iPhone 8/ 8 plus home button cracked

I have an absolutely the same problem! I've bought an Iphone 8 a couple of months ago and just a few days before the New Year my home button stopped responding and showed a virtual one on the screen. Later that day I've noticed a small crack on the home button. There was no damage to the phone and when I took it to the local service they've admitted that it's in perfect shape, not a scratch. And today they've called me and stated, that they REFUSE to change it because this crack is considered a MECHANICAL problem (o my, no, really?!)!!!! Claiming I must pay 420 euros to get it changed for the defect I DIDN'T CAUSE! This was my first attempt of switching to an iphone from Samsung Galaxy and I got this crap! I will never buy another apple iphone or ipad device. And considering what is happening to the new MBP series.. well!!!!

I have had my phone since November. I had my phone placed face up on the desk and came back to the screen white. It stated this way for several hours. I took it to Att after trying all the resets and while there noticed my home button cracked. They said I needed to contact apple for a warranty replacement. Contacted apple, and since it is "my fault" the home button cracked it's not covered under warranty and they could not give me a definite or even round about idea of cost to replace. After reading reviews, this seems like a common issue with the 8 and apple is not acknowledging a design flaw. I've had an iPhone since the 3G and they keep getting worse over time.

That's a nice assumption, but we simply don't know what's causing this as of yet.

Do please take your phone in so that the issue can be logged through Apple Stores as that's how engineering will find out that it is an ongoing issue.

Since this is a rather rare issue, it's not surprising that most Apple Stores have never heard of it.

Please note that it being rare in no way means that it's your fault, it's just that it isn't happening to most owners.

Same thing happened to me. Less than 30 days old. No damage. Woke up in the morning to a cracked home button while charging on my desk. No other physical damage. Like others, apple genius tech denied ever hearing about it. I showed him this thread and the members pictures. He logged the issue and my complaint. $199 CDN and a new screen later I have my phone back. Disappointed to say the least.

chrisfrombaldwin wrote:

Hi I had the same issue with my iPhone 8plus. One day i looked at it and the home button was shattered in my pocket. I went thru my carriers insurance and got a new phone (ridiculous bc I had the phone for only 2 weeks) and 2 months later my new phone did the same thing! I called Apple and they said this isn’t a wide spread issue (supposedly) and I brought up these discussions on their website they said “it’s a forum where anyone can just write this”.

Basically the issue is out of millions of iPhone 8s in the public a very small number are experiencing this, though it certainly is horrible if it happens to you.

As I've mentioned before, the only way to do anything about it is to make sure you take your phone in for replacement; Apple certainly can and does notice ongoing issues in their products in that manner.

Recall we're just users here so there could be 10,000 reports of the same thing posted here but this forum isn't how issues like this one gain attention among the engineers who could examine it.

So, this happened to me too, and as you suggest, I took it in to apple....I was chatting good night with my daughter who was lying in her bed, phone in her hand (I caught her still, up, texting...) and while I was talking to her, her iPhone 8 died as in the screen went blank. Then as none of the buttons were working, she handed it to me. We turn on the light and her home button was cracked. There is NO way she wouldn't have noticed this earlier on her "precious" and she did not drop the phone in the last two months (brand new in December, and yes she did damage the glass screen saver one time in the first week she had it). Even if she had, it was in a case, with a protruding front lip. You'd have to hit this with a nail and hammer to get a crack right on the home button....

So, I found out we have a $150 deductible with the carrier's insurance. So then I chatted with an apple agent for 96 minutes, rebooting (unsuccessful) and then restoring the phone to discover, of course, that the home button didn't work. So then we went to the store. They went through the same process, and then insisted that she must have dropped it or it wouldn't have cracked. I agree it is hard to believe, but I was there.... she didn't cause this! They apparently think we are lying. So, $169 later (they told me $149, but of course then you pay tax too, which was left off the discussion...), another hour and half (took longer than they said to fix, which also makes me wonder), she has functioning phone again, but I have had it with apple. I have had all apple stuff for years and happily bought an 8 plus when we got her the 8, but I will not be buying any more apple gear, and now I am just waiting for my home button to crack too.... Last night, I had read some of the posts on this website. How could all these people have spontaneously cracking home buttons on their iPhone 8s without there being some fault with the phone? I am really, really disappointed.... and angry that I have wasted all of my day off plus a substantial sum to get it working again. What choice do you have at that point?

I welcome a response from Apple, and I'll be waiting for them to own up to this fault and issue a refund, but I don't know how they can win back my enthusiasm.

Dear Feches, please go to product Feedback - Apple and leave an outline of your problem. Good luck with getting your repair! It seems one person here managed to get apple to cover it, but everyone else has had to pay....

You realise you need to pay for storage above 5gb right (or 10gb I forget). And my photos/video alone is 30gb. I know what youre saying and I admitted my fault but your comment doesnt help the main issue that some of their device's are faulty. This isn't my first day at the ball, Ive been using Apple products for 10+ years but I think you've totally missed the point - the home button broke itself.....let's talk about that not my inability to back up my device. Also, backing up every day is silly unless youve made major changes in the data itself. I can pick holes in your answer as well but this thread is about the home button and Apple not coming to the party for thise affected.

