet at 12:31 PM on September 14, 2017

Response by poster: Her phone isn't covered by AppleCare - it's one of ours that we handed down to her. It happened back in July - we were hoping it might resolve itself, and also waiting to see if we were going to upgrade when the new phones came out.

We currently have one iPhone 6S+ that is owned, and an iPhone 7+ that is on the iPhone upgrade program.

AppleCare sounds like an excellent option for her in the future. It sounds like this is not really a fixable problem (although we've been working around it - she just carries a battery pack with her and there's a way to turn off your phone without the power button on the side. )
posted by needlegrrl at 12:55 PM on September 14, 2017

So, as I know from the time when I dropped my brand-new iPhone into the FILTHIEST PUDDLE IN THE WORLD, Apple has a flat fee for "non-screen damage." It's $299 for an iPhone 6, and they just swap out the phone rather than repairing in the vast majority of cases. So you could get a brand-new iPhone 6 for $299; that's not really a good deal but you could maybe take it as a baseline.
posted by mskyle at 2:12 PM on September 14, 2017

What mskyle said. The $299 "repair service" basically gets you a new (refurbished) phone in exchange for your busted one, no questions asked.

A quick look at eBay suggests that a used unlocked 64GB iPhone 6 would be roughly the same price.
posted by neckro23 at 3:09 AM on September 15, 2017