I see the light

[ravman]

I took my iPhone case off this afternoon and returned it to the store. I didn't really like it and decided to check out more.

But tonight I was playing with my iPhone and noticed small amounts of light coming through the side of the screen. Where the chrome bezel meets the glass, you can see light. The only way I can explain it, is the light shows as like two dashes sideways, One above the other. It's very minimal, but there none the less. I hadn't noticed it before, as the case always covered the side of the screen.

Anyone else had problems with seeing the light?

[Saverino]

A lot of people actually had/have this problem. If it bothers you enough, take it to Apple and have them swap it out for a new one.

[kisstine]

The more serious issue, potentially, is not just that the light coming out bugs you, nut that the gap that is allowing the light to leak out will also allow dust, etc., to get in.

Just something else to consider... sorry. :(

[magermeister]

yea i had the same problem with my phone i took mine in monday and got a new one wenesday morning no problems at all. the light showing through is due to not having a gasket that is layed between the screen and chrome bezel and will alow dust to get into the phone and show up under the screen but if u think about it in th long run good idea to get it taken care of now before it becomes a problem plus if u do it early u won't get a refurb :) may seem like a hassle but in the end will be worth it just thought i would let you know a little about the reason the light is showing

[gotzaiPhone]

welcome to the club! Get it replaced.

[magermeister]

hahaha lol did u get urs replaced to

[ravman]

Guess I'd better make an appointment to get it looked at then. Pain, as I have an Invisible Shield all over it too. Gonna have to get another one now and mess about with sticking it on.

[miggs1310]

Guess I'd better make an appointment to get it looked at then. Pain, as I have an Invisible Shield all over it too. Gonna have to get another one now and mess about with sticking it on.

you don't need an appointment

[ravman]

I thought if you want the Genius people to look at it, then you have to make an appointment? Last time I had issues with my iPod, they would not even talk to me, unless I had an appointment with the Genius bar??



you don't need an appointment

[miggs1310]

I just walked in, walked up to the counter (not the genius bar), they said "how can I help you", I said "my glass doesn't sit right", they exchanged it without looking at it or asking any questions, I was out in 10 minutes.

A "genius" doesn't have to look at your phone if all you want to do is exchange it. Just make sure you have your receipt.

That's my experience.....

[miggs1310]

I thought if you want the Genius people to look at it, then you have to make an appointment?

Why do you think a genius needs to see it? Your phone is defective, any employee can do an exchange with a managers approval. I've never talked to a "genius" at apple, ever.

[firewire]

A question: I have the light leak issue as well. Due to new developments regarding the 3G reception fix (and the possibility of Apple replacing key hardware in later editions of the iphone) is it wiser o wait and sit on the light leak issue in case we can get a swap for the potentially better functioning iphone? I know I am going out on a limb here, but if I can hold off getting my phone swapped and they wind up replacing that faulty chip, I would be much happier. So how long can I sit on this problem without it going beyond the time frame allowed? Do I have the whole year to turn it in regarding the light leak issue? Or is there some type of time cutoff?

[ravman]

I went to the Apple store and spoke to a member of staff. They told me I need to make an appointment with the genius bar. Guess when the next appointment was? Yup, next Sunday 7pm. I kicked up a stink and someone mysteriously appeared to look at my phone.

He took the phone round the back (dark place) and came back and said yes, there is a gap there. He told me that as I purchased my iPhone from an AT&T store, he could not swap the phone was a new out of the box model. He could only exchange the unit with a service model, which would be refurb. I told him hell no and took the phone back.

I will go to the AT&T store and talk to them. Heck am I handing over a brand new phone, only to get a refurb. If so, the phone will be returned under the 30 day warranty and I will dispute the restock charge with my CC company. Last I recall, law of the land states that if I buy a faulty product, I am entitled to a full refund.



Why do you think a genius needs to see it? Your phone is defective, any employee can do an exchange with a managers approval. I've never talked to a "genius" at apple, ever.

[macgirl]

I just noticed this light leak issue on my iPhone as well. Dang, I might just take it in to see if I can get it replaced...

