“Apple on Friday offered to fix some older iPhone 5 smartphones with flawed on-off buttons,” AFP reports.
“In a posting on its support website, the California-based company said Friday a ‘small percentage’ of iPhone 5 models manufactured through March of 2013 may have on-off buttons that stop working or work intermittently,” AFP reports. “‘Apple will replace the sleep/wake button mechanism, free of charge, on iPhone 5 models that exhibit this issue and have a qualifying serial number,’ it said at the website.”
“The process began Friday in the U.S. and Canada and will begin in other countries on May 2, according to Apple,” AFP reports. “The support web page contained instructions for iPhone 5 owners, along with a way to check serial numbers to determine if smartphones qualify for free repair.”
Full article here.
Apple’s “iPhone 5 Sleep/Wake Button Replacement Program” webpage is here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Does it need to be active? I have an iPhone 5 since 2012 and the sleep/wake button hardly ever works but I don’t have it activated since I have the 5S
I wouldn’t think that would matter, as long as it’s in the serial number range.
Fix it.
Then pass it along to someone who can use it.
I’ve had two iPhone 5’s that both had the sleep/wake button go bad. Apple just replaced each.
This happened to my iPhone about 13 months after I purchased it, so it was out of warranty. I just took it into the Apple Store in Indianapolis & they replaced it without a problem. But it is nice to see the issue has been confirmed and is being taken care of.
Thanks for the replies guys! Checked the website and it says I’m eligible, will be taking my 5 soon!
My wife and I have iPhone 5’s and they’re fine, but my son’s iPhone 5 has this problem, big time.
I’m glad that Apple will be fixing this problem, but a little disappointed that they took this long.
I’m not sure why MDN chose to ignore this part of the story, or why CTV News chose to do such a poor job reporting/rehashing this FUD . . .
“In mid-2010, Apple put off dealing with concerns about iPhone 4 reception problems and the ensuing controversy came to be dubbed “Antennagate.”
Apple was forced to address the issue after Consumer Reports, the influential product review magazine, said it could not recommend the iPhone 4 because of signal loss problems it blamed on a design flaw.”
Mine was broken so I had to find a third party to fix it. Will apple fix it again for me even though it’s working now? Or reimburse me?
That’s a good question. Likely Apple will fix it with genuine Apple replacement parts, with service performed by an certified tech in an authorized service center. But you don’t know, until you ask. Apple will treat issues like this on an individual basis.
Even if someone else had success getting a second repair like this done for free by Apple, Apple still has the right to refuse…. But likely they won’t.
These are exactly the reasons Apple is now beginning to implement in store repairs at authorized service centers.
Although my own 5 has never exhibited any problems with that button, apparently it is within the serial range. Not sure what to do with this now. If they were replacing, I might do it, but a simple repair might not be worth the bother, keeping to ‘don’t fix what ain’t broke’.
If this is handled like past “Repair Extension Programs”, then it will be available for 1-2 years.
I’d ask Apple first to clarify what they would do now. They just might fix it instead of waiting for it to fail.
That’s quite a good question. I would guess that if it’s not broke it doesn’t need fixing, but I don’t think it would do any harm to ask them about it.
Samsung will have a field day with this.
Samsung will probably want to copy this. 😉