[Report] iPhone Wear 'n' tear - Show us yours...

[JungleJim]

Hi all,

This thread is to discuss the iPhones' exterior durability

One of the factors that affected my decision to buy an iPhone was how durable it is. I work in a hostile environment so delicate and pretty devices don't survive long. So spending £280 on an iPhone that would only last a month was something i didn't feel like doing! I've started this thread mainly for those who are looking into buying an iPhone, to see how durable it is, and also just because i'm curious to see how others are holding up.

Explain the state of your iphone. Do you have many scratches, dents, gaping holes etc? The screen is the most important part to explain i think. Maybe add some pictures. Please explain how long you have had the phone, how you treat / use it etc.

I've not used my iPhone much, due to the fact i'm waiting for an unlock, so mine is in quite good nick. I've even still got the screen film on!! :rolleyes: Personally, i find the exterior to be very robust. The workmanship is once again, 'Apple first class'! PS. I would add a photo but i'm having trouble uploading them, so i've given up!


Best regards.

[gotmilk]

Ive had mine for 2 months now and so far I dropped it twice, once on a bowling alley :P Besides the alley wax on it, top shape :P Second drop though was on rough asphalt while getting out of my car and surprisingly no harm done except for a little dent on the backplate neer the volume rocker but one thing I can say, NO CASE IS SAFE ENOUGH for such a sweet piece of technology, best combination is get a good screen protector and put it in your pocket. Thats what I do now with the malware screen protector and whatever I putin my pocket it wont scratch anything.

[RVN84]

I've had mine since week 2 or so, and i've dropped it a few times, most critical was on asphalt, leaving a club drunk (swung it out of my pocket and it flew a couple of meters and fell to the ground kicking a few times... i thought it was gone), and miraculously all it got was a slight dent on the top, near the headphone jack...

screen is 100% perfect (i've recently put on an antiglare filter, but upto then didnt have anything)...

the back is slightly scratched in one or 2 places (like 2 or 3 hairline scratches) and a couple of "dots" or mini-scuffs.... dunno how to describe it...

[iHack]

mine has some scuffs from dropping it here and there... but the phone is really durable... screen seems to be "scratch proof"...

[KenjiFinster]

My iPhone's a bit chipped on the upper back case and has some scuffs on the right side of the front rim. Nothing I should worry about.

And talking about scuffs, this comic says what I think about them:
http://www.pvponline.com/2008/01/14/iscuff/

[tornadoxl]

i have had mine for about 2 months and the back has a few marks but get a hard case

[Destructo]

I've had my iPhone for 2 months, and it has fallen about 50 times. Sometimes it falls because I forget its on my lap and I get up, or when i'm skateboarding and I forget to close the pocket zip.

Has a couple of scratches on the back, nothing serious. Still works perfect after so many falls.

[smirkis]

had mine since january 1st. still flawless lol. but i care for mine like its my lifeline. got a nice agent18 case which i think its the best available. and i've never dropped or kicked it, its never seen the ground lol

[whosloosin92]

Anyone notice the black plastic part on the back of their's getting wiggly, creaky, and bendy? All 3 of my iphones have had this problem. I don't know if its from dropping it or if its just a cronic problem.

[hadimirza]

Anyone notice the black plastic part on the back of their's getting wiggly, creaky, and bendy? All 3 of my iphones have had this problem. I don't know if its from dropping it or if its just a cronic problem.

Yeah mine does that too. It like clicks sometimes when i press it or grasp it.

And for my wear and tear, I've dropped my iPhone once on a tiled floor of a restaurant. My 3 year old cousin was playing iPhysics and he dropped it. The damage was that there is a tiny tiny dent right next to the silence switch and just a few scratches on the metal frame. I love that metal frame, it takes all the damage :D.

[thecompkid]

had mine since january 1st. still flawless lol. but i care for mine like its my lifeline. got a nice agent18 case which i think its the best available. and i've never dropped or kicked it, its never seen the ground lol

I've had mine since a week after they launched, and the screen is literally flawless. I have never used a screen protector and I would never recommend one for the iPhone as the screen is glass and anything that is hard enough to scratch glass is going to go right through the protector anyway. The matte metal and plastic on the back is not noticeably worn, and the shiny logo only has a scratch or two. The only thing that is pretty well worn is the shiny band around the screen, but I can't imagine that being much of a problem for anyone. Up until Christmas, I never had a case on my iPhone, so it saw 6 months of unrestricted wear, which would probably kill any other iPod. Now, I have the Agent18 case, which I would say should be your only choice. It is a perfect fit and it does not add considerable bulk to the phone. The only reason why I wanted a case, actually, is not so much for protection but because my phone would get all sweaty and disgusting if I was holding it for too long (iPhone Addicts Anonymous :p). The feel of the Agent18 is great and it's much easier to hold, and you even get the ever-critical dock adapter in the package, a nice touch even if it is black.

