Callin' on broken glass
May 20, 2011 8:11 AM Subscribe
Dropped my iphone 4, cracked the touchscreen but not the glass on top of it. What further damage do I risk by waiting to repair it?
The phone is out of warranty, Verizon and Apple refuse to fix it. There is a shop in town specializing in this repair, however I'd like to hold off on paying their fee if at all possible.
The phone is out of warranty, Verizon and Apple refuse to fix it. There is a shop in town specializing in this repair, however I'd like to hold off on paying their fee if at all possible.
Best answer: It's within warranty, but accidental damage is not covered. You can fix it yourself or have another company do it for you, but doing so will void the warranty completely (so if the processor dies or something, that would not be covered by Apple).
Having Apple repair/replace the phone would cost you $199+$6.95s/h (plus tax). An out-of-warranty replacement is $599 ($699 for the 32GB model).
Waiting to have the phone repaired isn't going to cause any further damage. You can go to a 3rd party to get it repaired if you don't care about voiding your warranty.
Before you do that, however, I recommend going to an Apple store, looking for the most sympathetic employee, and asking "What can you do for me?" This works surprisingly often.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:49 AM on May 20, 2011
Having Apple repair/replace the phone would cost you $199+$6.95s/h (plus tax). An out-of-warranty replacement is $599 ($699 for the 32GB model).
Waiting to have the phone repaired isn't going to cause any further damage. You can go to a 3rd party to get it repaired if you don't care about voiding your warranty.
Before you do that, however, I recommend going to an Apple store, looking for the most sympathetic employee, and asking "What can you do for me?" This works surprisingly often.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:49 AM on May 20, 2011
Before you do that, however, I recommend going to an Apple store, looking for the most sympathetic employee, and asking "What can you do for me?" This works surprisingly often.
This worked for me. My wife dropped her phone, spiderwebbed the glass face, and the Apple store employee "exceptioned" us into a free replacement. YMMV.
As far as self repair goes, the digitizer and the glass are a single unit on the iPhone 4. You won't find it as simple or as cheap to repair as earlier models.
posted by m@f at 9:01 AM on May 20, 2011
This worked for me. My wife dropped her phone, spiderwebbed the glass face, and the Apple store employee "exceptioned" us into a free replacement. YMMV.
As far as self repair goes, the digitizer and the glass are a single unit on the iPhone 4. You won't find it as simple or as cheap to repair as earlier models.
posted by m@f at 9:01 AM on May 20, 2011
if you don't want to fix it right away, spending a few bucks on a screen protector would be a good idea. it'll at least hold the glass together so as to prevent you from getting glass in your ear/pocket/etc.
the front panel replacement procedure on an iPhone 4 involves pretty much disassembling the entire phone. getting an OOW unit will not re-up your contract, and they very well might do it for free. (I cracked the front glass on my iPhone 4 and the store out here just replaced it for free. the nice thing about that was it kept my original warranty too. buying the OOW unit gives you a new 90-day warranty.)
posted by mrg at 9:49 AM on May 20, 2011
the front panel replacement procedure on an iPhone 4 involves pretty much disassembling the entire phone. getting an OOW unit will not re-up your contract, and they very well might do it for free. (I cracked the front glass on my iPhone 4 and the store out here just replaced it for free. the nice thing about that was it kept my original warranty too. buying the OOW unit gives you a new 90-day warranty.)
posted by mrg at 9:49 AM on May 20, 2011
Best answer: spikeleeetc. is right: the Apple Store may replace the phone under their own discretion. The Apple Store replaced my husband's iPhone 4 when the screen was broken (by the old iPhone falling on it!) within 60 days of purchase. One of the things the Genius/employee mentioned to us when they made the replacement was that we had no previous breakage history. It sounded like the replacement was a one-off thing.
If that doesn't work, check the credit card you used to buy the phone. Some cards may have warranties that will replace the phone even if Apple won't. We bought my husband's phone on an Amex and if Apple hadn't replaced it, that was our next resort.
posted by immlass at 10:10 AM on May 20, 2011
If that doesn't work, check the credit card you used to buy the phone. Some cards may have warranties that will replace the phone even if Apple won't. We bought my husband's phone on an Amex and if Apple hadn't replaced it, that was our next resort.
posted by immlass at 10:10 AM on May 20, 2011
Best answer: This happened to me with no further damage. I used it for like 6 months mOre and the cracks never spread or disturbed functionality.
posted by tremspeed at 8:58 PM on May 20, 2011
posted by tremspeed at 8:58 PM on May 20, 2011
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Can't comment on potential damage of a cracked digitizer. I've replaced the glass twice on my iPhone 3gs, and it's not difficult -- don't know how difficult it is for the 4.
posted by BurntHombre at 8:31 AM on May 20, 2011