Broken iPhone Screens: Cracked Photos!
Apple is going to get pwn’d with a major class action lawsuit once consumers realize that the glass screens of their $600 iPhones break more easily than my Creative Zen Vision M. I wonder what looking at one under UV light would reveal, but I bet the glass is only stress resistant from certain angles.
Those of you silly enough to buy iPhones, please try dropping them so that their edges hit a hard surface–say the sidewalk–from 5 to 6 feet in the air directly on one corner at a 45″ angle to the ground. That should cause the entire screen to shatter like a blow-up balloon! Shame on Apple for not mounting the screen around a floating rubber pad to absorb that sort of impact!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007 at 12:41 am and is tagged with creative zen vision, glass screens, class action lawsuit, creative zen, rubber pad, iphone, uv light, blow up, sidewalk, angles, balloon, shame, consumers, apple, photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback.
on August 3rd, 2007 at 1:38 am
well if you use your 600$ iphone to drop it from 6 feet, then you deserve your iphone to be broken, buy 30$ Ericsson T39 if you can find it and drop as you like it wont brake
on September 18th, 2007 at 10:48 am
I just bought an iPhone 8 days ago. While texting, I went to change songs, hit the Home button with my thumb and the screen right around the edge of the button cracked pretty significantly.
I’m dealing with Mac right now, but the AT&T store where I bought it treated me like a criminal. Mac wasn’t too bad, but I have yet to see what becomes of all this. I’m supposed to get a temp in the mail tomorrow or the next day and then send back the one I bought for repairs. If they don’t give me grief then they’ll have my support. I was getting the vibe from them, however, that they weren’t entirely sure they would replace it.
They kept slipping in “if you really didn’t drop it,” and so on. Yeah, I dropped the phone and it broke right around the button? Seems a strange place for it to break. Additionally, I was so anal about caring for it, that I had the aftermarket rubber guard on it (recessing the screen), to begin with. What a headache.
on September 19th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Well, it is made of *glass*. Not sure what else one could expect.
on September 26th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
IPHONES ARE DONKEYS LIKE THE ONES IN THE MOVIES AHAHAHAAH
A.J.H.
on October 4th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
The screens shatter when you drop them on the corner. It’s that simple.
Although you can expect a “Genius” to say it’s nearly impossible, even when you’re holding a shattered phone in your hand. And then to explain that $249 to replace the screen is a good deal, because they’ll give you a whole new phone (since they claim they can’t replace just the screen).
Apple should just admit this and recommend that everyone buy a bump case. And/or offer insurance.
on December 11th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Recieved an iPHone for my birthday/Christmas. I was extremely careful with it. Had it less than a week, noticed as I came out of Walmart that the screen was cracked. It was attached to my purse! Mac refuses to replace it. Will repair it for $250!!! I am so upset. Customers do need to ban together as a class action. That is absurd. If you put a thin piece of glass on a phone you must stand behind the product. My phone does not have a scratch on it but two tiny pin head dings on one corner, probably from glancing against a “shoppping buggy”. Good grief! How dainty is this thing. NOT acceptable. I will show every one I meet this phone and tell them NOT to buy one. I will carry it cracked!
on December 18th, 2007 at 10:27 am
broke the glass too, dad took it away. -__-
on December 25th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
I think I’m in the same boat, except I did drop mine from about 3 feet (from my pocket) and received a crack around the home button. Fortunately it isn’t too noticeable but I’m still so mad and bummed that I COULDN’T have opted for insurance (as I would have) to repair/replace the iPhone. So now it’s cracked but I’m not going to pay for another one until it’s rendered useless. I just hope the iPhone will drop in price or a 2nd gen will be out at that point. Damn it!
on January 3rd, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I’d Join that lawsuit in a heartbeat. Had the phone for 5 days. Fell from a jacket pocket on a concrete sidewalk and completely shattered. Additionally I was not informed that there was no insurance on the phone available through ATT. Apple no has sold me an iPhone at the amazing price of $399 + $275 for a new screen. What I am curious about is how the screen repair is $275 and the new iPod Touch is $299. Is the rest of the of iPod Touch only $24.
