iPhone 4S camera lens rattle

I had the same issue and they replaced the phone and the new phone has the exact same noise. So either this is a HUGE manufacturing defect, or normal. I also tested the iPhone 4S's on display in the store and they all made the noise so I will learn to live with it.

I too believe these are the camera lenses as I was able to reduce the noise by putting the camera in zoom mode with the AF lock mode on and the noise was substantially reduced.

Let me share my rattle experience with you. I like everyone else here have the iphone 4s rattle issue. I pre ordered the 64gb model (black AT&T) and received it on Oct. 14th. A day or so later, I heard a small rattle in the bottom left part of my phone ( directly left of the home button) It sounded like a loose screw. So, I got on eBay and ordered the new 5 point screw driver, because my iphone 4 had phillips head screws. I opened up my phone and inside near the area where the rattle was coming from was a tiny phillips head screw roaming around free inside my phone. I looked around for a long time, but ' find anywhere where the screw could have come from. So I put the back of the phone on. Shook the phone again. Tapped it all over. AND that is when I discovered the so called "camera rattle".

So now that I dont have a loose screw rattling around, I have a loose camera, or whatever you want to call it. Regardless, I hope no one else has extra screws inside their phone. I'm sure there are many others though.

Yup mine rattles too. I upgraded from a 3GS no rattle so this is very annoying

If I may, I recently purchased a Panasonic DMC-TS3 — a ruggedised camera. Since I was downgrading from an SLR, I took the little thing with me everywhere in my pocket. Needless to say, I inevitably started to notice a rattle coming from it! It was troubling, as the thing is meant to be tough, right? So in anecdotal use, I began to notice that it only rattled while off or in Playback mode. Curiouser and curiouser.

I always try to see the good in people and the right design from companies, so I hope the rattle stems from the following:

Eventually stumped, I went online to inquire what the rattle was about. As a rugged camera, it was drop tested to have no defects at 2m and lenses undamaged from much greater heights… lens undamaged? Turns out to protect the lens elements from drops and shocks, the lens group is released and floats around within a cushioned compartment in the camera (though it certainly doesn't sound too cushy to me). The principle being that accelerations the frame is subject to do not translate directly to the lenses and risk cracking them. I know the iPhone isn't particularly rugged a far as drops, but something we put in our pockets every day can be subject to a lot of stresses.

I really hope that's the reason why my brand new and first iPhone is rattling, eh Apple?… Apple?

Alternatively, it may just be the linearly oscillating vibrator. Unlike the rotational variety, it does have bounds on its movement and with littl holding it in place when it's not active, it may just rattle.

Cancel that, I tried making a custom vibrate sequence with it vibratin constantly and tapped the phone against my bed while at it… same rattle.

And as its been raised in a few other forums, the iPhone camera is *software* stabilised, not lens- or sensor-shift. So the stabilisation can't make any noise whatsoever.

I don't know what idiot came up with the iPhone is "software focus" crap. Theres only one consumer camera in the world, the lytro, which focuses only with software.

Any conventional camera is mechanical focus.

Now, now, did I say software focus? Calme les nerfs. Focus and stabilisation are drastically different things.

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I remember the 3GS camera rattle thread, every time a new phone come this happens, I would say its perfectly normal once again, most of the time I never hear it and tbh if you are that worried about a noise made by a mechanism with 5 lens in it in a tiny phone housing that has autofocus (mechanical) and if you spend time tapping it by your ear then maybe thats a bit OTT tbh. Its not a slab of purest joy made by angels, its a phone and the iPhones all have at some point dones this, enjoy your device, dont pick holes in it.

Went to the Apple store today. Had an appointment to investigate the rattle. The guy I talked with was very nice. His explanation was that there is a metal plate that acts as a heat sink to the new A5 processor, and that was what was rattling. Personally I still think it's the camera, but whatever. Anyway, we proceeded to go to the display models and they all rattled too, to one degree or another. He also asked to see a few peopes phones that were also in the store, and they too rattled. So, after this he still offered to replace the phone. I sure as **** wasn't gonna make the guy starting unboxing all the phones in the back. Especially since there was a strong possibility that they all rattled too. Whether its a manufacturing defect or not, I don't know, but the phone works fine and if something happens it's under warranty anyway. I can live with it.

For what it's worth, I also had 2 Blackberry's that made the same kind of rattle.

Yeah, as I had said in my earlier message....I exchanged mine for a new one that ended up having the same rattle. I have since tapped on friends new 4S's and they do the same. And just because someone else says their's doesnt rattle, probably means they are listening for some significant rattle not what we are hearing. I was out of town and asked my wife to test her 4S and she said it did NOT rattle. When I got back and tapped on it, it did indeed have the same rattle noise. So people, dont worry, it apears to be normal.

The exact same thing happened with my wife. She said hers didn't but it definetely does. Some of us just have a little more OCD than others. Wait..........I think I hear rattling coming from the neighbors. I better go check it out.

I have complained about this problem since the first iphone. Swapped out 7 times for a new phone until they told me that ALL iphones are like that and that it is normal. apparently, the rattling noise you hear is the gyroscope attatched to the accelerometer attached to the compass (rattle is the compass needle) so the the genius at the apple store tells me. who knows but I do know that everyone that I know with an iphone has experienced the same issue. you would think that apple would have resolved this problem after 4 years!

I just got off the phone with Apple support. It was the first time he had heard of the problem of a rattle near the camera. Not much help other than telling me to go to a Apple store for a new phone.