[dturner]

Dang, I might just take it in to see if I can get it replaced...
No, you will take it back to be replaced. You don't want dust and dirt getting up under that space.:smile:

[macgirl]

No, you will take it back to be replaced. You don't want dust and dirt getting up under that space.:smile:

So true - I do not want that! :smile: I just worry a bit, though - with my luck, I'll get one that's jacked up in some other way that's worse... :angry:

[dturner]

So true - I do not want that! :smile: I just worry a bit, though - with my luck, I'll get one that's jacked up in some other way that's worse... :angry:
That's what is wrong with this whole thing. Of course I was just messing with you but it is sad that we have to be concerned about returning the phone because it might have worse problems. IMO this phone was not ready for release. A lot of people are blaming ATT for their problems, but in reality I believe the chipset in the phone is to blame. At least for the 3G issues.

[iChristian]

The only reason that people were getting screwed up refurbished phones near the end when MANY people were getting theirs replaced was because they were trying to get rid of the supply completely in order to get the new 3G.

[ravman]

How big is the gap? Mine is tiny. The rest of the area seems fine.

I am wondering if it is even worth changing?


So true - I do not want that! :smile: I just worry a bit, though - with my luck, I'll get one that's jacked up in some other way that's worse... :angry:

[dturner]

I am wondering if it is even worth changing?
I guess only you can decide that but I know I would. You have to think of the long term. Will it get worse over time and the warranty is out? Will dirt and dust cause other problems?
Who knows? I just know I would return it.

[iChristian]

If it really is getting on your nerves, I'd just go on and replace it.

[ravman]

Apple store told me that any purchases from an AT&T store does not guarantee that your phone will be exchanged with a brand new iPhone. They give you service models, not new ones from out of a new box!! You run the risk of getting a refurb, with probably even more problems!!



I guess only you can decide that but I know I would. You have to think of the long term. Will it get worse over time and the warranty is out? Will dirt and dust cause other problems?
Who knows? I just know I would return it.

[Deltido]

how's this a "problem" doesn't really have any bad side effects.?

[ravman]

I just did some investigation regarding this light leaking issue. From what I read, there is no way dust can get under the screen and cause issues. the screen is a sealed unit. The light leakage is caused by a gasket under the chrome not being correctly fitted. You can loosen the 2 screws under near the docking connector and it should loosen the chrome to allow the gasket to loosen up and reset itself. Even though no dust can get in, the misplaced gasket can cause water to get into the until. And let's be honest here, no phone is water tight.

How true my findings are is anyone's guess. But this is just stuff I found out when googling the issue.

Hope it helps someone.

[iChristian]

I'd just keep the phone then. Haha. It's not THAT big of a deal. I mean, we're not talking about a crack or something. Also, iPhone 3G's are so hard to get these days.. =/

[iMeth]

"i see the light, so I could smoke away my painnnnnnnnnn" I need a light great song

[llrickman]

I will go to the AT&T store and talk to them. Heck am I handing over a brand new phone, only to get a refurb. If so, the phone will be returned under the 30 day warranty and I will dispute the restock charge with my CC company. Last I recall, law of the land states that if I buy a faulty product, I am entitled to a full refund.

You can take it to at&t and they are gonna tell you " you have to deal with apple" we do not make ANY repairs or warrantys to the iPhone.

That guy is full of it telling you he cant replace it buying at at&t is just the same as buying at apple. Id go back to apple get his name and speak to his manager He doesnt know what the hell he is talking about

at&t will not do ANYTHING for you except piss you off when you go in and have them refuse to do anything . (they might hand you a little card with apple cares # on it ) but thats about it.

I do believe you are correct on the cc part if you bought a defective product you should get a 100% refund. Thats why i always use CC's when i make purchaes of items like this

[dwp1975]

I see the light leak as well, didn't notice it until I was surfing the net on my iPhone with the lights off. Apple screwed the pooch on build quality. I think all the 3g devices have this defect or atleast certain batch, becuase the iPhone I returned a couple of hours after buying it this morning had the misalignment that causes the light leak. :frown:

[ravman]

I rang another Apple store and they told me the exact same thing. They use different phones for AT&T store purchases and cannot guarantee any will be in stock when you can get the next genius appointment 6 weeks down the road.

I think I will just be returning my phone for good and disputing the re-stock charge on my CC. I'm gonna wait for a decent phone to come out, maybe one with the reliable Windows Mobile operating system :wink:


You can take it to at&t and they are gonna tell you " you have to deal with apple" we do not make ANY repairs or warrantys to the iPhone.

That guy is full of it telling you he cant replace it buying at at&t is just the same as buying at apple. Id go back to apple get his name and speak to his manager He doesnt know what the hell he is talking about

at&t will not do ANYTHING for you except piss you off when you go in and have them refuse to do anything . (they might hand you a little card with apple cares # on it ) but thats about it.

