iPhone 3g Broken Screen WARNING

[eeeemartin]

Bought 3g first day on sale. Purse fell to the floor with iPhone inside, and the screen cracked. bad luck, yes....but there are already LOTS of reports of broken screens...if it falls, it is a coin toss if your 3g will come up cracked.

Here is the BAD news. ATT will not insure it. Apple will not insure it. In fact, Apple will not even try to FIX IT!! Not even for the old $250 fee. Your only choice is to buy a new 3g...as if you could get one. AND>>>ATT will make you pay FULL RETAIL!! That's right...$500-600...

Of course, you can try to have it repaired by a third party and blow your warranty...and still spend over $200.

Apple is the only smartphone mfg that uses glass...others use polycarbonate...This is A DESIGN FLAW with no consumer support for a fix. It is ANOTHER class action lawsuit waiting to happen ...

BE WARNED...Buy an iPhone and take the same risk...Yes, cases can help...but the screen, by design, HAS TO BE exposed...and yet it cannot be fixed...Hope you have REALLY deep pockets if you need to replace the device!

[Mephiska]

"polycarbonate", aka plastic scratches easily. The iPhone initially came out with a plastic screen that got all scratched up and the received LOTS of complaints. They went to glass shortly after release. I wouldn't call the glass a design flaw. Its just something you have to be aware and not just put the phone in a purse with a bunch of other things like keys that'll impact the screen if you drop your purse.

I do wish they put a lanyard loop on this thing though.

[Surf Monkey]

The iPhone initially came out with a plastic screen that got all scratched up and the received LOTS of complaints. They went to glass shortly after release.


Incorrect. iPhone has always had a glass screen.

[deftdrummer1]

Incorrect. iPhone has always had a glass screen.

I think he may be referring to some of the prototypes that Steve Jobs walked around with in the beginning phases of iphone development. From the horse's mouth, "it scratched too easily" Jobs said when they tried to fit it with a plastic screen.

[kyussmondo]

I personally am grateful for a glass screen. It is nearly scratch resistant and has been very durable. The first iPhone was extremely durable. If you drop any phone like that then it will be toast. So for me the glass screen is not a design flaw but yet another selling point over why I brought this phone over the competition.

[sights0d]

Wow! That is some bad luck. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll be more careful with mine. I've only dropped it once, and even then it was from about two feet onto carpet, but boy did it make my heart thump.

My wife dropped her PDA about the same distance, but it was on tile... and long story short, it died instantly. Just be aware that regardless of the distance, any glass screen can break if it hits in just the right way. That's part of the reason why I have mine in a rubber case now.

[Surf Monkey]

For what it's worth, this kind of thing is kind of a crap shoot. I've dropped both of my iPhones onto hard surfaces on a number of occasions without so much as a scratch. But if it happens to hit just right, or if it's in a bag with hard things that impact it just so... well... breakage can happen. Overall, I'd say it's pretty darn durable for a device that has such delicate internals and a glass front. You just have to be careful and lucky. I keep mine in a slip-in holster type case that protects it in most situations but lets me bring it out "naked" when I use it. I agree with what one of the other posters said: it would be nice if there was a lanyard hook somewhere on the phone. I'd use a wrist strap for sure.

[tnutzinc]

what I'm confused about is eeeemartins msg at the top saying you cant buy another for the same price you bought it if you paid 299, then shouldnt another be 299??????

[sights0d]

what I'm confused about is eeeemartins msg at the top saying you cant buy another for the same price you bought it if you paid 299, then shouldnt another be 299??????
No. 299 is the price you pay when you go under contract. She'd have to purchase a brand new one while still under contract, so that means paying full price (599)... unless she wants to cancel her contract (which also costs several hundred dollars). In the first instance, I don't think that you can purchase them yet... in the second, I think she'll have a hell of a time finding one.

[sights0d]

With how slick the naked iPhone is, I'd recommend the rubber/silicon cases. I'm using one... I think by Incipio... and it is working well. I wouldn't trust my phone to survive a five-foot fall, but it might give me a bit more luck on a three-foot. Plus, of course, there's the fact that it really holds firmly in my hand.

[walleck]

although it would still suck , I am pretty sure one could buy a new iPhone at AT&T for an extra 200 bucks or 399/499 by extending the contract 2 years.

