iPhone 4 Power Button Stuck

Mine just went today too, overnight - yesterday it was working fine and now today the metal button rattles around up and down but presses nothing underneath. The other thing about this wear and tear argument is the top button is lightly if ever used (certainly in my case). I never power it off, I use it to lock the screen before the timeout and occasionally for the two fingered salute to speed it up.

I have a genius appointment friday to see, it's definitely out of warranty. I have had success with other stores (not big A) with asking them if it's covered under warranty, they always say "of course" but warranty only covers manufacturing defects not wear and tear (i.e. warranty wouldn't replace the screen if it were scratched). So having backed themselves into that corner they have admitted it's a manufacturing defect hence the EU ruling applies or sale of goods act. The only tough thing with the sale of goods act is you have to prove it's a manufacturing defect, which the conversation above should ... I get the feeling though apple never give an inch and you would have to get it repaired and take them to court for the money, you'd need to sign the paperwork "signed but not agreed" or somesuch.

Yeah with SOGA it is difficult to work with in that the consumer has to prove that there is a defect. Under the Sale of Goods Act, retailers are responsible for faulty goods (that are not 'of satisfactory quality') for up to six years after you bought them. 'Satisfactory quality' covers various aspects that could be wrong with the goods, including whether they've lasted as long as you could reasonably expect. A 'reasonable' lifetime for different products is not defined in law and would ultimately be for a court to decide. However I think it is fair to say, in words similar to those stated the act, "One might reasonably expect a £500 mobile phone to last longer than 12 months, but you wouldn't necessarily expect compensation if a £20 kettle broke down in this period.". Breaking this down into further detail, you would expect a button that has minimal use, especially compared to the usage that the 'home button' gets, to still be working after 12 months, yet in most cases the home button still works fine and the sleep button fails before it; my home button still works fine.

You may fare better citing the EU Directive, however. The European Union under EU Directive 1999/44/EC has decided that a 2 year warranty be of standard for ALL products. The warranty being with the seller, and not the manufacturer, the burden of proof, if a problem should occur, falling with the seller and not the consumer. This means that you don't have to prove that there is a defect; Apple would have to prove that there isn't one. I think it's pretty clear that there is considering this thread has over 100k views.

I'd not even bothered trying to get a replacement, assuming that at 18 months I was outside of the warranty. However, from what you say, I would that it would be hard for Apple to contend that 24 months was an "unreasonable lifetime" as a 24 month contract was all that O2 etc were offering when the iPhone 4 came out - the hardware must surely be expected to last until the end of the network lock-in period?

It's all great debate, but recovering my £30 repair bill through the courts would no doubt cost me considerably more, a fact on which big corporates rely.......

I have this same problem.

While I don't have much of anything to add as far as a solution, and I'll admit that I haven't read through all of the replies, but has someone brought up the environmental angle? No matter how carefully one recycles her phone or what programs are in place for as much, I consider it corporate hypocrisy on a grand scale to tout the environemental friendliness of nearly every product in its manufacturer whilst operating on a business model of perpetual obsolecence. Apple makes fewer and fewer repairable devices. They make record profits on a machine of innovation, marketing and turnover. We need to buy stuff that lasts. If possible, fix it yourself or pay a shop before giving in to the Apple obsolecence racket. Nobody needs a new phone every year. Apple would like us to feel that we do, however. If a broken phone teams with marketing in pushing us toward that decision, I can't imagine they feel bad about it.

Not sure what sort of evidence you'd need to produce in order to be successful. I imagine you'd get it repaired elsewhere then claim for the cost of repairs. But most of what you see on the net is anecdotal or friend of a friend stuff. A friend (see!) took a budget airline to small claims after they promised to pay for taxis for a cancelled flight and then wouldn't. They failed to respond to all the action and only settled in full just hours before the bailiffs were due to take property from them. It seems a well oiled machine, at the end they pay more money, but at no point are they admitting fault and all the time it goes on the more likely it is the person bringing action drops out.

I will have to see what the expert says friday in my case and go from there. But I think the well oiled apple machine will just say "no" in the way they always know what's best for you 😟

My Lock button just stopped working today, out of the blue like many others have reported here. It was working fine one moment then the next there was no click, no response, nothing. My phone is out of warranty by at least three months so I supposed the options are to live with it or she'll out some $$. I was really hoping to wait for the 5 came out before I upgraded. Crap.

My istore expert just re-iterated what others have said here - once their warranty is expired the only option is a £119 refurbished phone. It seems there is a spacer under the external button, and a small nub on the actual switch assembly, either of which could have been dislodged to cause this failure. It's like a design to fail after a period of time. Take a TV remote, the buttons in that are pressed more and would last years - the external button would press directly on the PCB assembly.

I mentioned the fine levied against apple in Italy for failing to honour the two year warranty and how the sale of goods act went beyond the manufacturers warranty. He spoke to his manager and he then said he could not deal with me any further, I would need to speak to their legal department in Cork.

Meanwhile the store was teaming with people buying, for every person who walks out disgruntled and goes to a different platform there will be hundreds spending their money still.