Or how about the fact you can buy the replacement glass screen online for $110. This tells me Apple must be paying under $30 for the part and then charging $240 in labor to fix their baby. I can’t imagine they didn’t try dropping a few of these during product testing and were not well aware of this problem. This is customer service at its worse. Thumbs down to Apple. Thanks Mr. Jobs! I hope the law suit comes soon.
on January 16th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
i got my phone lastnite….this morning drove to the bank had the phone in my pocket….was all excited about my new toy pulled it out in the bank as i was waitin in line….noticed the screen cracked!!! sumhow i guess pressure cracked the glass…im reely pissed and they want $250 to replace my phone
on January 23rd, 2008 at 12:56 am
My iPhone screen cracked in the space of 2 minutes while in my pocket as I made a short trip in the car. The ‘genus’ at the apple store initially said it could be covered as there was no sign of the phone being dropped, but when I went back later for service I was told that the damage was no covered. They told me that the glass has been cracked by pressure from keys in my pocket - unlikely since my key ring was in the ignition of the car at the time.
My gripe is that it is a clear engineering error to place holes in the screen glass as it makes a stress riser. In this case, it is placing ‘clean design’ over ‘good engineering’. Surely by doing this it is foreseeable than many screens will break because of those two holes.
I am most disappointed with apple.
on February 7th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
My iphone cracked on the 2nd day I had it. I had a belt case, it fell out of the case, hitting the ground in my parking garage. The result? Two stress breaks, one to the bottom right of the button and one in the top right corner. There are 5 cracks running across the glass.
$249 to fix it. Ridiculous!
Luckily, the phone was purchased via Amex platinum.
Be very careful with your iphone. They are not durable at all.
on February 16th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
got iphone for my Bday a month back. I normally keep my phone in the purse , yerterday when I took it out while I was driving , I was shocked that the screen had cracked. I called the customer service, they said it was categorised under absue of device hence it will not be covered, and they were not helpful all. I also went to the Apple store which was 40miles from my home , thinking that they may help my situation, but Naa…They want me to pay $250 which is like 75% of the new phone. Seems like if the screen is for 250 can I but the rest of the iphone parts for 50 bucks….. A joke …I took a data plan because of the Iphone. Don’t forget you have to sign a new contract with At& T if you buy Iphone. Now I do not want to repair the phone as it is very expensive , and seems like I am stuck with the contract for no reasons. DO NOT NOT BUY APPLE PRODUCTS……. My first and last mistake. SPREAD AROUND THE WORD TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS YOU KNOW
on February 28th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Bought the i Phone for my 14yr old sons xmas, from a o2 shop in Glasgow . Told to claim house insurance or pay £135 to get it fixed, cracked diagonaly across the middle, my son is the most careful person i know, he still has his first play station in mint condition.
on March 2nd, 2008 at 10:06 am
After updating to 1.4 my phone must be reset at least twice a day. While resetting it today my thumb went right through the glass. I took it back to the apple store only to be told “too bad” its a $250 cost to fix. I’ve been an apple engineer for years, and now I’m a Director of IT of a large school. So I know what abuse is and this was not abuse! I called for the manager, who was equally unhelpful. I then called my Apple national sale rep, right in front of them, gave her their name and told her I would seriously be reconsider any future Apple purchases this year if this was there idea of service (that about $130K of business). And yes, that is not an idle threat. I have had it with bad Apple service. Finally I called Apple support from the nonGenuis counter and explained my situation, gave them the name of my account rep. I got the same ****, demanded a supervisor. After much arguing I finally will be sent a new phone.
