Issue with rear glass iPhone 12 Pro cracking/ smashing easily

There are mounting complaints of how easily the iPhone 12 back cracks. I don’t even know how mine happened as I don’t recall it dropping and it has been in an apple case from the moment I got it. Seems like a real design flaw that then means the consumer had to purchase a new phone as Apple don’t have an affordable repair for this issue. They have offered to take my phone in for diagnostics but can’t guarantee it will be returned in working order as my case is holding the back together. This leaves me having to buy a new phone again. So I am stuck with a new broken phone and no solution.

I just had a very similar experience. My 3 month old phone was in its case. It was not dropped. I left it charging in an empty house and went out. Came back and the entire back was splintered and cracked. I’ve had iPhones for 13 years and never, ever have I experienced anything like this. Learning that others have had this happen, I suspect that there is a design flaw in the 12 pro max that causes the back to shatter with little to no impact. Apple should be ashamed of charging us to replace these phones *on top of* what we pay for Apple Care+

I had this same issue! My iPhone 12 back glass cracked while in the speck case. I’ve had iPhones for 10 years and never had an issue of glass breaking while using these cases. This is ridiculous. I paid $99 today to replace it and the guy at Apple said he can’t recommend a better case that will

protect it better… so now what??

iPhones have only had glass backs since the iPhone 8, introduced to allow wireless (Qi) charging, and the iPhone 8 was released September 22, 2017, so glass backs have been around less than four years at the time I write this.

Apple doesn't recommend specific cases, that's why the case aftermarket exists.

I also couldn't tell you what case would better protect your phone; some case manufacturers specify drop heights for their cases and some even provide additional warranties should your phone suffer damage in a fall, but you will have to investigate which case best suits your needs.

dude youre in denial. i posted here months ago and im still getting emails about responses here.

if the iphone 12 is getting disproportionate amount of backglass breakage in comparison to other iphones then the only reasonable explanation is defects and flawed design. simply put.

yes, individual posts here represent ls circumstantial evidence but as a collective its compelling evidence. i never saw this much outcry over different models.

You haven't been here very long, so you haven't seen outcry.

Regardless, it doesn't matter, it's not defective.

You can disagree and take it to Apple; they are the ultimate arbiters.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

That’s not even the whole issue. You only get so many repairs with your apple care and I don’t even have an issue with paying the cost to repair my back glass. My issue is that apple will be putting the same crappy glass on the back for repair effectively doing nothing because it’s just going to break again.

I went to T-Mobile yesterday to add a data line and I decided to take a look at the iPhone 12s and the demo phones don’t have glass on the back…I wonder why?

If you want wireless charging, which everyone seems to want, then the back of phone will be made of glass. Samsung and Google Pixel phones are not different. The back is glass to permit wireless charging.

So yes, I think it's perfectly logical. I however, have never bought an iPhone which wasn't put in a durable case to protect my phone.

I can't believe that there are not a lot of people suffering from cracked rear glass on their iPhone 12 Pros. My wife's 12 Pro Max wasn't mishandled or anything and it has the cracking similar to other's postings. I have already sent a note to Customer Service about my disappointment. My family has owned, multiple iPhone 3GS, 4s, 6s, 7, 8S, 11, 12 Pro Max etc. And anytime a screen broke it was clearly the user's fault. But this time - it certainly seems like the rear glass is really weak. And thus, users will be more likely or compelled to purchase Apple Care+ because fear of a $600 repair from the rear glass breaking. This experience and the cost of $600 is ridiculous. I mean at $250 I could see where Apple was coming from - it's glass and hard to fix. But $600 is terrible.

I've dropped every iPhone I've had with a glass back, but have never cracked the back. That includes, iPhone X, XS Max, 11 Pro Max, 12 Pro Max and now 13 Pro Max.

I am not an engineer. I don't work for Apple. I have nothing to do with the engineering decisions which are used on high end smart phones. I'm going to hazard a guess that since Apple, Google and Samsung ALL use glass backs on their phones, there is more than coincidence that glass is the best option for wireless charging.

I wouldn't ever have to worry about paying so much to replace the back glass. I ALWAYS buy AppleCare+. With it, the cost to replace the entire phone with a cracked front screen or back glass is $29. You do the math. An AppleCare+ plan in the US is $200 (more if you want to add Theft or Loss protection. Don't buy it and you get to pay more.

Your argument is wasted here. You are NOT speaking with anyone from Apple. We are ALL users on this user to user only forum. It really doesn't matter what you think. It's not going to have any impact on Apple.

I believe that this is a design issue. I have had two cracks already and I am less than 6 months into ownership. In both cases I have had an Otterbox case on when I dropped the phone. I am admittedly drop-prone and of course the Max size in small hands makes it even more so. But in every previous generation of iPhones, the Otterbox casing was sufficient to protect the phone. With the raised surface of the triple camera design I am guessing that this creates fragility in the rear glass. Whatever the case may be I have already paid $599 to have the glass repaired once in August and I am about to pony up another $599 in November. Not happy about it and wondering if this is a systemic issue not getting coverage.

I have an Otterbox Symmetry case that has been on my 12 Pro Max from day one. It fell out of my pocket face down ……no cracks in case or screen but back glass shattered. Seems like the newer products are not as tough as apple advertises. My last two iPads cracked out of nowhere with screen protector and case. No crack in protector or case but glass cracked. I’ve never had all these problems in the past just with the newer “better” products. I’m seriously considering whether I want to stay with apple. Also, why did I spend all this money on cases and glass screen protectors if they apparently don’t protect anything. The only thing they do is hold everything together so you don’t cut your fingers. Apple definitely has been producing inferior products lately. I’ve NEVER had a phone crack before now!

i also think that with glass on the rear seems to much fragile. Thousands or millions have complained and a lot will complain in the next months/years! But one of the biggest problem is that they now fuse everything so if your fragile glass brokes you have to pay for almost a new iPhone! (And AppleCare is not available everywhere).

You're right. I shouldn't assume the phone was unprotected. My iPhone is in a case, which is clear and the back of the case is 9H hardened glass, which will absorb more impact if it falls. This works more like a screen protector on the front glass. And the glass on the back of my phone is perfect, even though it has been dropped a couple times.

I need to explore the brand of your case - I have a screen protector and been using a spec case. Even though my phone dropped 28 inches face down, the front glass was fine and back glass shattered. I think I had a false sense of security because I had a 7 plus in the same case for years and dropped it many times on the same carpet and with no damage. I don’t remember Apple or the carrier where I purchased my new phone mentioning the back of the phone had changed and was hyper fragile now. My bad I guess for not researching better before purchasing a safer case.