iPhone 4 Lock Button ...died

BiH115

BiH115

Gif Guy
Joined
May 12, 2011
Messages
9,327
So I put my phone into my coat pocket (soft, spacious) like I do every morning, only this time when I go to take it out I find that the lock button at the top is just stuck inside. No clicks, there's a slight wiggle still left in it. Read online that a bunch of people have this issue, but apparently it's not 'common'. Took it to the apple store, out of warranty, they're saying $149 to replace it. Apparently also, what I will be getting is NOT going to be a refurb. phone, but instead a 'new' phone that just happens to come in a 'different colored box'? All I read states it's a refurbished phone they give you, who the hell is right!?

Bah, so anyone have an issue like this with the original iPhone 4? I took the back cover off last night to see what was up, kind of hard to tell with only the cover off, but it appears it may be that there is something VERY small blocking it, not sure yet. Going to run it under an high-powered microscope this weekend and take it apart to see what's wrong.

Wish me luck! (When the hell is the next phone coming out...)
 
My friend has had his AT&T iPhone 4 replaced 5 times because of this.

When I had my Verizon iPhone 4 I never had this issue.

My Verizon 4S doesn't have this issue.

In fact, I've never had any issue with any iphone that wasn't software related, and even then... not that many.
 
I'm sure its something you can fix very cheaply switches are only a couple of bucks on ebay. However there is nothing wrong with a refurb iphone at all i have had plenty. They all come brand new the only refurb about them is that the motherboard was used in another phone before but everything else is brand new youll never be able to tell.
 
I agree with the other poster on the refurb issue. It will come looking brand new. Can't advise you on the bottom, though. Fixing such smallish equipment can be problematic, though.
 
I have the very same problem, however I bought my iPhone 4 off a friend, so no warranty. Frustrating.
 
Did it get bashed or something? Were you guys using the phone without a bumper or any case at all?

GeekTech said:
I have the very same problem, however I bought my iPhone 4 off a friend, so no warranty. Frustrating.
Click to expand...

Apple warranty follows the device, if you are in that first year take it in. Or google apple warranty checker and put your SN in to see if it is covered.
 
Was in the same situation with my iPhone 4.
Looked into fixing it myself but after looking at a few pages on the iFixit site on how to fix/replace the power button I said no way.
Luckily I found out the credit card I had bought the phone with extended the warrenty by a year. Paid Apple $150 to replace, and a couple days later my credit card company reimbursed me.
 
I think I'll pass, I can put the $150 towards an iPhone 5 when that hits summer or fall, or whenever. My contract (Verizon) dries up in September.

On the same note, my father's an engineer and managed to borrow a very pricey microscope from work, for the entire week + weekend. We're going to see what the issue is and hopefully get it fixed. If not, oh well, at least we tried and got to see the excellent innards of the phone (very cool from a first perspective the other night, by the way).
 
If you're on iOS 5 turn on assistive touch.

The phone could be a remanufactured phone, but it will have new externals and a new battery. Only thing that could have been at one time used is the main logic board, but it has been tested harder than what Foxconn would do to ensure that it works. The reason it comes in the black plastic boxes is because all that is in it is the phone, no charger, no headphones, no stickers. Then your old phone gets put into the black box and shipped back to headquarters for testing.

Honestly $150 for a phone that is new or as good as new is a good deal considering there is no contract and your phone when you got it was $600 out of contract. If you were not such a cheap ass( j/k :) ) and got AppleCare before your 1 year warranty went out that issue would be covered now. So stop being cheap now, pay the $149+tax and be happy that you have that option instead of having to pay $500-600 for a new one.
 
Archer1212 said:
If you're on iOS 5 turn on assistive touch.

The phone could be a remanufactured phone, but it will have new externals and a new battery. Only thing that could have been at one time used is the main logic board, but it has been tested harder than what Foxconn would do to ensure that it works. The reason it comes in the black plastic boxes is because all that is in it is the phone, no charger, no headphones, no stickers. Then your old phone gets put into the black box and shipped back to headquarters for testing.

Honestly $150 for a phone that is new or as good as new is a good deal considering there is no contract and your phone when you got it was $600 out of contract. If you were not such a cheap ass( j/k :) ) and got AppleCare before your 1 year warranty went out that issue would be covered now. So stop being cheap now, pay the $149+tax and be happy that you have that option instead of having to pay $500-600 for a new one.
Click to expand...

I hear you now. Makes sense that it would be put through more rigorous standards. The thing is that I only paid the $199 when I got my phone with a new contract last February. I didn't pay the full price, nor would I ever. I also didn't really know about AppleCare or anything like that back then, being naive, or whatever you may call it, otherwise I would have definitely put it down as an option. My next phone will definitely be put under that kind of warranty, no question about it. It honestly doesn't really bother me all that much now, and I'd rather pocket the $150 and use it towards a future purchase. $150 for a button isn't a good enough reason. Now if the phone blew up, antenna fell off, or something ridiculous, sure.
 
Nah in my opening post I said I took it in, I knew it was out of warranty cause I got it when it first came out for Verizon, February 14th, 17th, something like that, the exact day it came out. They just confirmed it when I went the other day.
 
There are usually people around will fix your phone for you for a reasonable price and since its . Alternatively if you are jailbroken activator and/or quickdo for actions to replicate the home button (this is more for people's future notice as you do have to put the phone into DFU mode to jailbreak which requires the home button).
 
Thanks for the tip!

No, didn't drop or bash it. Just stopped working and got really hard to push.
 
It baffles me that it happened. Microscope + Twitchy fingers tonight.
 
I had something similar happen to a family members iphone 3g, I took it apart and it had some gunk/grime around the button. I cleaned it up and pushed the button all the way through the hole and it works great now, like new. I'm sure the iphone 4 is a bit different to take apart, but it maybe the same situation. GL
 
Update on situation:

So I took it apart last night with my father under a high-powered microscope, and went to town. First thing we noticed from the other night of just having a quick look inside, is how many damn screws there are, and they're all odd small sizes. If you're thinking about opening up your phone and attempting to fix anything, make sure you have a few hours dedicated to it, you'll need it.

After taking a good amount of screws out (about 10 or so), it was time to take the battery out. It's got an adhesive under it, so pulling on the tab isn't the best idea, instead we decided to kind of leverage it out from all sides evenly. Here's where it got into that "WOW REALLY?" moment. We were leveraging the size nearest to the motherboard (other side is just the antennae that surrounds the phone itself), and not thinking, punctured it with the tweezers. It let out an agonizing burning stench, and died. We continued to take pieces out and a few hours later were into desert territory with the phone, it was nearly empty.

Here's where the problem was. There's an orange little tab that creates the 'click' and the contact, there wasn't anything between it and the actual metal button. We placed a little piece of cut-out plastic (and I mean little...) under the orange tape-tab and put the phone back together. Works great now. Only problem was the battery. I've seen cheap OEM ones around $15-20, but I don't have that kind of time, I NEED my phone. Bought a $40 dollar Rayovac unit that comes with tools and a 1-year warranty at Battery Plus.

Hope this helps someone with this 'rare' (yeah right, Apple) issue.
 
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