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Crack in iPhone, want to bring in for service, but jailbroken/unlocked

K

kloan

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 3, 2005
144
0
I have a Canadian bought iPhone that I'm taking down with me to California. I've already successfully applied AppleCare to it since I have an American address.

I recently discovered a crack between the silent switch and chrome bezel. I was thinking it's good I managed to get AppleCare before my warranty expired... but then remembered it's jailbroken and unlocked.

Can I restore it to get rid of the jailbreak, without affecting the unlock? Because it's originally from Rogers, so if I were to re-lock it, they're going to ask me questions I can't answer without voiding my warranty.

Looking for suggestions...
 
If you restore your iPhone to its original factory settings through iTunes, you should be okay. As for the damage to the screen, if they find an impact point, then it is user damage and they will tell you it will be something along the lines of $299.00 USD to repair it. Other than that, if they cant find an impact point, then they will just replace it for you. This has just been my experience, and as always, we are not Apple techs. Take it with a grain of salt.
 
Oh, it wasn't dropped... this is one of those stupid cracks that so many people seem to be getting.

If I restore it, then it'll be locked to Rogers again. My only concern is if they're going to ask me why there's no SIM card in it... or if they might put on in it, or... I dunno.... trying to cover my bases here, since I know they can sometimes be a pain to deal with.

Maybe if I can just uninstall everything extra and hide the Cydia icon... I know they do a wipe when they swap iPhones.. so they wouldn't see that it's jailbroken.
 
Applejuiced said:
They might ask for your AT&T phone number to verify the account.
Im not 100% though that they always do.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I could pick up a pay as you go account and stick the SIM in.... but it would have to be unlocked to do that.
 
jmann said:
They will know. You need to do a restore, and borrow an AT&T or Rodgers sim card in it. Or no servicing.
Click to expand...

It'd have to be unlocked though to use the AT&T SIM.. and if I were to use a Rogers SIM, they'd know it's a Canadian iPhone, which they would not service.. does restoring it re-lock the phone?
 
If you are savvy enough you could purchase a new screen online and attempt the repair yourself. As I said above, even if everything was normal ie not jailbroken, and it had a SIM, it is not an American device, and it would have to be repaired in the country of purchase. This means making a trip up to Canada, or mailing it into Apple's Canadian Service Center. If you have the money and are really enjoying your current phone, then a repair might be an option, but again it is expensive. You could always just buy another phone, or wait until you are eligible for a new phone, and get it then. Some of my friends cracked their screen, and they dealt with it for like a month until they could get a new subsidized phone.
 
kloan said:
I have a Canadian bought iPhone that I'm taking down with me to California. I've already successfully applied AppleCare to it since I have an American address.
Click to expand...

Wait a minute, you bought your iPhone in Canada, but you bought Apple Care for it in the States??? hmmmm....

Try going here (https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do) and enter your serial number, and pick USA for country, maybe they have your phone listed in their system as eligible for service in the States, in which case you can make a genius appointment, restore your iPhone to factory state, and take it in with any ATT SIM.
 
Ok, let me clarify:

The screen is not cracked, the plastic is. In between the silent switch and the chrome bezel.

It is a Canadian iPhone. They don't offer AppleCare in Canada, don't ask me why because I haven't a clue and they've offered ZERO explanation.

So as an experiment, I entered my serial, selected US, and it said my warranty was going to expire. It didn't say anything about it being a Canadian iPhone.

So, I bought AppleCare and applied it online, using my American address in California. I got the email confirming I did indeed have AppleCare.

My dilemma is that in order to have it serviced, it needs to be an American iPhone, or at least they need to believe it is.

The only way I can see that happening is by keeping it unlocked, hiding the Cydia icon, and using an AT&T SIM card.

The other option is to keep it as a Rogers/Canadian iPhone, and tell them a Genius recommended I get AppleCare when I moved to the US and that I'm still using Rogers as my carrier, incurring crazy roaming fees. Chances are, they'd deny me service on the spot because it's not an American iPhone.

Or I can do a full restore and activate it, but not put any SIM card in it at all and just make up a story that I lost my SIM card, or it's in another phone, etc.

OR -> I can live with the crack, lose the $ on the AppleCare and eventually replace the housing myself... the red ones on eBay look kinda slick. Or sell it on eBay and buy a new 3GS and use AT&T.
 
If it's really a situation where you've moved from Canada to America, they might be understanding. You can tell them that you're going to start service with AT&T, but are currently roaming on Rogers.
If you live far away from an Apple store, I suggest you call them before actually going to one. If it's not a major journey, you might as well just go in person.

Good luck.

kloan said:
Ok, let me clarify:

The screen is not cracked, the plastic is. In between the silent switch and the chrome bezel.

It is a Canadian iPhone. They don't offer AppleCare in Canada, don't ask me why because I haven't a clue and they've offered ZERO explanation.

So as an experiment, I entered my serial, selected US, and it said my warranty was going to expire. It didn't say anything about it being a Canadian iPhone.

So, I bought AppleCare and applied it online, using my American address in California. I got the email confirming I did indeed have AppleCare.

My dilemma is that in order to have it serviced, it needs to be an American iPhone, or at least they need to believe it is.

The only way I can see that happening is by keeping it unlocked, hiding the Cydia icon, and using an AT&T SIM card.

The other option is to keep it as a Rogers/Canadian iPhone, and tell them a Genius recommended I get AppleCare when I moved to the US and that I'm still using Rogers as my carrier, incurring crazy roaming fees. Chances are, they'd deny me service on the spot because it's not an American iPhone.

Or I can do a full restore and activate it, but not put any SIM card in it at all and just make up a story that I lost my SIM card, or it's in another phone, etc.

OR -> I can live with the crack, lose the $ on the AppleCare and eventually replace the housing myself... the red ones on eBay look kinda slick. Or sell it on eBay and buy a new 3GS and use AT&T.
Click to expand...
 
Actually, calling Apple customer care and requesting a replacement might be the best way to go.. that way, I've already got a replacement sent to me by the time they have this one. I could restore it and send it in.. then I wouldn't have to worry about explaining to a Genius why it's a Rogers phone.

Oh, unless I have to tell them my 'AT&T account' info when calling... I have no idea, I've never called Apple before, I've always gone into the store.
 
Found this Post while google'ing away to activate with out a contract

my situation is almost like yours i got a Iphone 3G off ebay but now the Home Button does not work and the back has a crack in it, so i checked to see if i still had a warranty its going to end this month. so im going to the apple Store to see if i could get it replaced but i never activated the Iphone 3G, since i dont have At&t Contract. so i just rejailbreak with out installing Cydia so now i hope i could get a new iphone 3G.
 
Apple also has the option where they will mail you a new one. Than u return the broken one. They will need a Credit card incase it s not covered by their warranty.
 
For anyone looking to service there iPhone i restored my iPhone 3G with 3.0 and used a friends sim card for activation and went to the apple store and they replaced it for me.
 
I called Apple customer relations, and they didn't care it was unlocked,

I called Apple customer relations, and they didnt care it was unlocked, since it was a manufacturer defect.
 
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