Shabby, very shabby apple, you should be ashamed.

He offered to provide contact details but "they're on the website". Court action would cost more than the £119 - no guarantee of success or breaking even. Some credit cards offer a two year guarantee on things bought on them, sadly not mine, but an option for the future. John Lewis (sadly don't sell the iphone) do a standard 2 year warranty on everything.

I feel even if it costs £35 to have it repaired elsewhere, it is probably worth paying the extra £84 to get essentially a new unmarked phone, new battery and a short warranty. They may have even improved the power button design. I hate them for it but it's probably the only sensible answer.

Up the top of this thread a lot of people are saying you should have got apple care, but apple are supposed to produce high quality products which is why you pay a premium. The part that's failing is probably a fraction of a penny in cost, and it an economy on a high priced product they should not have made.

It's pretty disgusting treatment.

I should probably add he said there is no mechanism in store for them to do anything other than charge the £119 fee and provide a replacement phone of the identical spec, size etc so it doesn't seem anything you say or do in store will alter the outcome. Clearly whatever automation systems they have in place will not allow them to do anything else.

Besides, why should anyone feel obliged to pay the extra premium for Apple Care. We are covered under EU Law for 2 years and in the UK, under SOGA, for a further 4 - if only Apple would follow through with the law (you would think after the ruling in Italy they would take the law a bit more seriously).

All it reflects is the lack of faith that Apple have in their own products.

In the business of repairing iPhones and the iPhone 4 has by far the worst power button and home button. The power button does exactly what others are complaining about - it becomes difficult to press or totally unresponsive. The home button also becomes "iffy" and will often take more than one push to work. I have many customers who have complained about this and it is not the part itself that breaks (for the power button) it is a shifting of the flex cable that causes a lack of contact when the button is pressed. I have had success on multiple occassions just taking the power button out, adding a small round piece of plastic to the button itself to bridge the gap. The home button, however, does seem to totally break down. When this one goes out, I have to replace the home button flex cable. It's only a $5 part but a $45 repair due to the fact that it requires a complete tear down. I've seen 3G and 3GS iphones develop problems with the home and power buttons but not near as quickly and not near as many. It really does seem like an intentional breakdown.

I had to comment here... I've been plagued with this for about two months; and have tried everything (calibration, etc.)...

Today, I took a Windex wipe and 'cleaned' the button for about 2-minutes. I rubbed it back and forth, trying to get a little of the moisture into the button. The wipes aren't saturated and just 'damp'. After about two minutes worth of light scrubbing; I powered it back on and it was good as new!

My button took actual force to get it to work, and double-tapping was out of the question and now it's like a fresh iphone.

My wife had the same issue; and performed the same process and hers is good as new too.

Hopefully, this will work for someone else too. Good luck, I know it's frustrating!

I don't think your symptoms are the same as mine. My power button has the appearance of being stuck down, if you tip the iphone upside down, the button freely moves in and out under gravity but there is no feeling there when you press it in. Although it has the appearance of being stuck down, it is not electrically stuck down, as pressing the home button works like a home button, and not as it would behave if the power button were actually stuck down. There is no click when you press the button, it just moves in and out (if upside down) with no resistance.

Having looked at some internal photos of the iphone, it seems there is a small piece of plastic on top of the mechanical buttons dome which is pressed by the physical button. When this small piece of plastic becomes dislodged (after 12 months!) the button does not make contact with the dome. I would imagine in any other device designed to last a "reasonable period", the button itself would be cast with this packing to mate directly with the mechanical button.

You mention "power it on". I can't press the button to power it on, I can power off by using the accessibility feature, but to power on I have to plug it into a PC or charger.

Well I've finally given in. Seems that no one, and I mean no one, wants to rectify the issue without me forking out a small fortune for something that's not my fault.

I went to the Apple Store in Glasgow this morning and did a straight swap for £££.

Although the Genius was pleasant enough about it, I'm nevertheless disgusted that it's cost me.

This'll probably be the last MacBook Pro, last iPhone, last iPod, and last iAnything that I buy though. Pay a premium price and get garbage. Hmm. A sound idea!

I feel the same as you - cheated - but paying them is the only way out. You'd pay £30 to get someone else to do it and still have an old battery, plus a possibility the home button would be next to go. It could even be they have improved the design since mine from July 2010.

I've fired off a feedback message to them about it but once I'd submitted it, the next page says they won't be able to reply personally so not sure how much good that will do. They know it's happening as they're having them back.

Had it been a serious problem like a cracked screen then £119 would be great, but the penny-cost button has a rectify cost approaching a quarter of the price I paid for the whole phone! My 2004 Sony TV has a remote which still works and gets pushed a lot more than the iphones power button.

One of the things I felt about apple products is they were reliable, well put together, and designed with parts to stand the test of time. Hopefully the EU ruling and court action in Italy will mean we get two year warranties on everything and that will put the matter to bed. Until then when it's time to change I'll have to think carefully where my next wodge of money is going. I would still be wary even then, anyone could have this large scale failure, I just hoped apple would deal with it in a more considerate and compassionate way.