I had an still have an old 5s - best iphone Ive had. Only damage is from me not the device itself. Screen is small and battery ***** but the phone itself is very durable.

I did some more research and below are the Apple threads relating to this issue. There are not thousands of people reporting this but it looks like more than 20 and normally you'd assume that it would be about 10% people reporting on Apple forums so the actual number is probably much larger.

1. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8153835
2. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8269914
3. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8308437
4. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8250804
5. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8069340
6. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7742979
7. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8093709
8. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8046417

I've emailed Apple customer care this morning - let's see what they respond with.

I have received a brand new iPhone 8 + today paid for by Apple. I lost alot of data but happy they came to the party to replace this device. Comment on this post if you need help with your cracked home button.

Same thing happened to my brand new iphone 8. I bought it 7 days ago and did not hit it anywhere. It was on my car seat and I realized the apple logo on my phone and a crack on the home button. I live in a town 3 hours away from the nearest apple store. I called them and they did not believe me as I expected. They told, "PEOPLE CAN WRITE ANYTHING ON INTERNET" which I believe it absolutely rude and nonsense reply. After 30 min explaining the fact that excessive amount of pressure can not cause crack, "solid mechanics 101", he said that I have to send mt phone for them and they will check it. They are going to send a box for my claim which takes 15 days for them to receive my phone and assess it which is an absolute hassle for over 20 next days. I am not sure what they will say.

Here you go, I have changed some details but you get the jist. Also I cant share the email address as it pertains to my particular Apple case ID and mine has been closed. You will need to reply to the email you receive from the Apple rep.I hope this helps your case and I hope this gets more traction to get the wider issue looked at.

• I went to Oobe in Wellington NZ yesterday and the guy advised based on the notes that Apple will fix the screen (home button included) free of charge however any other damage resulting from this issue they will not cover.
• He asked me to wipe my phone but back it up first at home – I tried to update it then back it up but the phone, either hardware or software, has corrupted terribly and now it has been restored to factory with several issues to me personally.
  1. I lost ALL my data as it would not update and self-restored to factory settings – I had a lot of baby photos from January (we had a newborn on Jan 3^rd) and I hadn’t backed up my phone as we moved into my in-laws house while we
     build our house so my computer is in storage making it difficult to do my once a month back up to my PC. I also had some personal notes not backed up anywhere which is also painful. I never thought my 7 month old phone would break so quickly.
  2. The phone after restoring still will not boot up to the hello screen or anything else so I used an existing back up to restore to the phone and that did not work so it keeps looping through apple logo, bar loading and then black screen which suggest it could be something more than just the screen itself, it could be a hardware or software issue that you advised would not be covered as only
     the screen replacement is covered by Apple.
• I have logged a claim with my insurance company as I think this will not be resolved as easily as I think and this will cost me $200 excess as well as a penalty on my non-claims bonus. This is pending and I haven’t undertaken this course of action yet but the claim is lodged.
• I did some further research on this issue and found many threads that replicate exactly what happened to me and my device. Reading the comments reiterated to me that I did not drop or bang my phone but this happened on its own via some faulty hardware or just pure bad design. Below are the threads I have looked at and most come from the Apple community forums on the Apple website. I will
  restate; I did not drop the phone, I did not bump it against anything, I did not handle it roughly prior to the damage and I never have. I had used it with no issues, then 5 mins later charged it, then not long after I pulled out the lightning cable and placed into my pocket but had not checked the phone so it could have been damaged by then. I went to the bathroom and kitchen and after 5 mins I went to my desk pulled it out of my pocket and saw the damage. It sits in a Otterbox symmetry case with a screen protector on it – it is cared for as if it is one of my children and cost me $1449 NZD which I still have not fully paid for yet.
• Here are the threads I mentioned and they all have a common theme – they were charging it and came back to see damage. Could it be that the charging is causing this issue:
  1. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8153835 - my phone looks exactly as the picture in this thread
  2. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8269914
  3. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8308437
  4. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8250804 - this is exactly my issue
  5. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8069340 - subject line refers to iPhone 7 but some comments mention iPhone 8
  6. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7742979 - also iphone 7 related but they use the same/similar hardware for the home
     button
  7. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8093709
  8. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8046417

I had the same issue on my daughter's iPhone 8. The apple store quoted me $150 to fix the problem and said it is not covered under warranty because there was no thermal warning.

Her phone (unlike mine or her brother's) gets hot (not warm) to the touch whenever charging. And we only use Apple chargers, not 3rd party. I find it highly frustrating that Apple did not cover the warranty on this issue over the thermal warning. I will say that the support representative at the Apple Store in Lynnfield MA did his utmost to advocate for us, but the corporation did not stand by the quality of the product. I will call Apple Support next with hope to get this honored.

The process is extremely disappointing and makes Android phones look better every day.

Your best bet is to log it with an Apple rep via the Apple free phone number and get them to send an email to you, which you can reply to with more information.

Hey so I went to the Apple store. They ran a diagnostic and they replace the screen which cost me about $29. 99 -

Keep trying keep onto them go to Apple store and ask for them to run a diagnostic