Analyst: Apple iPhone screen problems may get worse

iPhone dead strip display problem - unresponsive screen problem Just when we thought it couldn’t get worse (seriously, we thought it would stay an isolated and rare defect), Nomura International analyst, Richard Windsor released a note to clients indicating that the iPhone’s “dead strip” display problem could become more widespread.

Apple bought the rights to the screen technology used in the iPhone from a Finnish firm. Finnish firm reported that usage led to the same unresponsive display problems after some time. Apparently, 3 to 6 months of “extensive use” would start to degrade the technology and cause a lose of sensitivity to touch-inputs. This suggests that the relatively new iPhone fleet in the US could start to exhibit similar problems with time.

With technologies as advanced as multi-touch, and production volumes as large as they are, hardware faults could very reasonably start to crop up.

We’ll keep a close eye on this problem for you guys, but should you find yourself facing the dreaded “dead strip,” drop us a line and let us know. Seriously, we’d appreciate it.

Update
The iPhone does not use heat chemical deposition technology, nor does it detect inputs based on heat.

[Via: The Inquirer]

About The Author

Will Park

Will hails from The City of Angels - Los Angeles, California. He spends his time playing with his numerous gadgets and looking forward to seeing what future holds for mobile technology. An avid promoter of a fully "digital" life, he promotes the widespread adoption of truly mobile, paper-less living. He dreams of the day when he can go completely digital. No more snail mail, paper receipts, bound books, notepads/spiral notebooks, credit cards, hard currency. He's a digital warrior - fighting for the converged life. He is an idealist and a realist - he has a perfect view of what the world should be but knows that the world is not perfect. Can we ever hope to see Will's dream become reality? We'll see...

Viipottaja

Wow… a Finnish company.. must have been MyOrigo which had a proto with touch and tilt sensitive UI a couple of years ago, as well as heptic (?) feedback used by e.g. Moto in the new Razr2.

Heh, wouldn’t be ironic if the mighty iPhone became a flop because of this? Let’s wait and see what happens.
Will Park

It would really be a shame if a significant portion of the iPhone fleet starting showing these problems. I’m crossing my fingers for my own iPhone.
NPK

iPhone’s touch interface is capacitive, not thermal. Use a leather object or certain types of rubber and it will work, just like a finger. I still wouldn’t buy one though.
spencer

my iphone is doing this
Will Park

Sorry to hear that

When did this start happening? What part of the screen is affected?
Jojo

The bottom 2-3 rows of my iphone are acting up right now. The problem seems to happen on and off. Started this past Friday and now I can’t access the Back/Forward buttons in the browser or the Space bar when typing.
Will Park

Take it into an Apple Store right away. I hope they replace it for you. Good Luck!
Chris

A few days ago my touchscreen would not pick up any of my input. A reset and a restore wouldn’t fix the problem, nor any other fix. I could only send it to Apple for replacement. I hope this isn’t a start of further issues.
D520

This doesn’t sound too good for Apple, if this problem is widespread, they could face a class-action lawsuit.
someguy

WOW, i am not buying a phone if its easy to break the buttons off. Why don’t they make a phone you can talk to and it calls someone like without having to push buttons.
Kent Christian

Hello

I am having this problem fro the utube to wather buttons.

I wnt to Apple today and they want to charge me 30 dollars for a rental phone. I took my phone and left

Kent
Anthony

One of my school friends just went through the “Dead Strip.” He brought it to the apple store and they replaced it for him on th spot.
Bruiser

I’m the type of person that didn’t want people to see my iPhone freeze the slightest bit because I am such an Apple mark.

However, I just shipped my iPhone because the touch screen went completely unresponsive! Not just a strip at the article suggests. I couldn’t even unlock or shutdown the phone!

I want to puke, because I scoffed at everyone that told me to wait to buy one until all the bugs were worked out. I hope the repair will last longer than the original.
jt

This happened to me last night. I took it out of my pocket, tried to click the “phone” button on the bottom, nothing. I’ve had my iPhone for about a month.

Here’s what is really strange: I can use slide to unlock, which covers the same area on the screen that lets me push other buttons that are now “dead.” That made me think this was a software problem.

I’m off to the Apple store for a temp fix.
atlanta

I am heading to the store tm.
the bottom 1/2 inch of the touch screen is not working, which is the space bar on e-mail and any entry.
Funny thing is the back button works on the broswer.
I will let everyone know how they handle it.
John

Fellow Iphone fans or owners, I recently experienced a cracked screen after a drop from a distance of less than a foot. I called apple and they wanted to charge me $300 for repairs. Talked to a supervisor and they are fixing it for free. Dont take no for an answer talk to supervisors and dont pay any money to get your phone fixed, the videos from pcworld mag on youtube are fake. The iphone is not a resistant phone!!
Jason

Last night all of the sudden I went to use my phone and the top half of the screen wouldn’t repond?! At first I thought if I just restarted the phone things would be better…well definetly not. I am going to take it into Apple today and hopefully they will fix it. Any ideas on how to make sure they do without paying a massive fee? Thanks!
Will Park

Tell them that you know that this is a known issue. You want a replacement, and you would like a loaner. If they hassle you about a fee for the loaner, ask to talk to the manager. But, be cordial.