[random person]

That is truly bad luck -- very sad story. In my case with the original iPhone I have managed to somehow drop it at least twice a month. The first time was within a few hours of having it -- it slipped out of my shirt pocket -- and gave me a ding on the back of the phone. Just a little dent. A war wound. Since then I've dropped it many many times -- never intentionally. Sometimes I've had it in a case, sometimes not. Once it fell out of my pocket onto the lawn when I got out of the car, caseless, and I didn't realize it was lying on the wet grass until hours later!!!! I've even dropped it onto a marble bathroom floor, but it was in an acrylic case or it would have been toasted for sure.

I guess what I'm saying is that the first gen phone is pretty durable! Even so, after trying at least seven cases with varying degrees of unhappiness, I've settled on the Vaja Top. It's classy, super protective, and it covers the screen. To my mind, these frontless cases (like all those acrylic ones, or rubber ones, etc) won't really help you in the event of a fall if it hits the ground "just so." That's why I like the Vaja Top -- it covers the screen and yet is still unobtrusive.

The new 3G seems a lot more ergonomic and less likely to just slip from your fingers - which is what keeps happening to me with this unnatural slab of the original iPhone -- but I'm holding out for 32 gigs!

Anyway, the long story is -- get a case, you'll have to try several before you'll be happy. And then hope for the best!

[sights0d]

You might want to call ATT before testing that out. I have extreme doubts.

[sights0d]

That is truly bad luck -- very sad story. In my case with the original iPhone I have managed to somehow drop it at least twice a month. The first time was within a few hours of having it -- it slipped out of my shirt pocket -- and gave me a ding on the back of the phone. Just a little dent. A war wound. Since then I've dropped it many many times -- never intentionally. Sometimes I've had it in a case, sometimes not. Once it fell out of my pocket onto the lawn when I got out of the car, caseless, and I didn't realize it was lying on the wet grass until hours later!!!! I've even dropped it onto a marble bathroom floor, but it was in an acrylic case or it would have been toasted for sure.

I guess what I'm saying is that the first gen phone is pretty durable! Even so, after trying at least seven cases with varying degrees of unhappiness, I've settled on the Vaja Top. It's classy, super protective, and it covers the screen. To my mind, these frontless cases (like all those acrylic ones, or rubber ones, etc) won't really help you in the event of a fall if it hits the ground "just so." That's why I like the Vaja Top -- it covers the screen and yet is still unobtrusive.

The new 3G seems a lot more ergonomic and less likely to just slip from your fingers - which is what keeps happening to me with this unnatural slab of the original iPhone -- but I'm holding out for 32 gigs!

Anyway, the long story is -- get a case, you'll have to try several before you'll be happy. And then hope for the best!If the case covers the rim, it will do as much as it can. In my current case, if it falls it can't actually hit its face on the ground... so I don't see how much good actually covering its face would do.

[Germansuplex]

I'd rather have a glass screen resilliant to scratches and knicks than a plastic screen that will be more likely to survive a drop but will scratch and knick easily.

I'm happy with the glass screen.

[scaisse]

My white, 16Gb. iPhone 3G (purchased on July 23, 2008) was in my purse last week, in a leather case, completely sealed. When I got a call late in the day, I opened the case to find the screen broken with many spider cracks across the entire front. Running my fingers across the screen caused little glass slivers to cut my finger.

I took the phone to the Apple Genius Bar in Southlake, Texas today. They could not have been less sympathetic. I was basically told Apple will not fix any broken screens for any reason. My only choice was to shell out $250 dollars for repairs. In fact, the Apple rep said "lady, I have 20 more customers behind you, if you want this fixed, it will cost $250, if not, I can't help you and will move to the person behind you". Wow, thanks Apple! Is this how you treat a customer who has over 15 Apple products in the house, including 2 other iPhones and 4 iPods?

Has anyone at Apple read all the posts across the Internet with people experiencing broken screens for no logical reason? It seems apparent to me that the glass screen of the iP3G is very fragile. If subtle pressure from a case in a woman's purse can cause the glass to crack, I would imagine that thousands of customers will experience this same costly scenario.

I have been left with such a negative taste for Apple after this experience, I will not likely buy from Mr. Jobs again. I had planned on getting our daughter a new iPod Touch. That purchase will not happen now. The bottom line and a word or warning, if your iP3G screen cracks for no apparent reason, don't expect any help from Apple. BTW, I wonder what that glass is made of which justifies a $250 repair bill, just $49 less that I paid for my phone. I am a very unhappy Apple customer right now and I never dreamed I would be saying that. I also had never seen such apathy on the part of Apple sales staff. I am
terribly disappointed with Apple right now.