Iphone4 Dead After 3 years
Discussion
Grumpy old git said:
Jon1967x said:
What's the relevance of the price? Why would it be acceptable for a £200 Samsung to fail quicker and should a diamond encrusted iphone costing several k last longer?
There's also a lot of assumption on here that retailers are doing things because it's the law and not out of goodwill, customer retention or because it's cheaper than defending in court. How many cases of 3 year old iPhones failing have been tested in court? You could look at how quickly hmrc allows you to write off electrical items to see a (reasonable) view of life span.
The relevance of the price is that Apple in particular sell themselves as a premium brand. It's entirely reasonable to expect something that costs 3 times as much to be of a higher quality than the cheaper alternative, you'd expect higher quality components to be used as that's exactly what Apple sell themselves on quality and design.There's also a lot of assumption on here that retailers are doing things because it's the law and not out of goodwill, customer retention or because it's cheaper than defending in court. How many cases of 3 year old iPhones failing have been tested in court? You could look at how quickly hmrc allows you to write off electrical items to see a (reasonable) view of life span.
I don't think I'd expect much of a phone after 3 years but I've had success getting things replaced or repaired for free out of warranty. Whether that's retailers misunderstanding the SOGA, goodwill, or something else doesn't really matter to me.
Grumpy old git said:
The relevance of the price is that Apple in particular sell themselves as a premium brand. It's entirely reasonable to expect something that costs 3 times as much to be of a higher quality than the cheaper alternative, you'd expect higher quality components to be used as that's exactly what Apple sell themselves on quality and design.....
I'll pretty much guarantee that the components used by Apple are no different to those used by the likes of Samsung/LG et al. - They don't have their own secret supply of super advanced components that no one else can get (As shown by the number of failures that they seem to suffer!).At the end of the day, you're paying additional money for the name and to be seen as being trendy.
Apple charge as much as they think they can get away with, and they know that they're right on the boundary of people saying: "It's not worth the extra cost!" (and quite a few people are already saying that!).
The reality is, Apple phones, do not do that much more than a Samsung or LG that only costs 2/3rd's the amount (and are no more reliable!)
TallPaul said:
When my iphone 4 was playing up I went to the Apple store and they refused to repair it under warranty as it was 2.5 years old, they did offer to give me a new one for £85 plus my old phone. Worth trying that?
See my post on page one they now charge £159 for a replacement phone outside of warranty (12 months).Alucidnation said:
02 have basically washed their hands of it saying that a £500 found is only designed to last for the length of the contract.
That is basically true. In any case after a couple of years the battery will hold a fraction of it's capacity when new and it won't have sufficient processing power, memory or graphics capability to run the latest software (if the manufacturer even provides the latest as an upgrade after that long). If you go to one of the phone trade-in sites (and I'm making an assumption it's a 4 not 4S with 16GB) the best trade-in is £80 for one in perfect working order with no wear and tear.
Phones depreciate like IT equipment and are basically worth nothing after the first 2-3 years. If I make a modern smartphone last 24 months I'm happy!
I had the same problem as the op when my IPhone 4 failed 18 months into a 2 year contract with 02. I made a point of buying the replacement so I am no longer restricted to 02 or anybody else.
My current IPhone5 is 19 months old and working well BUT I have dropped it a few times so a few light bruises which would probably give Apple the perfect get out of any SOGA claim.
That's the problem for me. Who hasn't dropped their phone at some time?
My current IPhone5 is 19 months old and working well BUT I have dropped it a few times so a few light bruises which would probably give Apple the perfect get out of any SOGA claim.
That's the problem for me. Who hasn't dropped their phone at some time?
Bump!
Similar issue here, iPhone 4S has a fried WiFi chip after 2 years and 1 month. Apple store will replace for £159, but has specifically advised (and written on the diagnosis sheet) that under consumer law I should seek to get the original supplier (high street phone store) to refund the cost. Not expecting very much, but have put in a request to the supplier to cover the cost and if (when) they decline I will decide if I can be bothered to make a Money Claim Online, to see what happens.
Similar issue here, iPhone 4S has a fried WiFi chip after 2 years and 1 month. Apple store will replace for £159, but has specifically advised (and written on the diagnosis sheet) that under consumer law I should seek to get the original supplier (high street phone store) to refund the cost. Not expecting very much, but have put in a request to the supplier to cover the cost and if (when) they decline I will decide if I can be bothered to make a Money Claim Online, to see what happens.
My IP4 is still working perfectly after 3 three years, and that is after falling out of my shirt pocket onto concrete in the first week. The cracked rear glass doesn't affect operation.
The sexy red plastic case has failed after a year though.
Have an order in for 6 as it is about time.
The sexy red plastic case has failed after a year though.
Have an order in for 6 as it is about time.
NicD said:
My IP4 is still working perfectly after 3 three years, and that is after falling out of my shirt pocket onto concrete in the first week. The cracked rear glass doesn't affect operation.
The sexy red plastic case has failed after a year though.
Have an order in for 6 as it is about time.
Im waiting for the call to pick up the 6 too. I swear Apple design their products to fail after a couple of years though, so you have to line their pockets a little more.The sexy red plastic case has failed after a year though.
Have an order in for 6 as it is about time.
Mk3Spitfire said:
I haven't read the whole thread, but am I the only one who thinks an iPhone/pod/pad that works for three years before breaking is something of a miracle? I don't think I have ever had an iProduct that hasn't broken in some way within a maximum of a year..
