iPhone 4 Power Button Stuck

I called my local Fast Fix Jewelry repair (not all locations fix smartphones) and they told me it would cost ~$40 and an hour to repair my iPhone 4 so I'll be heading there this weekend. I hope may be useful information to others with the same problem.

Clever you! Thanks for a great suggestion; I emailed the nearest FastFix (San Antonio, TX) to see if smartphone repair is offered. At the Apple Store at La Cantera today, I was told Apple doesn't bother to repair broken iPhone power buttons. Pathetic....

The power button on my iphone 4s broke 15 months ago. Apple replaced it under warranty. Yesterday, the replacement phone's power button also broke. I took into the Apple store and because it is 3 months out of warranty, they refused to replace or fix it. Are you freakin' kidding me?

My immediate family owns 2 ipads, 3 iphones, and I just purchased an $800 mini mac 3 weeks ago. The Senior Manager at the Las Vegas Forum Shops Apple Store-Andrea Lettus-could have cared less. I am now waiting for a response from the Corporate office. What a joke. And if I hear one more comment from an Apple employee that I should have purchased "Apple Care", I'm going to explode. Apple Care for a $400 phone after only 15 months of use? And this is the 2nd time in the past 15 months?

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About my sleep/wake button not working as well any longer (and finally looking into it), I can't say enough good things about:

1) This Apple Support Community; grateful for your help;

2) customer service & support from Apple, on the telephone and in-person, and

3) value of this workaround: Settings/General/Accessibility/Assistive Touch.

They even helped me streamline and simplify the process of submitting a warranty claim for Otterbox case (which I'd bought at their partner's store). At this point, I'm just marvelling at the wonder of Apple.

I think Apple saying Assistive Touch is a solution for the Power Button failing is like a premium auto manufacturer saying the Rear View Camera is a solution should the forward gears fail regularly on some models of their vehicles

Thanx Pastor Ed! I went to the apple store & got the $200 replace only policy from them (warranty up). The person I talked to was nice enough to set up the assitive touch for me but didnt inform me that by holding the the lock screen icon that i could power down the device. I was considering opening up the phone myself & trying to resolve it but now I'll just use it as is. God Bless

Same thing happened to my iphone. The lock button just stopped working. I tried the assistive touch for a while but it got annoying. Try pressing the lock button really hard one or two times and it should work normally after that. It worked for me.

Hi Sonyalh,

I wanted to see if I could clarify the following comment:

> the button won't do anything for the 4S.

Does this mean when you press the button on the top of the phone (on the right), nothing happens? In other words, the screen doesn't either light up (if it was dark) or go dark (if it was light)?

Or the Assistive Touch option (in Settings/General/Accessibility) does not work?

I would hope the first one above would still work 3 weeks after purchase, but we'll start there if you'd like to clarify and go from there.

Thanks! ~ Anne

This just happened to my 18 year old's 13 month old, iPhone 4S. I made a Genius Bar appointment for tonight. Hopefully they can help us. Paying 199 to replace his phone is not an option either. The phone is out of warranty, so I am not expecting a replacement but I hope they have some suggestions for us. My son has loved his iPhone as do the rest of us who have them. But...this is not acceptable. I will reserve further judgement until after we go to the Genius Bar tonight. The gal I spoke with this am, was quite polite and gave me some hope that they could help. I guess we'll see!

Hello from France,

We also have this kind of problem, and after a visit to the Genius in Montpellier, my iPhone 4s has still his power button stucked.

I do not want to pay 199 euros for a reccurent manufacture problem.

My warranty was finished two weeks before the problem appear.

Apple didn't want to help me, so I cancelled the iPhone 5s order, and my next Retina 13 will be a Dell Xps 13...

I hope that ClassAction will be available soon in france...

Stephane

Apple should've done a recall on the iPhones because of this problem. To be honest this is the second iPhone lock button that breaks on me an I will not pay 200 to get a new phone. I think apple should fix there products for free especially something like this it is a main function of the phone and it's wrong to charge someone 200 dollars for a phone they already paid for and the company made a **** quality lock button.

I'm sorry to hear your frustration, but I have found Apple has been more than fair with me; for instance, honoring warranties that technically they didn't have to, and maintaining a high level of customer service in general. They've always supported education, encouraging customers to learn more and get actively involved.

Have you tried Assistive Touch, as a software workaround? Go to Settings/General/Accessibility/Assistive Touch -- hope this helps!

I was actually quite pleased with how my local apple store handled this issue. My son's phone was out of warranty by 44 days. At first they told us it would be 199 to fix it and of coarse they explained that there is always the option of apple care+. I nicely complained that I did not think I should have to pay 199 to replace a 13 month old phone. I further explained that the phone should absolutely work properly for the duration of the contract and beyond. I also said that after researching online, this was a common problem. In the end, they did negotiate with a 99 price. Considering I initially expected it would cost around 75 to repair it, 99 for a brand new, NOT refurbished phone, I was happy. In the end, we ended up using the on screen function to shut his phone off. My son is happy with this and so are we. Yes, having a fully functioning power/sleep button would be ideal, but this is workable. I do agree Apple should address this issue tho...it is obviously a defect!

That said, we obviously aren't too unhappy with Apple since we purchased my youngest son a 5c for Christmas! ;)

I hear you anglynn72, and agree there is an important distinction to be made between a flaw in the product design and/or production, and customer service/support. And if I hear your response accurately, I agree that a 1-year warranty on a product with a 2-year minimum contract would seem to be out of line.

Another larger question getting back to JustaRoy's post, since I'm not remembering any Apple recalls. Does anyone else remember or have experience with an Apple recall? Perhaps only those directly affected hear about it, but I certainly don't see or hear much in the press or media about Apple recalls.

I don't know that I have ever heads of an Apple recall. I wish they would recall that part. It clearly is faulty.

I felt satisfied with their support/customer service. They were nice, patient and answered my questions. They were respectful and seemed considerate of my feelings on the matter too. They also agreed that the phone should not be having this issue after 1 year. I almost felt as if I could have pushed the issue further and I may have gotten the price reduced further. I just didn't feel the need to. The phone IS out of warranty, so I have to also understand that they are also doing their job and what Apple allows them to do. We opted to wait before buying the replacement phone. We have 30 days to change our mind and I have that in writing. Like I said! I felt pretty good about the service we received. I would have loved a new device free and clear, but I also need to realize that as a consumer, a company has to have rules.... Even if I do feel they need to recall this part.