iPhone 3G - Cracks in Plastic Housing

I hear ya dude...theres no way on earth that i can go at least 10 days w/o a phone.

Yes, it looks like Apple is replacing those phones with cracks in the plastic housing. I only hope that if the crack doesn't appear for a few months from now, Apple will still replace the phone with a new one and not a refurbished phone. Some people with protective films on their phones may not be aware of the cracks and may not be able to see them unless they remove the film.

For what its worth, I have the 16 gig white iphone and mine has started to develop cracks too. I had one by the volume switch and 5 more seem to have appeared in the same location. They seem to be getting worse too, becoming much more visible. I was going to leave it as it didn't seem too bad but now they seem to be worse!

I find it very troubling that Apple has removed the original thread and that not all users are able to get the phones replaced.

I hope that Apple decides to address this issue on a large scale and not behind the scenes with special instructions to store employees.

Until then, both my wife and I have decided not to get iPhones as the products overall lifespan is now in question, after all as of this posting it hasn't even been a month and cracks are showing up, what happens in 6 months or 12 if you never get the phone replaced? Just my thoughts and my new reluctance to move to the product.

+1

are these cracks due to heat? my iphone runs red hot, like a MacBook Pro...

i know for a fact that certain apps get stuck in a cycle (even if they are 'quit' and just send the processor wild... thus making my iPhone super hot.

I'd be interested to see if there was a common app that everyone experiencing cracking uses....and I'd be interested to know if the processor can get hot enough to cause heat damage like on the white MacBooks that have experienced 'heat cracking'.

how we'd find that out I don't know though!!!


http://www.iphoneuserguide.com

Believe it or not, I read a post this week about a guy who got burned by his iPhone. I'm sure if you google it you'll find it. Sounds like your phone could be on the same path? Good luck.

So you documented it, but didn't get it replaced yet, because you figure the next one will be the same or worse?

That's how I'm feeling, but I'm beginning to think Apple isn't going to acknowledge the issue. I think they might be getting greedy. There has to be more than just a bunch of complaints on the various forums and blogs talking about it. Maybe if it got on a National News channel, they'd be forced to acknowledge it, because that might decrease the sales.

I doubt they even have people checking these forums.

Personally I think this is a heat related issue. My 16g White (7/12/08) gets real hot sometimes.

I hope Apple takes some action before iPhone 3G is released in more countries. Anyone who would have used phone normally for few weeks would have found out about this issue.

This is very disappointing. Atleast my earlier HTC TyTN didn't crack in 3 weeks!

<Edited by Moderator>

Heat?? How much heat could there be in new box inside an air conditioned store?

Example from a recent post:


"2ND POST: 8/5/08. 7PM.
Here's an update folks... the new iPhone 3G I was given as a replacement on Sunday, August 3rd to my original phone that had developed cracks in the casing has now itself started to crack... yes, that's right, I found a crack near the volume rocker switch today. I took it back to the original genius at the SF store and he pulled out another new one, it already had cracks right out of the box, he pulled out a 2nd, and a 3rd... both had cracks in different places... it wasn't until he pulled a 4th out that we found one with NO cracks. Now I'm home, its all set up and we'll see after the next couple days if this one develops cracks. This is a major major issue that I don't think too many people are aware about, simply because most of those still standing in lines to get the 3G iPhone don't watch macrumors.com or the discussions on here. Spread the word folks or nothing will be done about this."

I agree that this needs to be made more public to raise awareness beyond two forums. Apple's refusal to replace these iPhones due to excuses such as "normal wear and tear" is unacceptable. Perhaps the key is to organize everyone in the area with this issue to schedule back-to-back-to-back Genius appointments. That way, Apple cannot deny that this is an "isolated incident." If push comes to shove, local press would LOVE to get their hands on this story!

Dude you must be ********, I thought the same thing about my black phone. Untill I took it into the sun now I can see stress cracks all over it. On the bottom where it pluggs in and around the sleep button on top, and the earphone plugin. So check your phone carefully before you want to start laughing at other people. This is a very widespread issue. Mine and everybody I know have done the same thing. And apple has erased forums about the same problem. I hope you have a protection plan chuckles.

Maybe it would be helpful if people would post if they have had their phones awhile and don't see any cracks. I'd also be curious to know which factory they were made in. (The factory is the first two numbers of the serial number). Hopefully, there are some phones out there that don't have any cracks.

Any news from Apple admitting and rectifying the problem with iPhones 3G cracking..?
I have sent mine (white 16GB) for replacement, but I'm afraid to receive yet another one that will "crack" within days!!! Not to mention other issues (dead pixels, dust, etc:)...
Honestly, I wish I have never bought It in the first place!