I have some clout I can throw around, most people do not. SHAME ON APPLE FOR NOT STANDING BEHIND ITS PRODUCT. This chunk of fragile glass you call a phone is poorly designed. Stand by it
Dan
on March 4th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Hey my name is James Harris and im with the at@tphoneshow and we need a broken iphone like yours if u could email me at atandtphoneshow@yahoo.com that would be great thanks
on March 10th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
my fone fell on the high way 2 cars went over it including mine wich I backed up to retrieving it.:. Apple made me pay 250 . Even tho I only needed the glass. The fone was working fine I’ll say even better reception . I was still listening to an mp3 on myspace waiting to see the guy from apple. . Wat a dissapoimentno insurance no nothing . Warranty is I don’t even know .:. If I knew how to I’ll sue apple for this bs.. ;:, HUA
on March 11th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
I’ve had my iPod Touch for nearly five months now. I saw the iPhone scratch/stress tests on youtube and all, so I decided to try them. I dropped it on the concrete floor in my basement and nothing happened. Then I threw it against the stucco ceiling and let it fall against the concrete floor. No scratches or breaks, still perfectly functional. Whenever I’m with my friends they like to drop it on the sidewalk. Nothing happens. In fact, I’m typing this whole thing from my iPod and I love it. I’m not sure what happened with your iPhone/Touches, maybe they were defective? Still… i never purposely dropped it on its side, but that doesn’t mean it never landed on the side. But all I know is that mine is probably more durable than I am.
on March 13th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
So my girl scrounges up enough dough to get me a iphone for Christmas. Just a great product. Works way better than I could have expected. Every naysayer I encounter I turn as soon as they hold it in their hands. This morning while I’m shaking out of my warm ups to hop in the shower I accidentally put my foot down and hear a crunch. My Iphone had a large crack by the ear piece which just gets bigger if you try and use the phone. Now lots of places that have been in business for a while like to make a customer fell good about shopping with them. Most places I fell might have replaced this no worry. “Accidental, sure, we understand. You spend your money with us. It’s good to have you as a customer.” Nope. Not Apple. “Oh we understand you broke it accidentally but our policy is take your money, and then be as difficult as possibly in telling you basically have to shell out more to feel satisfied. What a joke!
on March 14th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I dropped my iPhone from my hand, it hit the ground and the screened cracked. It was clearly an accident so even if they had offered insurance it won’t have been covered. Plus my lover cracked the phone for me - I’m using a T-Mobile pay-by-the-minute plan - and he is in NY. So I guess taking the thing to Apple won’t do much good. The lesson I learned here is THERE IS NO ACCIDENT IN A PERFECT UNIVERSE. SYNCHRONICITY IS THE OPPERATING LAW. When I dropped it, I was really happy, feeling good, ready to kick *** for my movie work calling up all kinds of people. Looking at the cracked screen I hear this message: “Calm down girl! Get ahold of yourself! Don’t talk! Just do your work quietly.” Some might say, how you get that message from a cracked screen? However stupid it sounds, that’s the message I got and I am thankful. I love the iPhone and I’ll pay another $299 for a new one. This time I won’t crack it - neither iternally nor externally. But I will still kick *** on behave of my movie….just without so much talking.
on March 20th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
I have had a serious problem with my iPhone. I was in school, and it fell a foot from my hand, landed on carpet, and cracked the screen. Yet, you manage to hear all these good things like the iPhone still working after a truck ran over it. I must have really really bad luck or apple are just getting worse.
on March 27th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
My sister bought an Iphone for her birthday and dropped the phone 3 weeks later while going into her apartment on the concrete. Made one long crack from earpiece to bottom of phone. You can barely see it, but the fact is there is a crack and you can really see it when the phone is off. Then last week she dropped the iphone in the toilet, I know gross. The phone stopped working. Needless to say, 3 days later the phone was working again same as usual. But Apple wants to charge $250 for new screed……..Absolutely RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you pay $400 for the phone, can’t they atleast charge a small amount to fix………….I would pay $50, but nothing more.
on April 15th, 2008 at 10:44 am
I’m an attorney in Washington, D.C. specializing in consumer protection. We are investigating this matter on behalf of a client. It seems as if Apple may have at the last minute changed its screen design resulting in the iPhones being manufactured with a very fragile screen that was not disclosed to consumers.
