Dodgy iPhone 4 Home Button - What Would You Do?
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I've owned an iPhone 4 for almost a year now. Over the last few months, the Home button has become increasingly temperatmental. Sometimes it does not do anything, sometimes it will do a double-click instead of a single (and vice versa), sometimes it will work perfectly. It appears to happen at random and there does not seem to be any reason for it.
From what I gather it is a common fault, with lots of people experiencing the same symptoms. There are also lots of "solutions" out there, most of which I've tried, ranging from blowing into the connector at the bottom through to various button combinations to "recalibrate" the button.
As you might have gathered, none of these have worked.
i genuinely think it is a hardware problem, as I had a mouse button, which befell a similar fate. So, I'm wondering what to do?
Some people have recommended taking the phone instore to the Genius bar where they may replace it. Has anyone else done this? Is a replacement likely? The nearest store (Sheffield) is 60 miles away, so I don't want to waste my time.
I could send it in for repair with Apple but I believe this could take a long time and that they may send a refurbished model, which I rather not have.
Another alternative is contacting Tesco (my network provider), although I'm not sure what their policy is on repairs.
Any advice or other suggestions? My warranty expires in a week's time so I really need to make my mind up sharpish!
From what I gather it is a common fault, with lots of people experiencing the same symptoms. There are also lots of "solutions" out there, most of which I've tried, ranging from blowing into the connector at the bottom through to various button combinations to "recalibrate" the button.
As you might have gathered, none of these have worked.
i genuinely think it is a hardware problem, as I had a mouse button, which befell a similar fate. So, I'm wondering what to do?
Some people have recommended taking the phone instore to the Genius bar where they may replace it. Has anyone else done this? Is a replacement likely? The nearest store (Sheffield) is 60 miles away, so I don't want to waste my time.
I could send it in for repair with Apple but I believe this could take a long time and that they may send a refurbished model, which I rather not have.
Another alternative is contacting Tesco (my network provider), although I'm not sure what their policy is on repairs.
Any advice or other suggestions? My warranty expires in a week's time so I really need to make my mind up sharpish!
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Comments
if you do go the apple route, make an appointment in advance at the store or they might not see you. the apple store will typically replace it on the spot for you
If they decide to replace it, does anyone know whether it will be a new replacement or a refurbished model? Obviously I'd prefer a new one...
If there's no joy at the Apple Store, then I'll send it back to Tesco. Apparently, you send it away to them and they'll "repair" it within 10 days. Again, not sure if that means an actual repair, a refurbished model or a new replacement.
I'd advise you to get your phone software up to date and do a full backup and sync. This will make it much easier for you to restore all of your contacts, apps, music, calendars, texts etc to your new phone.
Apple DOES NOT usually give new iPhone replacements out to people.
You'll get a re-manufactured iPhone as a replacement from the "Genius" bar.
I posted this on another forum a while ago explaining the difference between a refurbished iPhone and a re-manufactured iPhone:
"Refurbished" isn't really the correct term to use.
Apple gives out "Remanufactured" iPhones. It sounds like marketing fluff, but it's actually quite different from refurbishing a device.
Apple basically takes a faulty iPhone (like you might do with a device you were going to refurbish), but they put all of the working components into a new external case (so it should have NO cosmetic damage or wear/tear) and fit a new battery into the device. Any faulty components are not transferred and the device is thoroughly tested.
Generally with a refurbished device the manufacturer only fixes whatever was broken in the original device, meaning that you end up with a battery that might be in poorer condition or a device that has cosmetic damage from the previous owner.
Apple tends to have quite high satisfaction rates with these replacement devices because of this
That is not always the case. I had the same problem as the OP a few months ago.
I made a 240 mile round trip to my nearest Apple store which is in Cardiff. They tried the phone and 'sods law' the damn thing worked properly for the first time in ages. The apple guy said it was a common problem, but then noticed that there was only 3 weeks left on my warranty and basically accused me of trying to pull a fast one by trying to get a new phone!
They said to come back if it did it again, no way was I going to make that trip again for nothing. Sure enough as soon as I got home it started to play up again.
Luckily my contract was up a few weeks later. I've now upgraded to a SGS2.
Bye bye Apple, so much for their legendary customer service!
Eventually got to see someone. Thankfully, they were able to reproduce the problem straight away and issued me with a replacement phone with any further questions. He noticed that I only had 3 days left of my warranty but didn't have a problem with that. He even offered to replace my USB cable which had become a bit frayed.
I asked if it the replacement phone was refurbished and he said it could be, or it could be brand new. He said something along the lines of what Daveoc64 has put above - basically, if it is "refurbished" only internal parts are recycled - the outer casing, the battery, as well as the serial number and IMEI are brand new. And I am happy to report it is in perfect condition and works a treat. Oh, and I get another 90 days of warranty.
I am very happy with the support from Apple!