On Monday night, I noticed that I had a small crack in my white iPhone that went from the volume button to the metal bezel. I did a bit of searching online a found a thread in the Apple Support discussion forums and a couple of other places. I wasn’t the only one with this problem. I posted the story here on ehPhone on Tuesday highlighting this problem. It didn’t seem like it was a widespread issue but more and more people began noticing that their iPhones indeed had cracks too.
When I went to the Apple store to have a Genius look at it, they hadn’t heard of or seen the problem before. They wouldn’t replace my iPhone because it was not a ‘known’ problem and it was just cosmetic. The phone was in perfect working condition. The Genius did state that cracks occuring in Macbooks around the palm rest area was a ‘known’ problem and people would have that fixed no problem.
Well, I think it is a pretty well ‘known’ issue now. Yesterday every iPhone site and big sites like Gizmodo and Engadget picked up on the story. This issue of iPhones cracking spread across the blogs and forums like wildfire. Even some news organizations have picked up the story. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the CBC or some Canadian newspapers picking up the story today. I think Apple has heard about it by now.
It doesn’t appear to be only a white iPhone problem. Some black iPhone 3G owners are noticing that they have cracks in their iPhones too. It doesn’t seem to be as big of a problem with the black ones but a few pictures are popping up here and there. Here’s one example from ad hoc:
Here’s what I think is happening:
The cracks seem be be appearing in places where there is a metal piece which is encased by the ‘plastic’ backing. My crack formed where the volume button is. Some have appeared where there volume on/off switch is. Some have appeared where the sleep/wake button is, and finally some have appeared where the headphone jack is. I think that putting a slightest amount of pressure (ie - to lower or raise the volume, turn your iPhone on or off, or even insert the headphones) causes undue stress to the ‘plastic’ backing. Eventually it is going to give out and crack.
Another theory out there is that the constant heating and cooling of the battery is also putting stress on the ‘plastic’ backing. When you are charging the phone, the battery heats up slightly. When you are talking on the phone or using it a lot, it also seems to heat up slightly. When you turn it off or it is idle, it seems to cool down. All of this heating and cooling is causing the slightest of expansion and contraction of the backing which is causing it to crack.
Another theory out there is that some of us just may have a bad batch. This hasn’t affected every white iPhone owner out there or many black iPhone owners for that matter. It’s possible that this defect could have occured due to a minor error during the manufacturing process that wasn’t caught. When they were making these iPhones, one ingriedient too many or too little could have caused this.
Here’s what I hope Apple will do:
I hope Apple will recognize this problem very soon. I hope they will narrow it down to a specific production week or weeks in which this defect is occuring. I hope that they give full replacements to those affected. I don’t want to see Apple have to do a major recall of everything. That won’t be good for them or for us. I want them to identify who’s affected and fix it. If they can’t give me a brand new iPhone, I want them to replace the backing in a timely manner. We all may have to take our iPhones into the Apple store or send them in for service. If this is the case, I want it back within a week.
Apple’s official statement regarding the cracked iPhones is currently “No Comment” according to iPTiB.
Subscribe to our RSS feed so you don't miss any updates. You can also subscribe by email.
Make sure you enter our latest Contests!
One Ping to “More info on the infamous iPhone 3G cracks”
24 Responses to “More info on the infamous iPhone 3G cracks”
-
1. k Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 3:49 amyeap. i agree. they should replace the backing in a timely manner. train some geniuses in the apple shops to switch it. that way, we can stroll in, make an appointment a week in advance to have the back of our iphones changed in a couple of minutes. no downtime for us ^^. afterall, all they need to change is the back.
btw, you know what all those long numbers mean? are the iphones individually numbered?
-
2. k Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 3:50 amwhat happened to my previous comment?
-
3. Myke D Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 5:42 amI’m glad to say I still don’t see anything on my black 16GB phone purchased on the 11th. I don’t use a case for mine or any protective coatings, I just dedicate my right pocket to it and put all my keys/change/etc. in the left. If I do notice anything you can expect a none-too-pleased post from me about it :P
-
4. Bob Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 8:33 amI looked at mine and my wife’s, both 16gb white iPhones and glad to say, no cracks found. It could be that we both use silicone/rubber protector. I remember a few times, I sat on my iphone when I absentmindedly put the iPhone in my back pocket so I was worried when I read about the cracking iPhone case.
-
5. Partners in Grime Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 8:47 amSpackle for iPhones? ;)
-
6. flex wheeler Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 9:02 amcosmetic? How can I live with a cosmetic scratch? My friends phone is 3 days old and had huge dents from a drop.
What I would do if I were a genius is look at the phone and see if that was the worst cosmetic issue. If so, replace for it. If not, no replacement for you. Did you need a magnifyer to see the crack? No replacement. Everybody take a deep breath. Put your iPhone down, get something REAL to obsess over. It’s a phone, not artwork. If people in America were better educated, shiny things wouldn’t distract them so easily. -
7. NYCPDE Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 9:23 amI’m amazed that Apple didn’t discover this DURING testing. In mean, this is pretty basic and I don’t think other cell phone manufacturers have had trouble with cracking of plastics. Also, it seems very very similar to the stress cracks on the macbooks - not the palmrests, but the ones on the bottom toward the vent. Apple needs to address this IMMEDIATELY, or suffer damage to its reputation.