Good luck!
gramslam420

Same thing happened to me today i pull out my iphone today and south beach and only my bottom row wont work
but i can unlock on the lower row something is really wrong with these things
robertr2112

My iPhone just started doing this over the weekend. I took it into the apple store and they wouldn’t even look at it until Thursday (two days later) unless I paid for the upgraded service plan. I just walked out. This is going to get really ugly for Apple and AT&T, guranteed.
tyler lavite

my iphone has the dead strip now i noticed it 2 days ago. the top row of keys do not respond. i have not taken it to apple yet. the people at my apple store tend to be dick heads about stuff like this.
Clifford Tillman

Mine just started doing this over the weekend. Started with the dead strip and is now the whole phone. I do a lot of traveling and depend on my phone for a lot. Not being able to make any calls has cost me REAL money. This is quite frustrating. I called apple to find out what to do and spoke to “Travis”. He said that he can’t guarantee that the store will give me a free replacement but that he could give me one that will be here tomorrow morning. I’m going to try the apple store in a few minutes and see if they can replace mine for free. I’ve always been a PC guy and this is my first venture into the Apple world…hasn’t been a good experience…I may be switching to the Nokia N95..
Clifford Tillman

So I make an appointment with the Apple store for 7:45 to have my iphone swapped out because of the deadstrip. They said they had an iphone they could swap out with me. I drive the 35 minutes across town to the Apple store and ….here’s how it went…
Me: I’ve got the deadstrip problem and I called earlier and you guys said you had an iphone you would swap out with me.
Genius: Not a problem sir. I’m really sorry about this.
Me: Here’s my iphone.
Genius: Oooohhhhh…you have a 4 GB iphone.
Me: Yeah…and….
Genius: We don’t have any 4 GB iphones…
Me: You’ve got to be kidding me.
Genius: I’m sorry sir, I can order you one that will arrive in 2 to 3 days.
Me: Travis (see above comment) from apple said he could have one here tomorrow morning and they can’t get one to yall for 2 to 3 days?
Genius: I’m sorry sir.

I turned around and walked out. I’m now on hold with another guy from apple who is now GIVING ME A HARD TIME about replacing the phone. I STRONGLY suggest NOT getting an iphone. :evil:

I MISS MY CINGULAR 8125!!!!!
Melissa

All these complaints are making me reconsider about getting the iPod Touch when its released. Should i?? Argh
Clifford Tillman

I just got my replacement iphone today…I’m figuring the reason they aren’t making any new 4GB iphones is because they probably have the issue with the touch screen whereas the 8GB phones have all been fixed. It’s probably ok to go ahead and get the new ipod. I’m betting they’ve got the technology fixed by now.
Dave

I am having this problem as of last night. The top row of buttons do not work on any screen (which caused me a great disturbance when flying yesterday when I could not get the phone into airplane mode for a flight!)

This sucks!
Mike

This morning I awoke to try the Weather button and it did not respond, nor did the entire row of buttons, YouTube, Stocks and Maps. I noticed in the apps that I could open that the same area was non responsive. My IT guy sent me the link to your dead strip story which is exactly my problem. I just made an appointment to meet with a Mac genius at lunch. Wish me luck!
Will Park

Interesting, was your touchscreen fully functional before you went to sleep? It’s strange that the touchscreen would just cease to function overnight.

Either way, Good Luck!
Mike

It was working fine but I am a heavy user of my phone and functions. Must have just worn it out?
Gary

I have just started having the same dread strip issues. The same area of the screen works in some applications and not in others. May be a software issue after all
Clifford Tillman

call apple…it will only get worse. They’re very good about replacing the phone and giving you a spare while they repair yours.
Mike

They replaced mine at the Apple Store with no questions. Actually the only question they asked me was if I had gotten it wet, which I hadn’t. Make sure to back up your info to your hard drive so you can reinstall after you get the new one because they don’t do that for you. You also get the remaining warranty time on the new one, not another full year. Good luck!
krystle

the bottom row of my i phone is not working, such as the phone, mail, safari, and i pod icons. though when i start the phone i can use the slider with no problem?
Dorian

Just lost the botton two rows of touch sensitivity. Come to think of it I have noticed over the past two days have to touch the bottom icons twice or three times for action.

