iphone jack damage

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Level 1

20 points

iphone jack damage

Hi there,

I've just had an accident with my iphone 6. I dropped it on the floor outside and it landed on the headphone jack socket corner.

The iphone is still working perfectly. I've had no impaired function or decrease in performance. It seems fine. However, I've damaged the corner of the phone and the headphone jack socket. It landed on the corner and crumpled slightly. The screen is slightly raised on that corner where the base has bent over slightly. The jack socket has folded inwards a little. Now, I can no longer put a jack into the socket, since it's been bent out of shape. I don't know whether it's been damaged beyond repair or whether it's simply been bent out of shape.

I'm fairly gutted by this, since I use the audio socket every single day for many things, so I'm trying to fix it. I've taken it to the apple store to speak to a tech advisor, who says it's fixable for a standard £300 fee. I really can't afford to pay £300 for a repair, so I'm hoping to find another way to solve the matter. I've been to Timpson's who offer mobile repairs, but they wouldn't do it either.

So, I'm wondering if anybody has any ideas on how to fix this problem. I'm considering giving it a go myself, although I'm a little bit cautious of doing that, since I don't want it to go wrong. In my opinion, it only needs a very tiny little bit of bending back out again in the corner and it could be fine. Certainly the shape would be back to normal and the screen would then rest flat again... If it's the case that the audio port is properly damaged, then I'll find out, but it might work fine if I can just carefully bend it back into place.

I've also looked at the lightning to jack lead adaptor apple sells, but the reviews for that are awful. Sounds like a good idea, if a little cumbersome perhaps, but the reviews for it are the worst I've ever seen on the Apple website.

Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated!

Many Thanks,

Nick

iPhone 6, iOS 9.0.2

Posted on Oct 16, 2017 8:20 PM

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Answer 1

nick7504 Author

Level 1

20 points

Oct 18, 2017 12:23 PM in response to panchososa694

Thanks for your reply. I agree that repair through Apple would be the safest and most preferable option. I'd rather have it fixed through Apple, but the repair cost is just so extortionate. £300 is a good way towards a brand new iphone 6 and with mine 2 years old now, the battery might begin to slowly decline so it might not be worthwhile in the long run to pay so much for a repair. I can't believe that they didn't have the tools to attempt to buff out the dent. This is surely a common problem that they must run into and I'd be quite happy with a slightly imperfect fix, if everything was fully functional again. I suspect they make repair prohibitively expensive, which encourages people to opt for buying a new phone rather than repairing their current one.

My original intention before this incident, was probably to keep this phone for another 1-2 years, but this damage has changed things a little.

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Answer 2

FelipeV

Level 6

12,053 points

Oct 18, 2017 12:35 PM in response to nick7504

What is offered by Apple is not a repair, but rather an out of warranty replacement. Apple does not fix phones (except screen replacements), they replace the entire unit. So the price is not for a repair.

The iPhone is not user serviceable, thus you will not get advice on that on this forum as it is unsupported. You can search on the web for self fix it sites. Be aware that if you (or some unauthorized third party repair shop) attempts to repair the phone, and fails, Apple will no longer give you the option of an out of warranty replacement. You will probably have to buy a new phone.

Your money...your choice.

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Answer 3

nick7504 Author

Level 1

20 points

Oct 18, 2017 12:50 PM in response to FelipeV

Hi there. Thanks very much for this post. That's actually quite helpful.

Yes, Apple were offering to replace the dented shell & possibly the audio socket unit as I understood it... I think that my battery, screen and other internal components would be kept though. So it would be a replacement of damaged units, rather than entire replacement phone. Does that sound right? I can't believe that they'd give me a whole new phone for £300.

Yes, I've been mulling over a third party repair shop. I really don't want to go down that route for a couple of reasons, but I'm seriously considering it purely because of the cost of Apple's policy here. I wasn't really hoping to self service my phone or necessarily seeking that sort of advice here, since I'm not a technician and would have no idea what I'd be doing, but again it's a thought that I've been considering. I believe that Apple should really offer an official low cost repair. If it's unsuccessful which it may be in some cases, at least the option to pay them to try seems reasonable... but that's just my opinion.

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Answer 4

nick7504 Author

Level 1

20 points

Oct 18, 2017 1:19 PM in response to FelipeV

Wow... I'm very surprised if that's the case. I presumed that they'd simply replace the shell, rather than the entire phone. Perhaps I misunderstood.

I just spoke to Apple in chat support and they didn't know there, but recommended that I contact the store again for clarity. Perhaps the £300 pays for a full replacement phone. I think I'll check with the store though, because that would certainly be a surprise if that's the case.

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