iPhone 5 lock button not working

As a loyal customer to Apple, I have to say I am very disappointed. One week ago my one-year apple warranty on my iphone expired. One day after expiration, my lock button started to become unresponsive and now it completely doesn't work. I went to the Apple Store at Summit Mall in Akron, Ohio, where they told me there is nothing they can do. IT HAS BEEN ONE WEEK. I am no longer a supporter of Apple because of this. I say this because with my iPhone 4, the home button stopped working a month after the one year warranty was up and they replaced my iphone with no problems at all. It really ****** me off because my phone is in near-perfect condition and the only thing wrong with it is a lock button. AS A COLLEGE STUDENT, I DO NOT HAVE $280 laying around to get my iphone replaced. I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED IN APPLE AND WILL NO LONGER PURCHASE YOUR PRODUCTS. Huge kick in the stomach. Looks like I'll have to use this assitive touch until I can get an upgrade for a NEW BRAND of phone.

Try restating your phone holding the home button down and pressing the power button at the same time. When the slide appears slide your finger to turn phone off. Then power back up. The problem should go away. I callled Apple and this is what they told me to do and it solved the problem. :-)

How can you live with a phone on a two year contract that can't be powered up and down??

Apple provides a 1 year warranty, which you should be well aware of. You've got the chance to purchase AppleCare if you want to extend this and have 2 years of coverage.

Your contract length has NOTHING to do with Apple at all, it's between you and the network. If you don't take out the extra AppleCare coverage then you really cannot complain if something goes wrong outside the 1st year - you had the opportunity to extend your coverage to two years, knowing you had a two year contract but only 1 year of hardware coverage, yet made the (bad) decision not to.

If Apple doesn't do the right thing, I'm going to leave the brand.

Apple will do the right thing, if your inside the 1st year or took out AppleCare, then you can bet that Apple will replace it for you without any fuss.

But if you don't have any coverage, you'll have to pay - just like everyone else. Whether you threaten to 'leave the brand' or not.

Right guys I fixed this problem myself and trust me I had it so had my lock button wouldn't work whatsoever.

Firstly set up assistive touch. Then hold the lock symbol down which will give you the swipe to turn off feature. Turn the phone off and restart. Test the lock button. Now at first it was temperamental and it eased it a bit from having nothing I could get it to work sporadically, but after repeating this on/off method 4 or 5 times my button now works as normal every single time. It appears to be a software glitch that constant rebooting will solve.

Hope that helps.

Hey Fellas,

@ Dfooster,

very nice try, but it did not work here....Assistive touch is a good option.

My 1 year warranty expires in 1 month, I did not buy it at Apple (iDigital here in Israel as their representative or whoever...), but at Home-Center/Hotmobile (those who live here know it)....

They did not joy me with reply, as told they will send it to "laboratory"...and give me a reply.

Me, as a very gentle user of any devices I have, would stick to "Assitive touch" rather than giving my phone to Vandals....(yes, they are here everywhere) and "try" to repair it...

Good luck to all

@ Apple - do make different switch, that would last longer, may be a termal touch button, not mechanical...whatever.

Go to ifixit.com and buy a power button for $5. They have instructions how to open up your phone and replace it. Better than buying a new phone for $260 (the geniuses will propose). Very easy and cheap fix. They have other parts that might fail too.

I have had the same issue with my lock button, my iphone is out of warranty and apple refuse to do anything about it unless i pay £209 for a replacement. They actually tried telling me it was my fault and that i must have dropped it at some point, when my phone is absolutely spotless and obviously never been dropped. How can they continue to refuse to aknowledge obvious manufacturing faults. Had to take a day of work to be told this also.

The entire iPhone 5 should be a class action IMO. They won't fix their widespread hardware issue because I'm out of warranty. While I was in warranty they insisted it was software and add me do several restores setting my phone up as a new phone. This has sucked hours of my time. Now out of warranty I've found so many others with the same thing claim g it's hardware. Threads dated back from while I was still under warranty - yet the "geniuses" refused to acknowledge and replace. My battery is also junk. Not e they discontinued the iPhone 5. That and the 3rd gen iPad. They still sell the iPad 2 and iPhone 4 models retail. This is a cruel joke on their consumers and proof they don't have our backs, just our money. I used to love all of their phones and tablets. I'm seriously considering never buying apple again because of this.