What a pain in the a*s!!!!!!
Jeff

I woke this morning to find the bottom strip (phone, mail, safari, ipod) non-responsive, even though it worked fine last night. Funny that the unlock slider still works. I’m heading to the Apple Store later this afternoon. Very disappointing…
Paul

The top row is unresponsive for me now. I cannot get back to the text message menu or change the date display in the calendar or get back to the main message windows in email. I have an appt with the apple store tonight. Wish me luck.
Mike

Good luck Paul. They have been pretty good at replacing the phones so far.
RC

I bought my iphone on the launch date. I have no hacks and my touch screen Died early this morning while tryng to do a google maps search! Between the lack of simple features like cut and paste and search, I am sooo disenchanted with this product up to this point.
Will Park

Sorry to hear that. Take it into Apple and let them know how disappointed you are with the device. Hopefully the Apple Store techs will be able to redeem themselves and the iPhone with great service (ask to have your iPhone swapped out for a new one).

Good luck!
RC

Thanks WillPark,
You are correct Apple is very proactive at the store and the GENIUS BAR immediatly resolved the issued for me by swapping me out with a new phone. They have again redeemed themselves! Now I wish that they would allow the device to cut and paste and search, then I guess the only other gripe I have would be the spotty coverage with the AT&T network,which is not apple’s fault!

Thanks!
Will Park

Glad to hear everything worked out for you!

The dead strip problem seems like a pretty serious issue right now, and it makes sense for Apple make good on the iPhone. Apple’s always had tremendous customer service, which is why I would suggest that everyone just take their dead-strip, un-responsive iPhone into an Apple Store ASAP.
Thomas

So for all you guys who’s screen have had the deadstrip is this a problem limited to the 4GB model or is it also including the 8GB models too. I want one but Im gona wait until the 2nd generation comes out and see whats going to happen with that one.
lauren

my back buttons and upper rows dont work Going into apple tomorrow…
david

Dead strip is a great way to describe it – mine is about a 3mm high swath across what would be just below center of the display. It is active and works fine as long as what you need to touch isn’t inside this area.
Derek

Going to the store this weekend. Dead area somehwere in the middle of the screen. Had the iphone since early September, never been dropped.
matt

my bottom row of iphone buttons stopped working today. I took it to the apple store and they replaced it. I feel the warranty expiration breathing down my neck. Hope this one will last.
Brandon

Nov 12th, just lost my bottom row last night at a concert while trying to take a photo… restarting the phone allows me to access the top applications, but being as the “unlock slider” is at the bottom, once the phone locks up I’m screwed again and have to restart. Can’t make calls either of course.
Brandon

My “bottom bar dead zone” has led to some creative workarounds while I wait for a GeniusBar appointment: if you need to make a call, you’ve got one option that I can see.

First, go into settings and under your General Settings, set the phone to NEVER lock itself automatically. This’ll save you from having to restart the phone every time you want to call.

Then, open up the an SMS of someone you’d like to call, then scroll up on the SMS list to the alternate call button at the top. If you don’t have that person on the list of previous SMS threads, then you’ve gotta send that person a text FIRST, and then open that SMS thread up to call. Keep in mind that when you’re entering in the person’s name, you can’t misspell it or else you have to go back to start since you’ve also lost your “delete” button functionality, hehe.

Make your call as usual. When the call is over, be sure not to have any private conversations for a sec, because that you can’t actually hangup from your end (because the end conversation button is at the… bottom).

Hope this helps some desperate folks out there while waiting for Apple to help them.
Mike Frank

Three to six months of extensive use? That’s BULLSHIT. I got my brand-new iPhone out of the box THREE DAYS ago, and I’m already having the dead-strip problem. This sucks. Hopefully the warranty will cover a replacement.
Christian zachariassen

Hi There

Well, back here in Norway i have the same iphone touch
problem, it startet 3 weeks ago ( 2 month old iphone )
first my camera didnt work, then my headphone mic didnt work and now my screen wont reply, i can restart the phone 3-4 times and it work for 1/2 hour, but then it starts again.. and its the hole sceen surface.
Since i`m in Norway and the phone hasn`t arrived here yet, i cant do anything about it.. I bought it in New York..

I hopet mabye some great Mac supporters from US could help me out ?
Mabye i can send it to you and take it from there ?
i pay for the inconvenience !

Regards
zachariassen@mac.com
test case

Yeah same dead bottom half here. Made a call, 10 min later- tried to make another and could not “slide to unlock” Ran to the apple store in SF and they swapped it out ASAP no questions asked.

I may just unload this thing now- cannot have that happen again. Going back to Sony Erricsson…. Booooooooo apple!!
Thomas

My iPhone has the same problem. Suddenly cannot unlock it because it isn’t sensitive any longer..