Why make a concession for it just because it's a phone? This one cost about £600 new; I think a consumer device that costs that much should last more than 2 years.I'm not going to get worked up about it but will give it a go.
Probably jynxed myself now but my IPhone 4 is about 3 years old now and after being taken off charge at 5am I've still got nearly 70% and its not even like I haven't used it either, lasts 2 days with normal use, think in the only one!
Never dropped (well bad enough to smash it), still running the old OS...it is bloody also though!
Never dropped (well bad enough to smash it), still running the old OS...it is bloody also though!
Forgot to update!
Anyway, the phone was left for a few days and we then went into the Apple store.
They took the phone, plugged it in and it bloody worked!!
Because the lock button was broken, there was no way it could be hard reset. As the battery was empty, we are guessing it reset itself after being plugged in.
So, basically its working perfectly again (apart from the lock button).
Anyway, the phone was left for a few days and we then went into the Apple store.
They took the phone, plugged it in and it bloody worked!!
Because the lock button was broken, there was no way it could be hard reset. As the battery was empty, we are guessing it reset itself after being plugged in.
So, basically its working perfectly again (apart from the lock button).
PhilboSE said:
Bump!
Similar issue here, iPhone 4S has a fried WiFi chip after 2 years and 1 month. Apple store will replace for £159, but has specifically advised (and written on the diagnosis sheet) that under consumer law I should seek to get the original supplier (high street phone store) to refund the cost. Not expecting very much, but have put in a request to the supplier to cover the cost and if (when) they decline I will decide if I can be bothered to make a Money Claim Online, to see what happens.
The WiFI problem is a common one. Get a hairdryer and heat the phone until it displays the 'I'm too hot and need to cool down' message.Similar issue here, iPhone 4S has a fried WiFi chip after 2 years and 1 month. Apple store will replace for £159, but has specifically advised (and written on the diagnosis sheet) that under consumer law I should seek to get the original supplier (high street phone store) to refund the cost. Not expecting very much, but have put in a request to the supplier to cover the cost and if (when) they decline I will decide if I can be bothered to make a Money Claim Online, to see what happens.
Stick it in the fridge for 10 mins switched off.
Switch back on and chances are it will work again.
(seriously....I've just done this an hour ago).
Durzel said:
Apple products are designed to fail on or shortly after any new model is announced. It's called forced obsolescence 
To be fair, I've used Apple products personally and for by business since 2001. My office and my recording engineers, who have Apple laptops with them 200 days a year both use Apple stuff consistently.Since 2001, we've had between 3 and 5 Apple desktop and laptop machines in service. When I mean 'in service', two desktops run 24 hours a day 365 days a year. My laptop is on 8 hours a day. The engineers laptops get thrashed - inside and out, pushing them to the limit and being taken from place to place 100 times a year. On top of that, we've got two iPhones in service since they came out.
Out of all of these purchases, we're talking about maybe 20 machines in total, I've only ever had two issues. A battery fault on a laptop which was replaced by Apple out of warranty, and a fan failing in the same 3 year old laptop which cost me about £17 to replace. That's it.
And we're not updating every year either, in fact the opposite: I'm just replacing funnily enough today an engineers laptop - not because it's dead, but because the newer software needs more 'oomph'. The laptop was purchased in 2006. It looks a bit tatty, as you'd expect - it's the motoring equivalent of a taxi with 500,000 miles.
The design and build quality of Apple stuff is great - you pay more, but if you don't abuse it, it lasts.
What I think is happing with iPhones, which is my personal anecdotal experience, is that those who have had the most faults with their iPhone are the ones most prone to dropping them numerous times and soaking them in water.
JustinP1 said:
Durzel said:
Apple products are designed to fail on or shortly after any new model is announced. It's called forced obsolescence
To be fair, I've used Apple products personally and for by business since 2001. My office and my recording engineers, who have Apple laptops with them 200 days a year both use Apple stuff consistently.Since 2001, we've had between 3 and 5 Apple desktop and laptop machines in service. When I mean 'in service', two desktops run 24 hours a day 365 days a year. My laptop is on 8 hours a day. The engineers laptops get thrashed - inside and out, pushing them to the limit and being taken from place to place 100 times a year. On top of that, we've got two iPhones in service since they came out.
Out of all of these purchases, we're talking about maybe 20 machines in total, I've only ever had two issues. A battery fault on a laptop which was replaced by Apple out of warranty, and a fan failing in the same 3 year old laptop which cost me about £17 to replace. That's it.
And we're not updating every year either, in fact the opposite: I'm just replacing funnily enough today an engineers laptop - not because it's dead, but because the newer software needs more 'oomph'. The laptop was purchased in 2006. It looks a bit tatty, as you'd expect - it's the motoring equivalent of a taxi with 500,000 miles.
The design and build quality of Apple stuff is great - you pay more, but if you don't abuse it, it lasts.
What I think is happing with iPhones, which is my personal anecdotal experience, is that those who have had the most faults with their iPhone are the ones most prone to dropping them numerous times and soaking them in water.
MonkeyBusiness said:
The WiFI problem is a common one. Get a hairdryer and heat the phone until it displays the 'I'm too hot and need to cool down' message.
Stick it in the fridge for 10 mins switched off.
Switch back on and chances are it will work again.
(seriously....I've just done this an hour ago).
Yes, I tried the thermal shock thing...no go Stick it in the fridge for 10 mins switched off.
Switch back on and chances are it will work again.
(seriously....I've just done this an hour ago).
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