I do believe you are correct on the cc part if you bought a defective product you should get a 100% refund. Thats why i always use CC's when i make purchaes of items like this

[Youngbinks]

I had mine replaced a week after iDay 2 for this issue. Lots of people here and other places have had it. My replacement has the same problem but I'm waiting a bit longer to get it replaced.

[ravman]

It seems like it's a common manufacturing fault right now. So many other discussion sites are saying the same thing. One person was saying how the Apple store he spoke to, said they yet to find a phone that does not suffer from the light leakage problem. (http://forums.ilounge.com/showthread.php?t=232897)

Might be best to wait until Apple accept this is an issue and resolve it and then get your phone exchanged.

My light leakage seems very minimal, compared to other pictures I have seen. But they all seem to be coming from the same common area.



I had mine replaced a week after iDay 2 for this issue. Lots of people here and other places have had it. My replacement has the same problem but I'm waiting a bit longer to get it replaced.

[Youngbinks]

It seems like it's a common manufacturing fault right now. So many other discussion sites are saying the same thing. One person was saying how the Apple store he spoke to, said they yet to find a phone that does not suffer from the light leakage problem. (http://forums.ilounge.com/showthread.php?t=232897)

Might be best to wait until Apple accept this is an issue and resolve it and then get your phone exchanged.

My light leakage seems very minimal, compared to other pictures I have seen. But they all seem to be coming from the same common area.

It is most certainly a huge error on Apple's par and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the need for replacements becomes so great that Apple says something about it. It does seem as if the gap is on the left side of the screen for everyone, that's how it was/is for both of mine.

[dwp1975]

It is most certainly a huge error on Apple's par and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the need for replacements becomes so great that Apple says something about it. It does seem as if the gap is on the left side of the screen for everyone, that's how it was/is for both of mine.

Same here, both of mine had the spacing on the left top of the phone.

[ravman]

Do you think Apple can fix this issue with a software upgrade?

I'm sure they are working on it right now.


It is most certainly a huge error on Apple's par and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the need for replacements becomes so great that Apple says something about it. It does seem as if the gap is on the left side of the screen for everyone, that's how it was/is for both of mine.

[dwp1975]

Do you think Apple can fix this issue with a software upgrade?

I'm sure they are working on it right now.

It's not a software issue, it's a hardware issue.

[ravman]

I know man, I was being sarcastic.

There is only so much Apple can do to plug up its mistakes with software upgrades. Before it has to spend money to fix things properly. :wink:



It's not a software issue, it's a hardware issue.

[dwp1975]

I know man, I was being sarcastic.

There is only so much Apple can do to plug up its mistakes with software upgrades. Before it has to spend money to fix things properly. :wink:

ahhhhh ok :laugh2:

Too early to think clearly...lol

[magermeister]

the phones havnt been out long enough for refubs so quit worring about that also everyone take a min pull out ur 3g look and c if u can c the rubber between the screen and the chrome if u don't have one then u will have the light leaking issue so just take it to apple cus it can cause moisture to get up underneath the screen and cause more problems i had to turn my first 3g in it had no rubber at all betwen the chrome and the screen that caused the light to leak out so before u leave apple make sure u can c the rubber gasket

[iChristian]

I'm glad my phone doesn't have that issue. Apple is just so annoying to deal with sometimes =/

[dturner]

the phones havnt been out long enough for refubs
Oh, but they have and there are.:smile:

[ravman]

My iPhone has the gasket, and there is still light leakage.



the phones havnt been out long enough for refubs so quit worring about that also everyone take a min pull out ur 3g look and c if u can c the rubber between the screen and the chrome if u don't have one then u will have the light leaking issue so just take it to apple cus it can cause moisture to get up underneath the screen and cause more problems i had to turn my first 3g in it had no rubber at all betwen the chrome and the screen that caused the light to leak out so before u leave apple make sure u can c the rubber gasket

[ravman]

I agree. The tech at the Nerd Bar told me refurbs are out in full force.

He said something about the external casing being brand new, but the internals are returned phones.




Oh, but they have and there are.:smile:

[firewire]

What the hell are people talking about? People missing the entire rubber gasket? That has to be nonsense. The issue is that the rubber is not up against the framing of the phone, and more pushed toward the lcd screen in a certain section on the left side of the phone. So, light is leaking out from the rubber being a little to the right. Give it a look up close you can see it out of place.