It happened after 1 month. I bought it in US but lives in Denmark, I hope there’s still some warranty!
Brian Salo

I haven’t had the problem yet since I just got my phone two weeks ago. Although I live in Canada and have unlocked my phone for Rogers… I know I’ll have to do a factory restore to make it look fine but since I bought it through a reseller, will I have to get them to return it or could I just roll into a Seattle Apple store and they’ll just hand me a new one?

and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Ross

i have had my iphone for a couple months now and out today, out of nowhere, the top three quarters of my screen does not work. i tried it all, rebooting by holding both buttons, restoring phone to factory defaults, cleaning screen, nothing works. This is my fourth iphone (the first three all had internal problems) so im not suprised that something else broke.
Matty

Hey just realised today that mine 2 has a 2 dead strips 1 at the top just inbetween the words on the first line and the second row of icons and the entire row where settings atd calculator is. The major problem is that i have purchesed this phone from the us to the uk so what do i do? any help would be appreciated. email at dewhurst2007@hotmail.co.uk thanks.
usvi4me

Yep, mine died today. The strip with the clock, calculator notes and settings completely stopped working. Returned to Apple today and tech support will send a replacement.
briefer

Mine did two days ago. The bottom row doesn’t work. And as I live in Spain, I will have to wait until I go to EEUU again so they replace it. Damn.
MONESH

my screen just died today. the middle of it has a dead zone! F***! THIS SUCKS. IPNONE IS JUNK.
Brian Williams

Yep me too … 5 weeks after buying it ..bottom couple of lines no longer works …great .. hate it anyway !
Steve

I bought mine in the beginning of July and this morning I noticed that the entire bottom row (not just the main menu but all screens) is completely non-responsive, and this is without warning! (no gradual loss of sensitivity, went straight from “works” to “doesn’t work”)

As others have noted, strangely, I can however slide to open the phone, although it is noticeably less sensitive.

I just bought one for my girlfriend for christmas and now I’m a bit weary

I’m heading to the apple store right after work.
Miller man15

my iphone’s bottom half inch of the screen wont work at all! it started jumping around before it stopped. for example when i touch a picture at the top, it jumps to a picture way down at the bottom. im going to my local iphone dealer now to get my phone working again!
angrynewyorker

my screen doesnt respond in its bottom part wich is phone , safari ,ipod also to unlock or to answer a call so basically its seems to be trash what shold i do ?
briefer

I have two strips dead now. Definitely I will have to take the phne to apple, for a replacement.
Will Park

Did the dead strips develop simultaneously?

The Apple Store should take care of that, no problem. Good luck!
James

Top row on my iphone just went dead. I can’t type a url into safari, I’ll be taking the phone to apple tomorrow!
robert c

the weird thing for me is that just when I think this is happening to me, i turn the phone on and off and it’s fixed. i have also noticed that if the screen is wet or my fingers are wet, the touchscreen starts to be more unresponsive. I believe this is more of a software issue, then again it could be a hardware issue for some. I feel like I’m pretty lucky really – I bought my phone week two of release and have had NO major issues. I even discovered my phone was among ones with dimmly lit and spotty screens, but my screen is perfect. Luck of the draw I guess….
Greg

I have an iphone and it now has a deadstrip on the lower portion of the phone that is used to access my preferences and texting it is on the send button so I cant send texts etc… Very frustrating for such a cool product. I am also in Canada so Im double screwed. Its very annoying and although a huge apple fan I cant stand technology that does not work as it should.
Cameron

Just got that dead strip problem too and I am pretty darn pissed. I bought it at ATT store so I am going to take it their first and if they dont do sh1t i will take it to apple. BLAH
Bill

Just got the dead strip problem across the bottom – Apple wants $29 to send me a new phone.
Stevo

Well I have an issue with the touchscreen but it’s with burnt pixels. Across the top of my iPhone it is starting to “gray out” which tells me the pixels are burning out. It is gradually getting worse. I’ll take it back to the place I bought it and see if they will replace it. Apparently it “is” a known issue with a select few. And if they don’t give a new phone I will slam it on the ground and smash it into little peices, then go get a Nokia 95.
pchome

I have an 8 GB Iphone. Two months old. The “0″ buton on the dial pad and “i” on the safari will not work. The complete row with i on safari stops working sometimes. Not sure if apple will replace the unit. I have heard from someone that apple will replace only within 30 days. After 30 days of time frame they want to have a AT&T activation record to honour the warranty.

Any comments wil are welcome. not sure how to send that to apple. I am in Canada using the phone with Rogers (not the hardware unlock rather anysim unlocked) that can be virginized again.

