Level 1

6 points

Scratches under the iPhone glass

Hello

Thought I'd post here as I have noticed a couple of scratches have appeared on my iPhone, they are only slight, but I have no idea how they occured and they are noticeable.

The reason I've posted is that they are under the glass, with no visible marks or damage whatsoever to any other part of the phone. The scratches are right at the edge of the glass at the bottom of the phone below the home button. It's almost as if some internal component has scratched at the back of the glass and removed the black coating.

I doubt I can take the phone back, I've had it 3 weeks and the scratches are only small, but I'm a bit disappointed now that for the remainder of my 18 month contract, I will have a less than perfect phone through no fault of my own as far as I can tell.

Does anyone have any ideas how these marks might have appeared? Has anyone else had this happen? I want to make sure I avoid it getting any worse...

PowerBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.11), iPhone 3G

Posted on Aug 6, 2008 6:00 AM

46 replies

Sep 30, 2008 4:04 PM in response to elcampnou

UPDATE:
The guy I spoke to at Apple was really helpful, the pictures I sent him didn't make it obvious the marks were under the screen, but he called me & arranged for me to send the iPhone to them. I was updated by email every step of the way & had a brand new iPhone in my hand within 3 working days!
Thanks apple...

Pani

Level 1

0 points

Oct 25, 2008 9:36 AM in response to elcampnou

Just wanted to add that I had this problem as well. The marks started at one end (base) of the phone and started to appear near the earpiece as well.

I took it to the Apple Store today and swapped to a new (refurbished) phone right away. The Genius said that he had not seen it before and thought it looked like the seal from the adhesive was failing. He changed the phone out without any prompting.

Hope that helps. Now if they could only fix the broken email fetch!!!!

Oct 31, 2008 10:36 AM in response to Holster®

Wanted to update this issue a little. I've had my 3g since the release day and just this week I noticed the areas under the screen glass that is identical to the pictures several of you linked to. I just got back from an Apple store and my phone was replaced with no questions. The guy there said he had not seen that before but he had seen ones with the dust under the screen. Anyway I was very pleased to have no problem dealing with this. In my case, I'm in Baltimore, I wonder if it has anything to do with the outside temperature, it just turned cold here this week.
John

Aug 7, 2008 6:02 AM in response to Andrew Bowser

Here's a photo of the back of the glass screen:
http://techrepublic.com.com/2347-13636_11-210341-210648.html?seq=33

More images here:
http://techrepublic.com.com/2346-13636_11-210341-1.html

Aug 7, 2008 6:03 AM in response to Holster®

I feel like trying to get it replaced, but I have a feeling that won't be easy...

Try it...

Aug 7, 2008 4:32 PM in response to Andrew Bowser

They don't look like scratches to me. They look like some sort scuffs of residue. Are you sure they won't come off with Goo-Gone or something?

Tiverton

Level 1

0 points

Aug 10, 2008 7:58 AM in response to 1234dan

The scratches get longer and longer every day. Even if I only turn on my iPhone and do nothing else with it.
http://gallery.me.com/sementis#100191

Aug 10, 2008 2:00 PM in response to Holster®

Those are not scratches. It's the glue residue from underneath the glass peeling away the smokey colored appearance of the glass.

Aug 10, 2008 4:10 PM in response to Randy Ketchum

The big question is though, will AppleCare repair/replace phones that have this issue?

Aug 10, 2008 11:34 PM in response to Kristan K.

Not sure, as it's cosmetic and doesn't effect the operation/performance of the phone.

Aug 11, 2008 10:23 AM in response to t81martin

Let us know how it goes, please.

Aug 11, 2008 4:03 PM in response to Holster®

There are reports of stress-related cracks on the iPhone body. Maybe this is the same problem? Users who reported these issues got their iPhones replaced.

Aug 13, 2008 12:43 PM in response to Holster®

That's really strange!!

bweigel

Level 1

0 points

Aug 25, 2008 3:04 AM in response to David M Brewer

David M Brewer:
no, I think you misunderstood... it is in fact the same strange scratches UNDER the glass (as seen on various pictures here). So no outside scratch!
hope this helps... ;P

Sep 19, 2008 7:40 AM in response to elcampnou

can anyone post the serial nb of the affected iphones ?
so we could find out the affected production week

mine was 88833xxxxx
week 33 therefore

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Scratches under the iPhone glass