Apple is no stranger to hardware problems with its iPhone lineup. Even ignoring the infamous Antennagate fiasco, the iPhone has been plagued by perceived hardware issues across just about all of its iterations. The iPhone 5 already had fingers pointed at its inability to keep its anodized color for any longer than the time it took to take it out of the box, and now the model is the subject of a recall of sorts.
Announced today was a recall scheme that could see people taking their old iPhone 5 handsets back for new sleep/wake buttons, after Apple admitted that ‘a small percentage’ of devices suffer with a defective part. The fix is a simple one in that Apple will replace the faulty part at no cost to the user, though the iPhone in question will need to be sent away for repair, meaning users will be without their pride and joy for a few days.
Replacement of the sleep/wake button mechanism is done at an Apple Repair Center. There are two ways to send your iPhone to the repair center—carry-in or mail-in. See below for details. The replacement process takes approximately 4-6 days from the time your iPhone is received at the repair center until it is returned to you. Your iPhone will be examined prior to any service to verify that it is eligible for this program and is otherwise in working order. Before sending your iPhone to Apple for service, you will need to back up all your data and erase all your content and settings.
Apple has made available a Web page where worried iPhone 5 owners can enter their serial number to check whether their handset is one of the ones affected by the problem, and Apple says that it may be able to hand over a loaner phone dependent on stock levels. Don’t get excited though, you’ll get a 16GB iPhone 5 – no freebie iPhone 5s loaner for you!
If you do think you may have a duff iPhone 5 though, you might not want to hang about when it comes to checking that serial number. Apple is opening the program to anyone who’s iPhone 5 has the right serial number and is inside a two-year window since purchase. That means that, at worst, everyone has around five months left to get their act together though, so chances are you’ll get around to sorting it out before it’s too late.
You can get access to the program by going here.
(Source: TheLoop)
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