Thanks
jared

I am on my iPhone right now and I am pissed. Just as a few days ago I started having problems with the tough screen in the middle. Now I can’t text and scrolling stops in the middle. I see the send button fine but when I press It all it does is add a p or o to the line. All I did is mods but looks like I’m gonna reset it to factory specs and take it back cause I am a little mad since I bought it for 600$ in July. I’m bout to give them a piece of my mind today.
jared

so the ATT store couldnt do anything at all. but they had me call in a number 1800-myiphone and they have a computer do a few trouble shooting steps. so i just said i did them and got to a person. told him the problem and told him ive already done a restore and then i began the repair process. 5 minutes and since i am getting a loaner iphone i had to give a credit card #. 30$ for the loaner and they hold the price of 400 on your account. i just recieved the loaner in less than 24 hours and now im sending mine in to get fixed or replaced. told it takes around 5 days. will tell more later.
Gustavo

So i just bought my iphone two days ago… unlocked it and yesterday… bang! the bottom part of my iphone stopped working… can I take it back to the store? or would they find out its been tampered with? I can’t access the settings or uninstall application to undo the unlock… what should I do?
JoePUNK

This morning, I was unable to access my bottom row of the keyboard as well as my “Call” button. Needless to say, I PANICed.. Google’ed around, found this page. Read through your comments and it built my confidence that things would turn out OK.
Made my appointment, went in to the apple store at woodfield mall in illinois. What an experience. Made me proud to be a ‘mac guy’.
No questions asked, I had the 4GB version and they replaced it on the spot. Took about an hour, but it was a fun experience, and very informative.
Mike

I don’t know about those who have hacked the phone to use another carrier (which is a big overhaul of the firmware). I had a hacked iphone, (hacked 1.1.2, NOT anysim’ed, just hacked for apps and ssh/rails/apache..etc

AS LONG AS YOU DO A FULL RESTORE (meaning, brick it first so iTunes will fully reinstall it. I noticed that the first time I tried to restore it, some settings (such as the fake carrier name, and the battery meter mod) were still there! Oh NO, the mac genius is sure to see that! But low and behold, after bricking it accidentally while trying to get rid of the fakecarrier and battery meter mod, iTunes said it would have to reinstall.. I did so, and viola, no fake carrier text and no other “evidence” … to show I was a bad boy.
zack

my phone is doing this…
greg

If you have a dead strip in the middle and cant send texts or use your key pad you can hit return 3 times while typing your text message this will lower the send button past the dead area so you can send texts. As well if you go to ad new contacts to your phone you will be able to dial that number after you add the new contact getting around the dead strip area. these are not fixes but “ways around” the dead strip for people who have it in the middle of the phone and cant return it like me because I am in Canada and had it unlocked on the rogers network.
Emma

mine doesn’t have a ‘dead strip’ but the touch screen stops working a lot and the whole phone freezes at least once a day.

i had a different SIM in it and it was working fine for a month but now its been totally blocked.

i wish i hadnt bought this phone!
martin

i bought my iphone on ebay and unlocked it when i thought it was safe and upgraded it when it was safe and everything was fine till one day i catch my youngest daugter with it (1 year old) who has an uncanny knack of sucking the life (literally) out of mobile phones i quickly took it off of her only to find a section of the screen not working i cursed apple for not making it dribble proof my dead strip is around 2 cm up from the bottom which is a real crap place for it to be and i cant take it back due to unlocking it if anyone has any ideas please mail me info@newlife-furniture.com cheers

martin
metell

I have the same problem. the lower strip where the phone, mail, safari, ipod icons are is dead. wfunny thing is slide to unlock works fine.
I am not sure how I can fix this… Can anyone help please I am in Australia and there is no apple store here for me to take it to. Any help will be much appreciated. mail me at metell@gmail.com
SaRoNa

Me 2 :~~( the last row in my iphone keyboard is not working
billybob

my bottom row of buttons is unresponsive. iPhone ‘unlock’ won’t work because the slider will not move. Can’t use phone, mail, web or ipod. bleh.

going into the applestore today.
metell

I am getting a mate to take the phone with him to an apple store, What do I need to do to make sure its verginised.
billybob

Apple replaced my phone on the spot. yay!
Cooper

This is really, really, f(*&ing bad. I am in Malaysia on business and the godflipedfukshitbagfhad, dammit!, iPhone did that crap. I am surely screwed. Thanks Apple and AT&T. I am breaching my contract.
dave

I purchased my iPhone the first days they were available and just today I am experiencing the “dead strip”. I cannot use any of the icons at the bottom of my phone. Even with the new ability to move icons, it won’t allow you to rearrange with the bottom unless you originate the move from there. I cannot make phone calls or check messages!!!!
Chandler

Bought my iPhone in September (post-price drop), and this started happening to me last week.

Took my phone to the Genius Bar, and they swapped it out for a brand new one, no questions asked.
andrew

Had my phone since launch date.

In Louisiana we don’t have an apple store. I’m screwed?.

The row above the dock is dead.

What can I do?
Cooper

I called the 800 number on apple.com and they sent out a loaner via FedEx(to my office in the states). They tried to get me to pay for the shipping and some other charge. I went nuts and they caved. They said I would have mine fixed then sent back to me. AT&T better not charge me the usual swap fee twice. I should have waited until my return to the states and gone to the store for a swap. Its too much hassle to keep switching them out.
Ken M.

