It turns out that 30 percent of all iPhone owners manage to break their phones within 12 months of purchasing them. For people under 35, the rate is closer to 50 percent.
I find this stunning, especially the second part. With rates like that I'm kind of surprised that Apple doesn't offer this service at a premium.
I wonder how they gathered the data for this, and how they define "break". (Aside: I remember reading somewhere that the most frequent usage of "it turns out" is for presenting outrageous statistics that have no data behind them).
It really makes me wonder why more time isn't spent in making smartphones more durable. People tend to buy them at $100-$200 on contract, not realizing that if they break the phone, they won't get another one for $100-$200. It's more like $600-$800.
Sure, having the thinnest phone made entirely of glass is a really nice selling point in marketing material, but having a phone that lasts the entire term of your contract without needing to be coddled and have the form factor ruined by a bulky case just to protect it is even nicer. For comparison, the Lumia 920 is not incredibly thick or heavy and still looks quite nice, but it can handle an impressive amount of abuse before it breaks:
"It feels like a premium device" kind of grates on me. In most cases, it's code for "it's made of expensive materials that are really quite fragile". Like glass surrounding a rigid metal frame that guarantees it will shatter on impact with no room to absorb a blow.
Yes "feels like a premium device" is code for "made of expensive materials" or, more specifically, "made of expensive materials [assembled to a high degree of precision]." Talking about fragility is misleading: if I want a phone that doesn't get scratched, surely I'd prefer it be made out of glass rather than plastic? since one is much harder than the other. So, of the two, which is the more fragile? Answer: it depends what you're worried about.
True. But what's better, a phone with a plastic outside and a gorrila glass screen that might scratch on the back but the screen won't scratch and the phone won't shatter if you accidentally hit it with a baseball bar across a paves parking lot? Or a phone with a rigid metal exterior covered in gorrila glass that won't scratch but shatters if you drop it from waist height?
Apple does offer this service, essentially. The $99 AppleCare+ offering will replace the phone or repair it (for $49/incident) within two years of purchase.
Key your ZIP code into iCracked’s desktop or mobile site, and you’ll hear back within minutes from one of 310 “iTechs” around the world who will schedule a repair visit, usually for around $100. (The exact charges are up to the technicians, who are self-employed and pay iCracked only for parts.) If there’s no iTech in your region, you can order a DIY iPhone screen replacement kit from iCracked for $65 to $75.
So this is more like a 1-800-dentists, where they connect iPhone users with iPhone repair businesses.
I successfully did the same for my wife, but I have some gripes about it:
1) The instructions were not complete! It only walked me through disassembly and attaching the new screen. I had to walk backwards through the instructions to get the phone assembled, and I felt the instructions left enough ambiguities that I'm surprised her phone doesn't show any side effects.
2) The pictures on the instructions were WAY too small to be of much use. In one case the circle designating where the screw to remove resides was not over the real location.
3) The instructions implied that the manual was magnetic for holding screws - it was plain printer paper.
Overall I got the job done cheaper (and faster) with iCracked than sending it away, but I'd like to see my gripes addressed before doing it again. This was for the 4s if anyone cares.
When I called iCracked about the same thing, they (very honestly) told me iPhone 5 screens are uber expensive and they currently cost more than it would to get a replacement iPhone 5 from Apple, which is currently $229. The way the markets work though, iCracked said they will be swapping those screens out at half the price pretty soon. I'm assuming it's the in-cell technology in the new screens that makes them so expensive.
AJ Forsythe explains that in the story: "That was a function of being in college. It was an underhand toss to a roommate—‘Hey, the phone’s for you’—and the ceiling fan intercepted it."
I find this stunning, especially the second part. With rates like that I'm kind of surprised that Apple doesn't offer this service at a premium.
I wonder how they gathered the data for this, and how they define "break". (Aside: I remember reading somewhere that the most frequent usage of "it turns out" is for presenting outrageous statistics that have no data behind them).