Apple's MagSafe power cords have probably saved thousands of laptops from untimely impacts -- too bad there's no such insurance policy for the iPhone. Brett Peters' phone had an unfortunate encounter with his young son and moments later, with the floor, and the result is as you see above. While the screen glass is shattered, Brett was able to lay a piece of clear packing tape on top of the phone and keep all the shards in place. You can see all the photos on Brett's blog and here on Flickr.
Believe it or not, the phone is still functional; more surprisingly, except for the most seriously damaged spots, the touchscreen still works. Brett is considering a screen replacement via this procedure, but in the meantime I'm sure he's having a heart-to-heart with his son about the facts of physics. 9.8m/s^2 -- it's not just a good idea, it's the law.
[via Twitter]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-09-2008 @ 11:27PM
Bill G said...
32 ft/sec^2!
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4-10-2008 @ 3:09AM
mentalsticks said...
what shoe size?
4-10-2008 @ 10:48AM
pscs said...
lol, 9.8m/s/s is usually taken as 10m/s/s. (read as "ten metres per second squared).
I'm not the know-all but... "ft/sec^2"... oh please. and the SI unit for time is 's' not 'sec'.
back to the phone story. I think he should send it in for Apple rather than trying to replace it himself...
4-09-2008 @ 11:46PM
luis said...
My iPhone screen had a scratch so i went over the apple store, to see if they could replaced, and they told that the scratch was nor covered by the warranty, but is i wanted to change the screen, it would have a cost of just 215 bucks.
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4-09-2008 @ 11:50PM
Speddy said...
I have to live with a 1cm scratch that was made when my unit slipped out of my shirt pocket, and slid on the tile floor, face down. This happened the day my case came in. :(
Thank you for the PDA take apart vid. Too bad YouTube vid quality is that of looking through an aquarium, filled with ballistic gel.
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4-09-2008 @ 11:56PM
Andrew said...
I just recently dropped my iPhone from waist height putting two long cracks on the screen. I went to the Apple store the next day and told the iPod Bar what had happened. The guy said that since I obviously was trying to protect it (I have a case and screen protector) and since I was "being real cool about it" he would go ahead and replace it for free.
Worth a try...
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4-10-2008 @ 8:59AM
tundraboy said...
I think this is what is called a hidden warranty and it's illegal. If a mfr gives such a favor to one customer it has to give it to all. I just shelled out $199 to fix my son's broken iPod Touch screen . Oh, I am steamed.
4-10-2008 @ 12:06AM
Tony said...
BAM $249+tax if its an 8GB at your local Apple Store! heh
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4-10-2008 @ 12:09AM
pickleman77 said...
Same thing happened to my iPod Touch. The shards aren't protruding out or anything, though. You can't even feel 'em. It still works fine.
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4-10-2008 @ 12:12AM
Justin said...
to add one more story I went out one night last term and cracked my iphone. Went to the apple stores in Atlanta and Birmingham but both said it wasn't covered. Two huge cracks but still fully functional, and I got used to seeing them.
Oh, and i looked it up, apparently because of the way they make the iphone, you can't replace the screen without replacing the touchscreen, etc. Costs like 279 to replace, basically what i paid for the phone
Andrew, you are one lucky bastard.
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4-10-2008 @ 2:00AM
JedixJarf said...
Same thing happened to my iPhone about 4 months ago, told apple care on the phone that I had battery issues and they replaced it for free.
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4-10-2008 @ 2:09AM
petey said...
the real problem here is the ultimate lack of insurance available for the iphone for instances like this. not from apple, the manufacturer. not from att, the service provider. not from state farm, the largest insurer in the us.
and to add insult to injury, if your iphone goes dead and you pay the $29 for a loaner while you send your broken one back, they suggest you get accidental insurance for the loaner while you have it incase you drop it or something. EXCEPT YOU CAN'T GET ANY KIND OF INSURANCE FOR THE THING through normal channels.
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4-10-2008 @ 3:02AM
Jon said...
Careful careful... same thing happened to me and I tried screen replacement... the result? A great looking, touchless screen. :(. Spent 50 on the screen and then 270 on a new iPhone with Apple's replacement program for dropping.
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4-10-2008 @ 3:54AM
Michael said...
That's pretty hopeless for a phone. I was dropping my old brick Noika very often a few years back and it would always cope the the hash treatment. I out at the pub a lot less often now so it doesn't get thrown around as much any longer.
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4-10-2008 @ 4:56AM
Iggy said...
O2 in the UK provide iPhone insurance, its £6.50 a month, but it covers against accidental damage, even water damage.
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4-11-2008 @ 12:19AM
Michael said...
You lucky BLOKE
UK birds are the hottest in the world !!!!!
check out (the real chad smith) on youtube
4-10-2008 @ 5:16AM
J said...
I've got another with cracked screen, to add to the list. Dropped it from waist height onto the road while heading for the tube near Warwick Ave. Still works, but I'm much less likely to show anyone my phone now. Thankfully I hadn't taken the screen plastic that it ships with off yet.
Annoying thing is I did the same with my last Treo (680) in the 1st week of owning it. I had to do major surgery and replaced it with the touchscreen from my 650. No-one was more surprised than me when it worked!
I have since bought the icase rubber enclosure for it. I REALLY dislike the idea of needing to keep my gadgets in a protective case - it totally ruins the aesthetics. I would suggest that Apple make the casing a bit more rubberised. The current version is just too slippery and gets away on you too easily.
The price for fix in UK is £169 - but they insist on it being activated (with 02) and not jail-broken - which pretty much rules most of us out. I might try again after the 3G version is out. £169 for an upgrade doesn't hurt quite so much...
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4-10-2008 @ 7:09AM
Mitch said...
I've dropped my iPhone probably 5 times - twice on a driveway on a hill and it slid down the concrete about 15-20 feet. I've got guardfilm on the thing tho and the places not covered by the guardfilm are dinged and nicked, but the screen and the back are intact and beautiful. Nothing beats guardfilm in my book and no i don't work for them. I'm not saying that the glass wouldn't crack like in the story here, but so far i've been lucky.
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4-10-2008 @ 7:40AM
robogobo said...
hmm, I don't have an iPhone yet, planning to get one. But all these stories worry me since I drop my Treo every other day. It's pretty dinged up but no screen cracks and it still works perfectly. Maybe the plastic case absorbs the impact. I too hate protective cases.
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4-10-2008 @ 8:10AM
KeynoteKen said...
Just from the other side of the aisle, I usually carry my phone in my shirt pocket. I've had it fall out of my pocket on several occasions as I'm getting something off the ground and once, my jacket snagged on the headphone cord as I was taking off my jacket. It was yanked up and out of my pocket before it hit the ground.
Currently, my screen is AOK, though I do wonder if the drop damage is cumulative... those first videos posted at the iPhone's release had me thinking it was pretty tough.