What is also very troubling is the lack of any warranty coverage for a problem (screen cracking) which is all too common, and certainly was forseable. If anyone has the time to discuss their experience with us please contact me: Steven Berk: 202-232-7550; Steven@chavezgertler.com .
on April 28th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
omfg !
ohkay so i have had my phone for over 6 months
and i have dropped it soo many friekin times
and on concrete to, like alot !
but just one time i drop it on carpet
the glass friggen shatters every where
wat the heck?
isnt concrete more durable than carpet?
i wasnt so pissed
cuz i thought that i could get a replacement easily
i get to the at&t store
and seriously all they said was
oh sorry we cant fix that
you will have to by a whole new phone
around 400 dollars.
and they barely even looked at it
i just wanted to smack all of them
like seriously these people.
on June 1st, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Hi everyone
I had my iphone glass smash only last Friday. Here are some points. I must admit that I was not even aware that the iphones screen was made of glass. Nowdays if you buy any thing it always comes with a warning like toys for example..small parts can be dangerous to children. Electrical goods warn about electric shock and not to work on the product etc..New cars and motorbikes have warnings etc..and there are many other modern
products which carry warnings
So why is it that a very common product like a mobile phone does not have any warning like this stuck to the screen….
“Warning, this screen is made from glass and is very fragile…do not drop or leave in a pocket Be very carefull while handling this phone in case the screen shatters …. keep away from children”
I will be going to the Apple shop tomorrow outside of London to try to get a free replacement and as I have bought various ibooks and imacs etc I would expect as a valued customer to get a replacement…so please watch this space tomorrow
Cheers
Nigel
ps I ride a vintage Triumph motorcycle and I still wear an open face crash helmet with goggles. New goggles can not now be made with glass len’s as they are now considered dangerous so now they are made from poly-carbonate clear plastic
pps it is a pity about the iphone because for me it is a wonderfull thing as I work for myself, I can work while on the move especially good for Ebay etc…
on June 7th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I agree with her, these little advances in technology should come with a warning about the screens being made of glass. So my phone was sitting on the docking station , which mind u apple sends with the phone, my window was open in front of my desk and a strong breeze came along and blew my phone right over( due to the upright design and liteness) on to the floor shatering the screen! I have a appointment with a “mac genious” tomorrow and I better get something!
on June 25th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
I smashed my glass, too. Rather than paying the ~$250 to have it fixed, I replaced the glass myself with replacement glass off ebay. I posted a tutorial on how to do it here:
www.hitchsource.com/blog/2008/06/fixing-the-broken-glass-on-my-iphone/
on July 9th, 2008 at 11:53 am
My mother’s iPhone screen cracked not too long ago as well. We documented our experience with Apple’s service department and it’s up on YouTube now:
youtube.com/watch?v=5aN74NqoJC4
In brief, Apple refuses to do repairs on broken iPhone screens because
they fall under the category of “accidental damage” and therefore are
not covered under warranty. Instead, the only option they give
customers is to buy a replacement for $199, the same price as the new
iPhone 3G coming out on July 11th. Apple takes your old iPhone and
ships it back to California, and you get a refurbished model in
return.
Is it right that Apple charges as much for a used phone as a new one? And if Apple isn’t repairing broken iPhone screens for customers, what are they doing with those phones getting sent back to California?
on July 12th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
[…] We’ve written previously about the easily broken iPhone screens, and it seems like the iPhone 3G will be no exception to the display problems. According to Bob Borchers, the senior director of product marketing for the iPhone, the “yellow screen” phenomenon is “because the screen’s color temperature has been purposely altered to produce warmer, more natural tones, sharper images, and deeper blacks. The 1st gen iPhone screens appeared colder and less defined.” Unfortunately as you’ll see, the new iPhone 3G’s screens look worse: […]
on July 24th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I’m writing this from my F-ed up iPhone. I get hassled all the time about using a phone with a cracked screen. Well it wouldnt be this way had the phone not dipped from the uhaul truck I was getting out of. It was about 4 feet in the air, face plant…*SMACK*!!!!! I laughed at first, calling apple 10 min later with a smile on my face. By the time I got off the phone I was pissed!! The rep told me I had to shell out that $250 and that steamed me up. Ever since I have been trying to think of a scheme to get them to take this phone back and give me a replacement for free. I think I’ll say my home button doesn’t work and try to mail it in rather than take it to an apple store. This may not work and I don’t doubt that others have tried it. I just havent seen anything that shows that someone has failed doing this. F U apple, I wish bankruptcy, or at least loss of revenue for u in the upcoming years!!!!
on July 28th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
in all seriousness, has anyone seen anything about a lawsuit or something? i had my new 3G 24 hours before it shattered.