Took my phone to leeds trinity store with a total failure of the power button. The phone was 18 months old so well out of warranty. I asked for it to be replaced under consumer law and walked out with a replacement 10 minutes later.

I have the same problem, but my phone also has water damge (nothing else is wrong with the phone it works perfectly). Does that mean that my limited warrenty is void? The apple tech said the lock button being broken was not due to the water damge, also I have had other iphones that they have replaced due to the same issue. Should I have to pay for a phone if the only thing phyical wrong with the phone is the lock button.

Thanks for the info. I just had this repaired out of sheer frustration for $75 by iFixandRepair. What about people like me who have had to pay and shortly thereafter now a replacement program is available? How about that. Thanks Apple. And thanks for failing to acknowledge the issue the 2 times I brought it in while it was still in warranty and your geniuses insisted it was software.

I brought my phone in yesterday at my local Apple store. A bit tedious process as they have to take all your information and then they need to do a series of software and physical tests on your phone to ensure there is no other damage (i.e. water damage, other buttons are functioning okay, etc). Took about 20-30 minutes overall from start to finish in providing you printed paperwork and a loaner phone. This doesn't include the time it takes to reactive and sync your phone from iCloud which depends on your data and apps, of course. So before you leave the Apple store ensure you have it sync back as it needs a Wi-Fi access to perform such.

Speaking of the loaner phone, it was all beat up with scratches all over and even on the glass. I wonder what kind of environment this phone went through. Plus my phone was 32GB and the loaner was 16GB. So obviously I couldn't fit all my prevoius stuff back into it. Go figure.

I can only hope they handle my phone with care as they were basically just sliding it on the desk. Geniuses. So when I get it back, I have to make sure there isn't a scratch or dent on it as it's been protected by Zagg Invisishield front, back and a bumper cover.

Great news might not be that great after all. I took my phone to the advised local apple service center. They sent it to Holland (I live in Finland) to be fixed. Today the store informed me that the power button on my iphone will not be changed for a new one due to a minimal scratch on the casing. They claim this will make it impossible to reassemble the phone properly. At the store they said nothing about any scratches when I brought it in.

To my mind the problem is the faulty substandard power button, and I strongly feel apple is obliged to change it with any means necessary. The scratch, which is so tiny I haven't even seen it, in no way affected using the phone - the disfunctioning button most certainly did.

Obligingly Apple is willing do the necessary repairs at more than 600 euros! I was also warned that I might have to pay for the postage to Holland. I'm still hoping for a satisfactory solution, though.

I am extremely dissatisfied over this whole thing. I had twice went to the apple store for this issue and they refused to help me, insisting it was software. Fast forward until my phone is out of warranty and I find this thread. Now I know it is hardware and I am hosed. Meanwhile the button continued to get worse until it would not work at all. Major frustration ensues for several weeks.

I finally cannot take it anymore. I go to take it to the Apple store to get it fixed. THe Apple store is now closed for renovations for anothe rmonth (go figure) so I opt to pay a phone repair store located next door the Apple store in the mall for the repair. In the process, something happens to the accelerometer (or whatever part it is) where now the phone screen will not dim and go inactive while on a call - but the power button now works like new again. I'm happy - kind of - the new issue is very frustrating too.

2 weeks after paying out of pocket for this to be done, Apple releases this power lock button recall, finally confessing to the issue we all knew existed all along.

Apple refuses to do anything for me because the repair was performed by a 3rd party. This is even though I did not have an apple store to go to and the repair program did not yet exist (by a matter of 2 weeks).

They will not give me a partial refund even though I cna provide an invoice dated 2 weeks earlier. They will not give me app store credit. They will not do anything.

This whole experience has me never wanting to buy another Apple phone. And then come the iPhone 6 rumors... *&!<&%

All is well that ends well!

It turned out that there was a mixup with two mobiles and somebody else's dented phone was thought to be mine. So now I have a new refurbished one with a three-month guarantee. Not bad.

Thank you Apple