-
8. ruffdeezy Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 10:17 am@ Myke D
Thats basically what I’ve done for the past week. I only have the front screen protector on. iPhone goes in the right pocket, everything else in the left. Then it cracks. I don’t even know how it did. I had it out and was admiring it when I noticed the crack. -
9. ruffdeezy Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 10:18 am@ Bob
Lucky you…
Maybe not having it in a case is helping the cracks, I don’t know. Either way, it shouldn’t happen under these circumstances. But, I’ve ordered a few cases and one should be arriving today. -
10. Tim Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 10:19 amWhen you buy a new car do you go over it with a magnifying glass? If you found a hairline crack would you return it to the dealer? Why not? You might have just spent $30,0000 and so you deserve perfection. No you wouldn’t take it back because we expect some level of imperfection in most anything we buy. So what’s the big deal about microscopic cracks in the iphone case? Unless the crack is big enough that dirt and moisture are getting in, or the back is falling off, just live with it. No one but you know it’s there and maybe the next version of the phone will have a different compound for the casing. If you want to complain…complain about the credit card that you just purchased the phone on.
-
11. ruffdeezy Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 10:20 am@ NYCPDE
Maybe they were rushing, if they didn’t announce it at WWDC, Apple would have been hammered by negative press. -
12. ruffdeezy Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 10:25 am@ Tim
If you were to compare the phone and the car in size, the tiny crack in the phone would equal a giant dent in the car. I think you would do something then. I’m pretty sure most people expect products they buy to be in decent shape and working order. If you were buying a table and there was a big scratch across the top, you probably wouldn’t buy it. If it was the warehouse inventory clearout and it was half price, you might buy it. Something cracking in week 1 without major abuse is absurd. -
13. ruffdeezy Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 10:26 am@ flex
How bad is the dent? Its hard to get them to replace stuff when it’s something like a drop unfortunately. -
14. John W Morgan Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 10:31 amOr perhaps too much pressure was applied during assembly. It’s quite possible that these are ‘imperfect’ units that weren’t detected during the quality control inspection, but became apparent after a bit of usage exposed the flaw.
If you bought your iPhone as bling, get it replaced. If you’re worried it may affect the performance, get it replaced. If you’ve got a life, consider it an attractive imperfection, and keep using the iPhone.
-
15. ruffdeezy Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 10:36 am@ k
The serial number on the phone corresponds to what model it is and when it was manufactured. I can’t remember how to tell which numbers mean what right now.Yeah, some geniuses should be trained on how to fix it so we can get it done quickly. Identifying the problem is the fist step, quickly resolving it is the next step.
-
16. Viswakarma Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 1:59 pmMay be it is the Arctic Cold Weather in Canada that is causing the cracks! Apple perhaps should test the iPhones either in Arctic or Antarctic!
-
17. ruffdeezy Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 2:45 pmLOL
It’s not winter year round here. Most of Canada isn’t in the Arctic. -
18. generalinqinq Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 9:34 pmthis is holding me back in purchasing one. I was going to go tomorrow and get 2.
-
19. AJ Says:
August 1st, 2008 at 12:07 am@generalinqinq
I would still go and buy one, but just to be safe get a black one.
I have a black and I’ve had it for a few days and I haven’t gotten and cracks or scratches yet. I’ve put mine in a case as soon as I took out of the box. :D -
20. generalinqinq Says:
August 1st, 2008 at 10:09 amdoesn’t matter the color. If it cracks, I’ll notice it. :)
-
21. Peter Says:
August 1st, 2008 at 2:33 pmThe back case of the iPhone 3G is probably made of Zirconia. One of the properties of the material is that it shrinks when it’s getting hot. That maybe the solution of the cracks in the iPhone 3G’s. We looked at the photo’s on macrumors.com and it looks that the haircracks only appear in places where there are holes (camera, headphone input) in the ceramic Zirconia back of the iPhone. So that maybe the solution of the cracks. We made a story about it on our blog: http://www.iphonenieuwsblog.nl Sorry only in Dutch
-
22. Jay Says:
January 14th, 2009 at 10:41 amMy first white iPhone 3g started to crack after 50 day’s, and after 3 month’s it was covered with them!! I got a new one last week and after 6 day’s the new one has developed it’s first crack….S#*(t Apple why did you change to plastic ( cell phone reception is b.s., more like saving a few $$’s…. here I go again with Rogers!!
-
23. Jason Zammit Says:
April 29th, 2009 at 9:19 pmI have gone through 7 exchanges all having cracks ranging from 1 day to 30 days. 1 even had a series of 9 hairline cracks spaced very close together right out of the box which proves this is clearly a manufacturers defect in materials used. Very poor Apple!
-
24. Jason Zammit Says:
April 29th, 2009 at 9:25 pmSorry should state it is a white model however my girlfriends black model also has mtiple hairline cracks around the dock, volume, headphone, mute and sim tray. They appeared shortly after purchase but she refused to exchange untill it has been resolved, the warranty is expiring soon so I just called Rogers for an exchange. I can’t beleive Apple has not redesigned the casing to make it more durable.
All exchanges have not been dropped or even bumped or had the slightest amount of pressure applied anywhere on the housing for that matter.
Loading ...
August 3rd, 2008 at 5:58 pm
[...] More info on the infamous iPhone 3G cracks [...]