My dock strip went dead a couple days ago. Fortunately, I had the same experience as Chandler, above: brought it to an Apple Store and the geniuses gave me a new one, free of charge. Not a loaner, a replacement. Best part is iTunes must back up the iPhone whenever you sync up, so I didn’t lose a thing. All my notes, settings, everything was restored the next time I connected to iTunes. Once again, Apple’s customer support proved to be stellar.
Dax

Hey guys i have had my iphone for a month and i have the dead strip on the two top row icons and iv restarted it recovered it and nothing will work I’m mad im going to the apple store to get replaced for FREE
John Lewin

Yo …

New technologies always have bugs … dont be a first adapter and then complain; you should have expected this. The question is how the company deals with them.

I’ve had plenty of problems with Apple, but a moment ago I walked into the apple store and pointed out my dead screen. Within 20 minutes I was walking out of the store with a new phone free of charge. No down time, and all my contacts were restored instantly.

Unless you live far from an Apple store, in the unlikely event this happens, its not much of an issue. Hats off to apple for solid customer support.
brad

My 4GB iphone had a dead strip appear last week (after 6 months of use) I sent it in for repair and just got an email back from Apple saying that the issue was the result of accidental damage or misuse. GRRRRRR. I take good care of this phone. Can I contest this. If so how?
Leonard

I had a dream to won the iPhone. And one day I got it! The dream comes true! As you say iPhone is only for AT&T service. But what if a country doesn’t have any?? I bought from a guy who bought it from a store in Singapore and it was jailbroken. I was really surprise to see the iPhone work with other GSM operator! But soon (with in 2 week) my dream fall apart. My top lower portion of screen stopped responding touch. Well, what choice do I have now? 1 of my friend lives in NY and I’M planning to send the phone to him to fix or replace. I don’t have any Cash memo from apple store nor do I have an AT&T connection. How my friend in NY can help me on this and send it back to me.??
Please Help!

Leo
from Bangladesh
deruk

my bottom half of my screen is dead, this sux! thank god i bough t the apple care for it.
Finn

ipod touch straight out of the box and screen freezes repeatedly.
stefan

my iphone (8gb) has the dead strip (at the very bottom) so i can’t press space when sending an sms or email. I updated to 1.1.4 but it wasn’t helping!
still the same problem. I am from Europe and got my iPhone from US! I don’t get support here for the “US” iphone! Apple Stores tell me that there is no contract -> this really sucks! if anyone has an idea please let me know! the
iphone is the only product from Apple which is NOT having Worldwide Support. This is what they (Apple) told me!
Keith

I am experiencing problems with my iphone seven months after purchasing it. The bottom part of the touch screen stopped working and when i turn it on the screen goes crazy jumping from internet to mail to text to phone to itunes. I can’t do anything with it so I will attempt to restore the itouch through itunes and if that doesn’t work I will take it in to Apple to get it repaired.
Peter

Hi, my iPhone was bought in September 2007 and shows the same problem. The dead-strip is in the middle of the display. Very annoying.
Kleveland

My Iphone just got the The dead-strip. This is a great phone, but it doesnt work with the The dead-strip.
JORGE

My I`Ph(uck)one get the dead strip yesterday. it takes 7 mm high and the whole width of the vertical screen.
I really care my iphone, hard cover, protective film and all that expensive stuff, but its broken anyway, six hundreds dollars with the accesories, bought in the new york apple store. I live in argentina, and did all the resets available. doesnt work.
izzy z

my screen stopped working! out of no where nothing works i can use it at all , i can turn the screen on and thats it?!?!
David

My iPhone started to do this recently. It’s been 9 months since I started to use it. Apparently you can edit the sensitivity in the general.plist file. It worked, but hen when I upgraded to 1.1.4, the screen is totally unresponsive even when I put the sensitivity to the maximum.
Tina

what kind of problems?
Dennis Claessens

Hi,

I am from Holland and got myself an iphone 8gb (v1.14). Now I have my iphone for only one month, and suddely the bottom of the screen doesn’t respond anymore… I thought it had to do something with the bodygiardz that I applied because it happend on the same moment, but now I read that more people have this problem.

