iPhone 3G - Cracks in Plastic Housing

I am now on my 3rd iPhone 3G. I went into the Apple Store on Stockton St in downtown SF and was asked the EXACT same questions as 'element619' was asked. The genius who assisted me was playing dumb and said he had only briefly heard about the plastic housing cracking, yet asked the EXACT same questions, in the exact order. He gave me a new iPhone 3G on the spot. A friend was with me who was visiting from Chicago and he also had the same issues... white 16gig iPhone 3G, same questions were asked of him, in the same order. We both walked out with new phones. This tells us that Apple IS aware of the problem, the Genius's obviously are under instruction on what to do if someone complains about this issue, and Apple is trying to keep the noise about this to a bare minimum (deleting the original threads of this topic)...else there would NOT have been a line with over 100 people in it outside that store yesterday with people there to buy the iPhone 3G.

This issue is NOT just happening to the white model, its also the black... for those of you with the black model, you just can't see the cracks as well.

Good luck to those of you with cracks, I hope that your Apple Stores are as nice as ours is here in SF.

I have a cracked white iPhone 3G in Austin, but haven't returned it yet. Waiting on a new new new batch of them to come out without the problems I have in addition to my cracked back case.... like horrible reception....

The first phone I replaced because of a screen defect. The Genius at the Apple Store at Barton Creek Mall couldn't have cared less about my reception issues.

The second time I went in, the guy was a complete jerk, even though I was being nice. I talked to him about 3G signal and he skirted every comment I made. Even went as far as to say that I shouldn't compare my phone's reception to other phones... WHAT?

Message was edited by: dcdttu

i have a black 8 gig and checked my phone and have cracks near the headphone jack as well.

Just to help Apple realize the scope of the problem, I'll chime in. Not that they're listening though.

Black 16G model, at least 5 cracks between the headphone jack/SIM card and the bezel.

Has anyone that received a replacement seen cracks in the replacement iPhone? I have a very tiny crack near the dock connector on my week 30 Black 16GB. If it never goes beyond what it is now, I can live with it (you can barely see it unless you hold it at just the right angle under the right light). But if it gets worse or more cracks appear, I'm going to want it fixed. I just don't want to go in and swap it now if I'm just going to get another one that'll crack.

Some shots here:

http://gallery.me.com/aaron.smith#100035

I have a 16GB iPhone 3G black. I got it on the day after launch and it has numerous hair line cracks on the plastic casing. Very disappointing... Tried to take it to the Apple store in Chicago but they said it was just scratched from my case. I hope Apple makes takes care of this soon.

Just cleaned and inspected my black 16 and it is still good. Going to look every other day I can tell you that.

Got my replacement phone and inspected it carefully before leaving the store...no cracks out of the box. After closer inspection, I did notice this phone seems to be better made...the space around the SIM card area is much smaller than the old one and the buttons aren't sticking out so far. I also noticed that the factory is different...

factory 87 week 30...let's see if that makes a difference.

I will make a comment, some of the genuis bar guys/gals are nicer than others...but all in all they have all done their jobs. I don't have much to complain about.

Will continue to check for cracks though...

The big question for me is that when Apple fixes this at the manufacturing level, and they almost certainly will have to considering this cracking problem is just beginning and is only going to get worse with time, will they offer to fix or replace the thousands of cracked units that will be in circulation by then? They would be wise to thread carefully on this one. It looks like this issue has long legs.

That's a good question. But is it worth going to the Apple store and fighting to get them to give me a new one, or just wait until Apple announces there is a problem/decides to fix the problem?

I have a 16gb black iPhone. Between the volume button and the chrome bezel there are many of these hairline cracks. I cannot even count count them. Also on the other side where the chrome bezel meets the plastic casing I have more of them. They seem to be under the clear coat because I can't feel them with my nail. The good thing is that they are barely noticeable on my black model. The only way to see them is to hold the phone at an angle and under the proper light. Now if they start becoming more visible that will be a problem. I had allready returned a few iPhones due to stuck pixels, dust under the glass and wide gap on the left side of the screen. Finally, I can say I am happy with this one. To be honest with you I am scared to have to go thru another exchange because the chances are I can get one much worse than the one I have now. This is very dissapointing as I am an iphone fan. I had the previous version and was flawless.

In response to CCChapman who made the quote below:

I would print out this thread and go back to the Apple store and demand a replacement. Be nice, but firm. You might even highlight the posts where the phones have been replaced by other Apple stores. You deserve a replacement.




+I have a 16GB iPhone 3G black. I got it on the day after launch and it has numerous hair line cracks on the plastic casing. Very disappointing... Tried to take it to the Apple store in Chicago but they said it was just scratched from my case. I hope Apple makes takes care of this soon.+

wolverine2 wrote:
Hi, For the sake of us here who are keen to get an iPhone 3G, please let us know how your new iPhone is doing... Hopefully, it will not develop cracks or other problems. If it does develop cracks, please let us know! Thanks!

My fiance and I both got iPhones at launch (July 11th); she got a white 16GB and I got a black 16GB.

Her phone has a somewhat stiff ringer switch, but is otherwise flawless; no cracks, scratches, etc.

My phone went back 4 times, nothing huge but mostly cosmetics.

We left on the 12th for vacation so we didn't have much time to really 'glance over' the phones.

Phone #1 (New) - small chip on chrome bezel (bottom, 3/4" from the right). Store said to bring it back when we get home from vacation. Gave me business card, no issues. Ringer switch is same as our white iPhone--seems a little too tight to move.

Phone #2 (New) - Dim backlight, light leaking through bezel. Otherwise, phone seemed fine. I took it back to the store and they 'captured' it (whatever that means) and offered me the option of a new "new" phone or a genius bar "new" (refurb) phone. I took the refurb b/c I didn't want to have to deal w/ AT&T again b/c I have a discount on my plan, and they have to call to get it taken off to replace in store.

Phone #3 (Genius Bar Replacement) - Apparently the dock cable had a short in it and the phone refused to dock w/ my computer. Brought the Phone and cable back to the store, exchanged both.

Phone #4 (Genius Bar Replacement) - This phone started "pausing" intermittenly when I had it hooked up in my car via audio cable, or had other headphones on (my big Sonys). Took it back to the store, they gave me a "new" new phone.

Phone #5 (New, current phone - 2 weeks old) - Works fine (knock on wood). No cosmetic issues or functional issues. Backlight is bright, switch moves softly, no light leakage, etc.

Was it worth it? Absolutely! This is the best d/m phone I've ever had. If I had to do it all over again, I would have probably waited a week or two for the lines to die down.

The Apple Store was 'beyond' accommodating and gave me zero issues at getting any of my concerns resolved. I even purchased AppleCare b/c of how efficient the Genius Bar was at resolving everything.

If you're curious, we were in line for exactly 8 hours (11:30-7:30)--this was our first Apple "line", probably our last..hehe.

Thanks for posting your experience. I can't believe you had so many issues with your phones and your fiance's phone had none! I've looked at my phone over and over and can't find anything either, but the headphone jack is very hard to insert and remove. Is this the same on both of your phones? I'm hesitant to use the headphones because of this.

FYI, my headphone jack is stiff too, but I use it all the time with the included headset. IMO you should use it a LOT now while it's still under warranty. If it's gonna break, now's the time for it to happen. 😉