Apple's popular smartphone, the iPhone 3GS, is prone to mishandling and subsequent cracks in the screen. Apple is making it easier to fix the screen now by adding an in-store repair service.
Whether they're dropped, squashed, smashed or outright trashed, many users
find Apple's sleek, delicate screens are prone to cracking. While Apple can't
do much to help you prevent dropping your iPhone, the company has made it
easier to get the screen replaced. Apple blog The Loop confirmed that Apple is now fixing iPhone screens in retail
locations.
The service is available for all three versions of the iPhone, the blog
reported, although due to the manufacturing process involved in making the iPod
touch, Apple retail representatives won't be able to fix a cracked screen on
it. "If your phone is under warranty and the screen needs to be replaced due to
a defect with the device, there is no cost to have the screen replaced at a
retail store," wrote The Loop blogger Jim Dalrymple. "However, if it's
not a warranty issue, the cost of having the screen replaced is $199."
For iPhone users out there who want to take the DIY approach to screen
repair, there are options out there as well-but keep in mind Apple's iPhone
limited warranty "excludes coverage for damage resulting from accident,
disassembly, unauthorized service and unauthorized modifications."
Apple blog Tidbits posted an article explaining how to replace a cracked
iPhone screen for around $80 by using a Mission Repair iPhone 3G Digitizer and
Front Glass with Adhesive Kit and an AX Micro Solutions case opener tool.
Mission Repair, a certified Macintosh tech shop, is also offering iPhone screen
repair service for $119. The company said it can repair the screen in 24 hours,
and each repair comes with a one-year warranty. "Our process provides full
coverage of the contact points on your internal iPhone 3G frame, which is
critical to ensure a long lasting, flush-mounted repair," the company notes on
its Website.
Apple's ability to fix iPhone screens in its retail stores (by using a large
suction cuplike machine) comes at a time when Apple is continuing, and
expanding, its dominance of the fiercely competitive smartphone market. Despite
the arrival of competitors from Nokia, Palm and Research In Motion's BlackBerry
devices, Apple has managed to stay ahead of the competition. An internal memo
from exclusive iPhone carrier AT&T said the launch day of the iPhone 3GS,
the latest edition of the smartphone, was AT&T's best sales day ever.
On June 22, Apple announced that in the three days after the iPhone 3GS
launched, it has sold over 1 million models, and reported 6 million customers
have downloaded the new iPhone 3.0 software in the first five days since its
release. The highly anticipated iPhone 3GS, which was launched at Apple's
annual Worldwide Developers Conference, offers new features such as
long-awaited cut, copy and paste capability; MMS;
Spotlight Search; and a landscape keyboard function.
Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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