No one is missing anything or else your phone would look like a solar eclipse.

[Indy]

I just walked in, walked up to the counter (not the genius bar), they said "how can I help you", I said "my glass doesn't sit right", they exchanged it without looking at it or asking any questions, I was out in 10 minutes.

A "genius" doesn't have to look at your phone if all you want to do is exchange it. Just make sure you have your receipt.

That's my experience.....

Well at least we have that. With all the arising problems with these new phones it's nice to know that they will just hand over a new one, no questions asked, no BS.

hopefully not for another POS though.:tounge:

[Indy]

You can take it to at&t and they are gonna tell you " you have to deal with apple" we do not make ANY repairs or warrantys to the iPhone.

That guy is full of it telling you he cant replace it buying at at&t is just the same as buying at apple. Id go back to apple get his name and speak to his manager He doesnt know what the hell he is talking about

at&t will not do ANYTHING for you except piss you off when you go in and have them refuse to do anything . (they might hand you a little card with apple cares # on it ) but thats about it.

I do believe you are correct on the cc part if you bought a defective product you should get a 100% refund. Thats why i always use CC's when i make purchaes of items like this

Reason #486 to not buy your iphone from an AT&T location...:tounge:

There's no way I'd buy my precious iphone from any AT&T location around here, and we have plenty. Most of their floor salesmen/saleswomen do not know a thing about their products, let alone, cell phone technology in general. You can't go wrong buying it from an Apple store, if something goes wrong you can take it back and most all of their employees know these common problems and know exactly what to do, because it's THIER PRODUCT. If anything ever happened to mine I'd like to know that I'm taking it back to a 100% reliable source.

[ravman]

A lot of people who have corprorate discounts (or complicated accounts) had no choice but go to an AT&T store to get their iPhones. Unless they wanted to remove their discount, get the iPhone from an Apple store and then have the discount reapplied to their accounts. It can take up to 2 billing cycles to have the discount put back on your account. For some, that can be quite a few pennies they lose.

Even if you did buy the iPhone from an AT&T store, you have to take it back to an Apple store for repairs anyway. You only return the iPhone back to an AT&T store, if you want to return it under the 30 day warranty. I wonder how many people purchased the iPhone from an Apple store, returned their phone back there, but still had to call AT&T because something went wrong in canceling their accounts?

Swings and round abouts.


Reason #486 to not buy your iphone from an AT&T location...:tounge:

There's no way I'd buy my precious iphone from any AT&T location around here, and we have plenty. Most of their floor salesmen/saleswomen do not know a thing about their products, let alone, cell phone technology in general. You can't go wrong buying it from an Apple store, if something goes wrong you can take it back and most all of their employees know these common problems and know exactly what to do, because it's THIER PRODUCT. If anything ever happened to mine I'd like to know that I'm taking it back to a 100% reliable source.

[Indy]

A lot of people who have corprorate discounts (or complicated accounts) had no choice but go to an AT&T store to get their iPhones. Unless they wanted to remove their discount, get the iPhone from an Apple store and then have the discount reapplied to their accounts. It can take up to 2 billing cycles to have the discount put back on your account. For some, that can be quite a few pennies they lose.

Even if you did buy the iPhone from an AT&T store, you have to take it back to an Apple store for repairs anyway. You only return the iPhone back to an AT&T store, if you want to return it under the 30 day warranty. I wonder how many people purchased the iPhone from an Apple store, returned their phone back there, but still had to call AT&T because something went wrong in canceling their accounts?

Swings and round abouts.

Good point. I guess AT&T would just look at you with a blank stare when you handed your iphone to one of them and said "fix it".:tounge:

[ravman]

Nah, when I got my iPhone from the AT&T store, they told me quite a few times that if I have any issues with the phone, then to contact Apple, or go to one of their stores. Unless I wanted to return, then to come back to them.

But saying that, how much can a Genius person do? They can only do very basic trouble shooting and then they replace the phone. Seems like people have had their phones exchanged for the smallest of things. Which is good in many ways, as AT&T never seem very keen on replacing faulty phones (non iPhones).

My GFs SE w580i kept getting the broken button syndrome, and AT&T would not let her exchange the phone for a different make/model. In the end she had to file a small claims court thing against them and they then gave her a Blackjack II for free.



Good point. I guess AT&T would just look at you with a blank stare when you handed your iphone to one of them and said "fix it".:tounge: