Mysterious line appear on iPhone 3G screen

[ViciousGame]

A mysterious 3cm white line has spontaneously appeared on my iPhone 3G above the earpiece. The line looks like a scratch under the glass screen. The top of the screen is completely smooth and has been covered with a static screen protector since the phone's purchase. I removed the screen temporarily to inspect the line and discovered that it was, indeed, under the glass.

Does anyone have any idea of the origin of this peculiar blemish?

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/9227/photoden.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[thcobbs]

Is this picture edited in any way?

If you're talking about the dome of white on the left side... it almost looks like the digitizer is peeling away from the glass.

Might be worth taking to the genius bar.

[ViciousGame]

no, its that little white stripe above the earpiece. The "dome of white" on the left is a reflection from a lamp.

[styfle]

Its hard to tell what it is. Take more pictures lol.

[ViciousGame]

Its hard to tell what it is. Take more pictures lol.

Yeah, I know. I used the wife's iPhone to take that pic. I'll take more tomorrow with my regular digi camera.

[thcobbs]

Well, let me put it this way. I seriously doubt it's a scratch under the glass or a peeling away of the lower digitizer then.

If you were to ever take one of these apart (pray you don't have to... refer to my cracked-glass post where I showed my trials and tribulations).... you'll notice that the black, upper portion is at a different height than the digitizer part over the LCD. Therefore, that line would definitely NOT be as linear as it is.

But, like I said... definitely worth a trip to the genius bar. If your not out of warranty yet, I'd recommend the applecare agreement thats like $70 for 2 years of hardware warranty.

(I also used to repair apple computers... hard to beat their extended warranty)

[styfle]

Wait are you talking about the strip above the earhole thingy?
It might be the light or proximity sensor http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/sensors.html

[thcobbs]

Nope... those aren't the proximity sensors... there are three of those in an L shape halfway between the ear piece and the edge. Although, there is a small opening above the ear piece:

edit:

EEEK! I forgot how high rez the pics from my DSLR are....

here's a direct link to the galary and smaller pic:
http://huntercobbs.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4347

Edit2:

yep... looks like the adhesive has detatched from the the glass on over the hole. Of course, it could just be the lighting you're in. You can see the proximity sensors clearly in bright, angled light.

[ViciousGame]

Isn't the black portion under the glass screen printed or painted on the glass? The glass is very smooth and is not scratched on the surface. Besides, I had a screen protector on always. I would think that a crack in the glass would extend all the way to the edges of the screen and not be so linear nor so small.

I might just casually ask a sales rep at the Apple Store (gonna be nearby anyway) and if they don't know, I'll make a Genius Bar appt. BTW, the phone is totally operational with no apparent glitches so far.

[Hawk]

I have this too and the only thing I can think of to explain it is that it's a "scratch" or even an air bubble under the glass. I originally didn't have them, but noticed them when I was replacing my anti glare screen. I had problems getting the anti-glare screen fitting with my Slider case and I pushed here and there with my fingernail. No, it doesn't affect per formance in the least- Purely cosmetic

[thcobbs]

Check out the link in my previous post. It's where I had taken the glass completely off of the assembly.

That discoloration you are seeing matches almost exactly to one of the holes. And it's not a perfect black, but more of a tinting that they do to the Digitizer glass. Therefore, if you've mushed the screen around a bit and separated the adhesive from the glass, you'd definitely get an air-bubble.

The good think is that this might be covered under "workmanship", but I doubt you'll get a new phone/screen out of this.

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here's the link: http://huntercobbs.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4347

[ViciousGame]

Check out the link in my previous post. It's where I had taken the glass completely off of the assembly.

That discoloration you are seeing matches almost exactly to one of the holes. And it's not a perfect black, but more of a tinting that they do to the Digitizer glass. Therefore, if you've mushed the screen around a bit and separated the adhesive from the glass, you'd definitely get an air-bubble.

The good think is that this might be covered under "workmanship", but I doubt you'll get a new phone/screen out of this.

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here's the link: http://huntercobbs.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4347

what does workmanship coverage mean?

[thcobbs]

what does workmanship coverage mean?

Basically that someone did a shoddy job assembling your iPhone

[ViciousGame]

gotcha...thanks.