iphone 5 camera spots

Hello! I have the same issue (black-purple dot, and black spots) and i am out of warranty, and live outside the USA, do you think changing the rear camera (ifixit) would take care of the issue? Thanks!

This is how I got a FREE REPLACEMENT even thgouh I was technically OUT OF WARRANTY

I bought my iPhone 5 right when it came out in early October 2012 and I never saw this problem until three days ago. It was a rather large purple spot righ in the middle of the screen so it was very noticable. I realized the only solution to the problem is to get a replacement at Apple, but I was out of warranty by about 45 days.

So I started looking through my previous photos and bingo, I found a series of photos that were taken inside my apartment against the wall which showed a similar albiet smaller and less conspicuous purple spot closer to the edge of the screen.

I showed those older pictures to the genius at the Apple store and explained to him that the problem started while I was still in the warranty period. He went to the back of the store to talk to his manager and came back with approval to have it replaced free of charge!

Also, the Apple genius initially told me that they don't offer free replacements for phones that are more than 30 days out of warranty, so this suggests that they may still replace it free of cost if your warranty just ended.

If you are out of warranty and you want to find evidence that the problem preceeded the end of your warranty period, I suggest you start by pointing your camera to a white piece of paper. This should make it very easy to find all of those spots, including smaller ones that you may have not noticed before. Note the general location of those spots then go back through the photos you took before your warranty ended to find photos that show the problem, and good luck!

PS: FWIW, my genius bar story happened today in Toronto (Eaton Centre).

That is great news, thanks for the reply and update. I didn't think of looking back at older photos to prove that the problem occured while it was still under warranty. I'm more than 45 days out of warranty now but the first time I brought it in was only within 3 weeks of my warranty expiring. I've booked a new appointment and will try to use the older photos as proof, thanks a lot! fingers crossed

I have the same problem with my iPhone 5 camera and took it to Apple store. After waiting for more than an hour to speak to tech he tell me this is a known issue but in order to fix it he has to replace the whole phone? That was fine to me except he wanted to charge me $290 for replacement? I don't know why Apple charges for their design flaw? Regardless if it happens during or after their product warranty. I will consider this case when I'm going to invest in any more Apple products.

Just a follow up that I WAS able to get a free replacement after showing the genius that the dust started to appear in many older photos in my photostream, while I was STILL under warranty. The service was excellent, they just needed proof of when it started to occur. End of the day it is worth getting applecare I just didn't realize that they changed the timeline in which you could buy it when it evolved into Applecare+.

So I swapped my Galaxy Note II for a iPhone 5, and then later I found out that there are purple specks on the Camera 😟.

So I checked the serial number and it is out of warranty, thought I would try my luck at the Apple Store.

Made an appointment, saw a genius.

Me: "I am noticing these specks on my Camera"

Genius: "Oh wow, I see. Yeah I'm sorry, thats a part we don't repair. I will get you a replacement phone"

This iPhone is out of warranty they replaced it on the spot.

This is another reason why I am sticking with Apple

I started with one purple speck on my iPhone 5 which I did not notice while my phone was under the 1 year warrantly. I confirmed this when I looked back at pictures I took in early October 2013. Well, I noticed a couple of weeks ago that it has gotten much worse as I have over four purple specks/dots on the camera. Went to the Genius Bar and they said I am out of luck and for approximately $270 I would have to purchase a new phone. The tech who helped me mentioned that he has seen several iPhone 5s with this issue while the manager denied and said that he had never seen or heard of this issue.

At this time I am upset that Apple will not back up their product as I believe that they are aware with a sensor issue which causes this purple spots. I've been an Apple Customer for many years and have pretty much every one of their products that they offer. I'm very disappointed since the issue occured before my warranty was up although it was one dot so I didn't really notice it. Now there are over four dots and the camera *****. It's like a purple bug in my pictures. Very disappointed as I know Apple is aware of this issue, and in my opinion, should replace the phone.

Just out of curiosity, which store and in which city did this happen, nowr2go?

Have you tried visiting a different store?

