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iPhone #Four, A tale of 3g iDolism and Unfair Charges
Published on 17/07/08
by mwarf
I’m the first to admit that I’ve had a year-long love affair with Apple’s iPhone. I bought one in June of last year from a savvy Ebayer who grabbed one at the NY Apple Store on launch day. For the first three months I had a very fancy ipod without phone functions until the saga of GeoHot and the rest of the unofficial iPhone dev team released a series of unlocks that allowed us Canucks to participate in the “Jesus Phone” lovefest.
That original iPhone and I had some fun - until the first day of spring session at the University. I had a zillion things on my mind and left it in one of the lecture halls. Goodbye iPhone, I’ll miss you always (including all of my personal email, photos, and deepest thoughts).
Quick to replace it, the University issued me a shiny new one - which I promptly unlocked and used as a testbed for suitability testing as a replacement to the IT department fleet of aging Crackberrys. Marveling at the ease of unlock and jailbreak the iPhone tools had achieved since my first unlock, I promptly used an app called ZiPhone to make the new phone MINE!
After a few months of use with my ZiPhone-unlocked replacement - the screen on my LCD started to lose every second line of pixels on the screen, and eventually lost HALF of the display (while the phone still functioned nicely). Not attributing this to the software unlock provided by ZiPhone, but a coworker had his display go shortly after using the same method - coincidence?
So - on to iPhone number three. After much heated debate and public backlash with our Canadian carrier’s (Rogers) data plans, I was thrilled to see them cave and offer a $30 data plan for 6GB useage on a legit iPhone, free from third party unlocks and Apple supported! I camped 20 hours outside our local Rogers store to ensure I was able to score two of the coveted white 16GB 3G iPhones, and happily coveted the two new shiny-white-members of my tech stable.
Since the Canadian market had only received handsets (no accessories), I decided to wait to buy a case for it and held my new phone close to my side at all times. I loaded it up with 60 bucks of apps from the new apps store, drove around town to test out the GPS capabilities and eagerly connected it to my Exchange server at work for all the push-messaging goodness a nerd like me could handle.
And then I dropped it.
Yeah, I know, I know here’s the details: I had it wrapped up in my t-shirt to protect it while driving - and simply got distracted. When I exited my car (A VW Golf - does that not just say Apple fanboy or what?) I had forgotten about the phone and heard it fall to the pavement below. Dreading the worst, I picked it up (it had dropped front side down) I was mortified to find the screen SHATTERED!
I turned the phone on, happy to see the LCD was completely in tact, and that it was merely the glass plate in front of the display that had broken. Apple’s new design changes to the display meant it was a simple replacement of the glass (and not the display) so I gleaned the interwebs for a parts replacement. Finding nothing, I phoned Apple.
The Applecare representative for iPhone informed me that they don’t replace anything on a case by case basis, but the replacement charge for a new iPhone was $329, plus $29 shipping. Since I had paid $299 for the original phone (carrier subsidy - the outright price is estimated by some at $700+) - I felt that was a pretty unfair hit, considering the Apple design changes for 3G separated the glass from the LCD and the breakdown provided by iFixit.com showed the simple separation of the glass to the display.
Dreading the idea of sharing with my coworkers that I had killed my third iPhone, I agreed to the charges and am now waiting for iPhone number four. I feel pretty sour regarding Apple’s customer care (I know its easier to simply replace the phone, but when the damages are less than $100 - should I be forced to pay the full $329 CDN replacement fee?).
What do you think? Yes, breaking the phone was accidental, and Apple must know that broken displays on iPhones are the most common repair - hence the separation of the glass to the LCD in the new design revision (as well as a replaceable-non soldered battery).
As a guy with three iPhones, a Mac Pro, an iMac, three iPods, a 12in Powerbook, a 15in MacBook Pro, and a work 17in MacBook Pro under his belt - I think I’ve provided enough revenue per user for Apple, and could use a break.
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