What can I do? The iphone isn’t for sale in holland yet… and besides, i have a sim-unlocked and jailbraked one…

Some tips would be appreciated!
dennis@photo74.com
Will Park

My only suggestion would be to restore the device back to normal and try to take it to an Apple Store in Germany…

Hope that helps
Raidium

See? This proves it! IPhones SUCK! But seriously, sorry everyone that you have to go through all this bullsh!t. Noone should be without their mobile phones. I know my life would shatter without a phone! If I loose mine for even a few minutes, I freak out so I can’t imagine the trouble you guys are going through. I’m a fan of HTC devices myself so I wouldn’t be caught dead with an Iphone.
edwin

hi guys,

i have 8gb iphone and i bought it feb 29. my iphone is unlocked. i’m using my iphone for almost 40days. i just put my iphone on the charger at the same time playing music, then my music suddenly stop and the screen become blurred. so i’ll try to reset but unfortunately the screen only blinking with the apple logo. after a few minutes the screen shows red dot line, what should be the problem of my iphone?
Sam

Hey,
So my iPhone has just received the dreaded dead strip… and it has occurred in possibly the worst location. I can no longer bring up my keyboard to text, and when it comes to entering URL’s into safari i can’t enter the period for .com or .org or so on, it’s possibly my worst nightmare, i can’t access websites and i can’t text people! i have done soft resets restore but with backup and even restore and set to new phone but to no avail. I went to an apple store tonight to try and replace or fix it but they were to busy… when i called into apple care they were just like “uhhhhh we can’t help…” so im prety much royally fucked…
LunarLion

My IPhone just did the same thing. Near the bottom of the screen the touch feature just died. I called apple and they are going to replace the phone for FREE!!! Just call tech support.
Alexander

Is this also the case for 16GB iPhones?
Tehmaas

Hi, I bought iPhone 4 GB last august, n just recently the bottom part have is dead, no more working. Please tell me is there any solution to it . ?

Regards
Baig
Troy

Just got the deadstrip on the bottom of the screen. Unlock still works, but the space bar on the screen keyboard won’t work, or the other buttons on the bottom.
Hope my Apple store in Columbia MD can replace it.
Zhenlei

My iPhone just had the same problem, bottom row not responding, can’t launch Phone or Safari or iTunes!!! I thought this has something to do with my unlocking the phone but now I can see it’s more than that. This really sucks.
Don

Nice K.O. for me today.
The phone can not be turned off, no functions at ALL. It happened while I was browsing with Safari..I have all my numbers on the iPhone..so even if i get another phone..i can not have the numbers… I am currently in Europe and i have a very important meeting today..we agreed to have a previous call..i tried to call my number and the phone is turned off.. I really dont know what to do… that is a totally shocking..
(

Now i wait until battery goes down, maybe it will turn off itself and I can turn it on again after charging…but if it does not respond..i have to send it back to the states and replace it…I hope I have most of my numbers synced…

Grrr.
Joe

WOW
this is a really old problem huh..!!
i live in saudi arabia, bought my iPhone from UAE.
went to apple store in my town they said they dont fix it, took it and went to bahrain -its only 50 KM away from where i live- they said we dont fix this problem here (!!!!) .. now i have to send it back to UAE … i had it for less than a month .. i dropped it :/
Ashley

The top half of my phone is dead, so I can’t access settings, texting, photos, calendar, etc…This blows.
jajc

ok ive had my phone sine july 1 and have had no problems last week my whole bottom half of my iphone wont work an the only apple store around me is like 50 miles away i dont feel like driving all that way if there not gonna do anythink do you think they will replace my dead strip phone if my screen is cracked
Troy

Went to the Apple store a week ago and they swapped out my dead-strip phone with a new one, in and out in about 20 minutes. Great service. They did a quick inspection of the condition of the phone, so I would not expect a replacement if your screen is cracked or has other damage.
Elliad

The half bottom screen of my iphone doesn’t work. I hope apple will replace it with a new one. My problem is that i wanna save my sms text to my pc so i can move them back to my new iphone but i dont know how. If you can help I would apreciate it.
Will Park

http://www.intomobile.com/2008/02/21/iphonedrive-becomes-megaphone-allows-users-to-access-edit-and-create-notes.html
Sunil

Hi All,

I bought the Iphone before 3 month, Bottom 1 inch is not responding, Great thing is after lock , I am able to unlock that where as after that “Phone”,”Mail”,”IPod”,”Safari” is not responding . Similarly its not working in other places too.

Please let me know if any body has any solution for that.

Last but not least IPHONE is a junk product I ever bought in my life.
Sunil

Just to add for my last post

1. I reset all setting,Its didn’t work.
2. I reset software by Itune,Still I am facing same problem.
oztradamus

bottom part of my screen died also. Warranty is expired apple says I cant do ISHT about it :[ ….. same thing just happened to a friend. If you own an iphone its just a matter of time before it happens to you!
sietedos72

I’ve just had the bottom strip on my iphone break, and now I can’t open mail, phone, safari & ipod (as like some of these posts). I’ve had it for under a year so am going to take it to apple, with luck they have no iphones in stock and they will give me a 3G as replacement!

oztradamus… the iphone only came out yesterday last year (29th June), how is your warranty out already, it lasts for a year?
michael

yes, mine done the same for about a week now.
1cm strip right in the middle of the screen no longer works.

