Hairline cracks in black antenna cover on iPad 3G

Here mine,

Kind the same as the poster above, never dropped or anything, bought in october and look after very vell.

K i was the first person on this thread to upload a pic , and mine was a First Gen Ipad 3G - this is crazy seeing that apple would use the same weak flawed plastic as the failed 1st Gen. 😟 makes me Sad

I discovered the same issue today for my iPad 1 that I bought. Luckily it is still under the original warranty and I have this thread book marked. My Genius Bar appointment is tomorrow so hoepfully they can do something to help me out.

I have exactly the same problem! A single hairline crack appeared in the middle of the black 3g cover at the top of my 64Gb iPad2 earlier this week. Appointment is with Regent Street Genius Bar this Friday. I'll let you know how I get on. Not happy as the iPad is in pristine conditon with no scratches, neve been dropped, dented or banged in any way.

Thanks for posting your experience! Can you take a pic for this thread? My apple genius bar refused to acknowledge it as a craftsmanship issue and categorized it as "user damage." I'd like to take a few pics in from other people to try to argue my case. Thanks!

The single hairline crack is right in the centre of the black 3G cover - what's odd is that the crack extends from the aluminium to the light sensor hole, but the plastic is not cracked above the hole.

DPal,

I got my iPad exchanged, the genius agree with me that it's a built defect, only thing the hw told me that he had to use a generic defect code as exchage becouse this problem isn't know.

regards

Davide

Italy

Thanks diamondust73

Thanks mdshamilton - crack looks exactly like the one on my iPad.

Apple Store - Regent Street - Genius Bar had a look at the crack, said he'd never seen a fault like that before, his colleague tried to squeeze the iPad to see if it got squeezed somehow to cause the crack. They determined that it's a manufacturing fault, the iPad is in pristine condition with no scratches or dents etc so it was a straight no issue swap for a new one.

He did say that Apple monitor the forums and when there is a trend of problems etc they try to address them and add the fault as an option in the replacement drop down selection boxes.

I'll be buying the extended warranty to add another year's cover to this one as I have 39 days left on the old iPad and only 90 days on the replacement!

Same problem - different country.

Yesterday I noticed a small diagonal crack on the antenna cover of my original iPad. I am sure I haven’t dropped it or banged it against anything. I either keep it in the original iPad Apple case or in a soft slip case and the crack seems to have appeared out of nowhere. There are no signs of damage anywhere around it - no dents or scratches on the surrounding plastic or aluminum. The surface is perfectly even but for the crack.

I visited a local authorized Apple representative (no Apple stores in Poland...) and they told me it was mechanical damage - most likely done by me. They told me they wouldn’t do anything about it as the only thing they could do is replace the iPad with a new one, which obviously can’t be done. I told them I’d done some online research and found this discussion but they replied they hadn’t heard anything about it and if I wanted to get more information I should call Apple helpline (that’s the only way to get in touch with Apple directly in Poland...). Haven’t done it yet though, I’d like to know what you think about it. Here’s the photo:

UPDATE: Apple helpline told me they didn't have any similar problems on record. I was told by a lady that she'd run through all European, American and other databases and found nothing like that anywhere so she could not offer any further assistance, the more so as my iPad was no longer under warranty...

She explained that each case of malfunctioning or damaged iPad is considered individually and information regarding the problem might not necessarily be entered into any database. When I mentioned this discussion and that some people did have their iPads replaced, she replied that each decision was an independent one and doesn’t set a precedent. Plus, they don't take posts into consideration when deciding on their course of action.

Disappointed...

I have the identical problem - a hairline crack at the center of the antenna case - right at the light sensor hole. I also have a smaller crack toward the camera lens.

My iPad 2 has not been dropped, struck, or otherwise mishandled. The cracks just appeared.

I am under warranty. Twice I've sent my iPad in for repair/replacement. Both times I received the message "Our technicians have performed full diagnostic checks on your IPAD 2 3G and have been unable to reproduce the symptom(s) you reported when you requested service. As a result of our tests, we can confirm that your product meets Apple specifications for performance, usability, and functionality."

This despite the fact I used their problem description of cracks in plastic. And, the second time I sent it in I included a letter describing the problem in detail and I attached a post-it note with arrows to the two cracks.

It's maddening! Bad enough that an otherwise terrific product was made with inferior materials. Worse that their customer service is the opposite of customer service.

Below is a photo of the cracks and my attempt to draw the technician's attention to the problem.

mdshamilton,

Your post was extremely helpful. I had it bookmarked on my iPad when I went to the Apple store again this weekend and showed them all the pics as well as your post which showed they have replaced other people's. So, they replaced mine, no questions asked. Thanks again for helping me prove this wasn't an isolated problem.

best,

DPal

Hi Jeremias13, all I can advise is to somehow point them to this thread to show yours is not an isolated case. That helped me per my most recent reply to mdshamilton.

good luck

DPal