EDIT: Check out these pics, I couldn't get a good one of the screen so I settled :p.
http://www.flickr.com/gp/68671388@N00/8K3E2a

[JungleJim]

Nice responses everyone!

Not long after starting this thread, i tried to tackle the HW unlock. Oh my god.... what a mistake!! :( My nearly perfect iPhone is now a broken mess! I've got grooves in the back metal and platic covers where i took a knife to it, to try to pry off the antenna cover. My dock connector surround is bent to buggery! To top it off, in the process, i managed to put a hole through my wifi cable so now got no (or very little) wifi signal!! :o And thats before erasing the firmware, and restarting like the warnings said!! Anyone tried to run ienew through term-vt100 while trying to hold two needles on a microscopic capacitor and trace... Impossible!!... Oh yeah!.... None of the bloody unlock guides indicated how small the unlock area is....!! Its minute... At first i didn't notice it, i thought it was elsewhere!!

So i've now put my phone aside while i wait for replacement cables and covers. I'm not trashing this one, only to have to buy a 1.1.3 OTB phone and wait again!!!!!

Sorry for the off topic but i had to get that off my chest lol!:D

[tornadoxl]

did it work?

[automat]

small dent near silent switch as well, I think I must have fallen while drunk :P

[iUA]

Nice responses everyone!

Not long after starting this thread, i tried to tackle the HW unlock. Oh my god.... what a mistake!! :( My nearly perfect iPhone is now a broken mess! I've got grooves in the back metal and platic covers where i took a knife to it, to try to pry off the antenna cover. My dock connector surround is bent to buggery! To top it off, in the process, i managed to put a hole through my wifi cable so now got no (or very little) wifi signal!! :o And thats before erasing the firmware, and restarting like the warnings said!! Anyone tried to run ienew through term-vt100 while trying to hold two needles on a microscopic capacitor and trace... Impossible!!... Oh yeah!.... None of the bloody unlock guides indicated how small the unlock area is....!! Its minute... At first i didn't notice it, i thought it was elsewhere!!

So i've now put my phone aside while i wait for replacement cables and covers. I'm not trashing this one, only to have to buy a 1.1.3 OTB phone and wait again!!!!!

Sorry for the off topic but i had to get that off my chest lol!:D

Wow - seems like a very unfortunate mistake for you!

Hope others learn from this and see how risky it is! :rolleyes:

[graphsic]

has anyone dust issues behind the screen? My stereo connector has many times pieces of dust in it and I hope it won't get behind the screen!

[SugarTV]

A friend of mine dropped her iPhone on a ceramic tiled floor at work and now the "5" key is missing when she tries to dial on the call pad.

[JungleJim]

A friend of mine dropped her iPhone on a ceramic tiled floor at work and now the "5" key is missing when she tries to dial on the call pad.
Hehe!... You sure its an iPhone? Sounds like one of those 'Oh-so-last-year' phones... Like the plastic key has dropped off... :D

I continued with my HW unlock today. I've managed to downgrade the bootloader to 3.9 and the baseband to the 1.1.1 one. Just tried running anySIM but not quite there yet. Still working...

...Even though my phone is in bits lol!

[scudder]

My one month old 16GB suffered a similar fate to jungle jims. No outward damage, but I ruined the headphone/volume/vibrate cable and ordered a replacement from Brando in Hong Kong. Trouble is I am now on my second replacement from them and both are faulty. The iPhone thinks the headphones are in when they are not, and out when they are in. This is a definite hardware problem because it was working perfectly before the cable was disected and when I disconnect the ribbon cable the speaker goes back to normal. Looks like they have tried to clone the OEM part and botched it. Trying a new supplier after a refund so fingers crossed. In the meantime it is a decorative object as I cannot close the back yet. I agree that removing the back casing is an ordeal and takes much study on youtube to find the best way to do it without bending the edges.
So, to sum up, looks as good as new except it is in bits :(

[mickey]

I've had five iPhones, each of which has had some sort of internal defect quickly dealt with by the Apple store. I used a black Agent18 case (although I really wanted a neon color to make it easier to find in my briefcase, office, etc.) and now a BodyGuardz pseudo-adhesive skin. No scratches, no dents, nothing.

A client of mine has an iPhone with a completely spidered glass screen. Still works beautifully (as the kids' Wi-Fi toy).