$299 for a new one? there are screens on ebay for $30! if i “exchange” it, apple is just going to refurbish the one i return and make a huge profit selling it.
it’s absolutely unethical. if it’s this flimsy, then they should have a program in place to deal with repairs.
on July 29th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Well, after getting a new 8g phone from apple, because upgrading to 2.0 didnt work on my 4g, and 5 days go by… pop. phone falls 1′ to the floor. no prob with my 4g, but no. screen is screwed up. call apple, blablabla yes, ill need to pay. how much. 199 she says. but thats the cost of a 3g. well, yeah it is i guess she says. but youll have to upgrade service and such she says. i said, well, i have apple care and all that **** i paid for. no good she says. if i bought a 3g last week, i have 60 days that covers dropping and water damage too. go figure. o well. what can you do. it sucks. should come with a case, even a crappy one, so you dont have to shell out even more dough after purchasing the overpriced phone.
on July 30th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
So after 6 days of owning my iPhone, I dropped it and broke it. A hairline crack arched from the upper right corner to the bottom right corner. I took it into the genius bar at the local apple store and they replaced the phone for free. The apple rep said that hairline cracks were covered under the applecare, however if you smash your screen it wouldn’t be covered.
on August 1st, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I got my iphone 16GB (white) on July 24th for my birthday. This past Wednesday, I dropped it and the outsided screen did not crack, but the bottom portion of the screen was distorted. My husband said the LCD screen was cracked. Well luckily he purchased the phone with his AMEX card and we called them that night. They were very helpful and said it was covered under their buyers protection plan. All we needed to do is file a claim and they would credit his card for the cost of the phone. Our concern then was if we purchased a new phone how much would we have to pay since it was $299 with the 2yr contract with AT&T. My husband took the phone to AT&T the next day and they told him “he screen was cracked, take it to the Apple store”. Well this morning my husband took it to the Apple store, the guy looked at it told him they would replace it but they didn’t have any in the store. He told him he would call him back later in the afternoon and he could come pick up a new phone. Sure enough they called him and he got a new phone-no charge. I just wanted to share this story, because I had read all of the posts before he took the phone back and I was afraid we would have to purchase a new phone. Thanks for all of the advice, and I hope this helps someone.
on August 5th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
HI, I if any of you still have your broken iphone i will buy it from you for a good amount of money. Let me know email me at jacob.gray@yahoo.com
THANK YOU
on August 10th, 2008 at 7:50 am
I have had my 3G for three weeks. I dropped it last night from about 3 feet and not only did the screen shatter, but the screen is now white with one faint blue line. I’m contacting the attorney who posted above. I have yet to get jacked around by apple because this happened late last night, but based on everyone else’s experience, I’m sure it’s about to happen. I encourage EVERYONE else to contact the attorney as well. The only way businesses change unfair practices is when they are hit with a multimillion dollar lawsuit forcing them to change.
on August 10th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
i found a great place that will repair water damaged or any other type of damage to the iPhone
they work with AT&T and Apple with non warranty repairs
you can mail it in or if you are in the San Francisco Bay area they are up 101 north of the Golden Gate
www.northbayelectronics.com is the website i was in the bay area and just called and they fixed my phone the same day
on August 13th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Well it is 1:20 PM here in Los Angelous, and as I was working out with a friend I layed my iPhone on a stool. While curling, there were no clamps on the bar and I tripped and the weight fell on the iPhone. Now I have a $500 iPod Touch with a cracked screen and overheats. (The MP3 still works)