I went to the Pasadena, CA Apple store in Old Town. I guess I expect all the stores to have the same practice. I have not gone to another store. You think that would help?

My experience was different. I was upfront with them about the fact that the problem started before warrantee ended and that the phone is currently out of warrantee. Same thing with two other posters on this thread (iiToby and Chrisliang82). Makes you think it's really up to the manager and different managers are doing different things. Worth trying if you care about the camera and even if the specks are small and unnoticeable now they tend to get worse over time.

Just got a replacement new iPhone5 on Apple store - no questions asked as it is under warranty.

Now i'm trying to restore it from a backup i took from the old device, and it failes with a "corrupted" backup file

Someone had that issue before?

Thanks

Itsik

I have the same purple fleck problem with the rear camera. I visited the Apple Store in Escondido, CA two days in a row (yesterday and the day before). The first day, I was told that since the phone is out of warranty (~45 days), they can only offer the $270 replacement - this is not something I can explore. I went back home and looked carefully at my older photos, and sure enough, the problem had indeed started well within the warrranty period, so I went back to the (same) store to try and present my case in a slightly different light.

I'm afraid I did not have the same great luck as some others. Even though I showed them my older images in the photostream, they were polite but firm in their stance - no (free) replacement was offered. The problem had started off being minor and has only grown worse over time, so this really annoys me.

I'm happy for the handful of others that had better outcomes even while they were out of warranty, but I have no choice but to slightly downgrade Apple's reputation in my mind, and in all my future recommendations to friends and family. I've got loads of Apple products (been a fan since way before it was "cool" to be one) and have helped pull more than a handful of folks into the Apple club over the years.

If someone is within warranty (original or extended AppleCare), and they get a problem addressed, that is NO reason to praise the company - they are only doing what they should be doing anyway! For me, they did not go the extra mile, and stuck to their black-and-white official policy, so I'm not going to go the extra mile for them by endorsing them by default in future.

Exact same problem for me. Purple dots appearing. This happened a few months after I got my iPhone 5 and they replaced it. Now it's happening again 1 month after the 1 year warranty ended and they refused to give me a replacement, saying that it would cost me $270. They also said the problem is not serviceable at all the only solution is an entirely new phone.

This is completely unacceptable. I paid $300 for this thing barely over a year ago and now I'm stuck with complete garbage photos and videos (when photos and videos is the primary reason I bought this **** thing). I've been a loyal iPhone customer for 5 years and they are screwing me over with this.

My story (in case it helps anyone figure out what they want to do)...

I bought the 64GB iPhone 5 the night it was available for pre-order in the US from the Apple Store app (on my old iPhone 4).

I didn't notice the 2 splotches and 2 black flakes until last week, but I do now see them in my older photos -- appearing right about 1 year after I bought it. Had I noticed this, I might have been able to get a free replacement as AhmadH did. I did not get AppleCare for this phone (for the first time ever), so September 2013 it went out of warranty.

When I brought the phone in, they said it was out of warranty, so they would not repair/replace it for free.

I keep my phone in good shape, so (when I found out the repair wouldn't be free) I opted to "recycle" the phone with Appleand use the credit to buy a 5s.

The "recycle" credit they offered was ~$245 (for a phone in good shape other than the defective camera) and is close to what I would have gotten on eBay given the bad camera.

Exact same issue here (purple dot on the picture).

I'm out of warranty, of course. I've just succeeded to calm down a little from my deep frustration because of the other problem I'm having (non-responsive power button, which is apparently a manufacturing defect but it is not admitted by Apple, see it here), and today I realized this other, which also seems to be a major flaw that a lot of people are having... this whole situation is getting bitterly ridiculous.

JUST after my warranty expired my iPhone 5 is instantly having TWO serious flaws that I am not alone with at all.

I never had any problems with my iPhone 4. Now with the iPhone 5 I am having the following: "scuffgate", clicking sound when pressing the upper right part of the display, broken power button, purple dot issue with the rear camera. I'm heavily regretting buying this phone...