phone is jailbroken, on a non standard o2 (UK) contract.
can anyone tell me if I virginise the phone, will Apple replace it?
as how am i supposed to know the strip is not working unless i had activated it by jailbreaking?
Ingrid

The bottom half buttons on my iphone just completely stopped working for the last few days. I can’t even unlock the damn thing! I am taking it in today and hopefully they will own up and fix it but I’ve heard some horror stories about service. I’m prepared to be an irate and disgruntled customer who will probably be escorted out of the store for throwing a fit because irresponsible companies won’t stand behind their products!
marlowtech

The Dead Strip just happened to me. Had a jailbroken phone and just restored it to 1.1.4 and Apple arranged a collection to fix it. This was done via apple support in the UK

The dead zone was across 1,2,3 when you have the dial pad as if dialling a number. It just happened out of the blue.

Hope this helps.
James

My iPhone developed a “dead strip” on SOME appplications (texting, stocks, safari) along the top 1/2″ of the display. Called Apple, they set up an appointment for the Apple store, went in, they replaced my phone today, on the spot, I didn’t even ask. Phone is about a year old.
Cooper

Hey, my ipod just started doing this yesterday as well. i thought it was because it mightve gotten a bit wet, but apparently thats not the case. the bottom half inch of my screen doesnt work. occasionally it will like, half work, but i dont know what to do…
sietedos72

Like James I went to the apple store on Saturday… it took about 15 minutes to get a new iphone… the guy checked it out, sprayed some air into it with a high pressure can (not sure that was a good idea but hey!), then swapped it out as it didn’t fix it! Now I have 2.0 + apps and am back in the iphone life!
prashant chainani

Hi,
i am in india and have an 8GB iPhone. I am a huge fan of Apple and love everything that they do. My friends call me Tech Supp whenever they have a problem regarding their apple prods.
Recently i experianced the ‘deadstrip’. Never heard of that word until just now on this blog page. I was on the 1.1.3 firmware. Two days ago my bottom row went dead. I can’t use the spacebar,return or the 123..when i press these, the row on the corresponding top gets pressed!! So depending on where i press the spacebar, the corresponding alphabet on top gets pressed!! This ‘deadstrip’ is only when i use the keyboard. Other stuff works just fine no matter where i press.. I thought it’s a sofware glitch so i updated my firmware to 1.1.4 hoping to iron out the issue but alas!! No such luck..Its not a software issue but a hardware issue and i am so royally screwed cause i live in Mumbai,India and there is no way i can walk into an apple showroom and hope for them to replace my phone..grrrr!!! Whats worse is that soon when people realise that i have an issue with my iphone, they’re gonna laugh their heads of at ‘Tech Support’
;(((
cklongshot

Yup, this happened to me. First it started with no being able to push the number 3 and 6 on the keypad nor could i use any of that area on the iPhone. Then a few days later that area was working just fine. However, now I have a dead strip at the bottom of the iPhone and I can not call anybody because i can not click the phone app. I have a brick in my pocket now.

I Restored my phone and that did not help. All this started with upgrading to the 2.0 software update. I think that is what caused it for me as it has already crashed and forced me to install it again just hours after i upgraded the phone. I bought my 2G 8GB iPhone the day they came out about a year ago.

I went into AT&T to ask them if this is a known issue and they said no. I told them to fix it and they said no. Call 1800-My-iphone and talk to them. I replied and told the jerk that I pay you guys a monthly service and you are not giving me any help. I then told him that if I have to call the number and then I have to mail in my phone to be fixed I would just rather by the 3G iPhone right now. I can not be without a phone so I figure what the hell I will buy the new one, but he said that they did not have any instock and I would have to go to the Apple Store or apple.com and place an order which will take about 21 days to get me a 3G iPhone. I about dumbed in my pants.

Now I will need to go down to the apple store about an hour drive just to talk to someone to get this fixed. Big apple fan thinking apple is becoming more like Windows when it comes to product releases.
Iain Howe

Same thing happened to me after upgrading to 2.0. I have the original iPhone. An area close to the bottom of the screen is now not responding. When choosing Reset All Settings for example there are two buttons that appear – Reset All Settings or Cancel. The area where the Reset All Settings button is located does not work so I cannot choose this option.

Also, after installing 2.0 I find that typing is very frustrating. When using the keyboard, hitting the S key seems to always insert the S and the Z. There is definitely something not working correctly in that area of the screen. VERY annoying.

Does Apple plan to do anything to fix this issue? It is very strange that it only began occuring after the 2.0 upgrade. Is this Apple’s way of trying to get us to buy the new 3G phone?

I hope these issues can be fixed with a software update. C’mon Apple…get with it.
Will Park

I don’t think the update to iPhone 2.0 OS has anything to do with the touchscreen malfunction. It’s probably more of a horrible coincidence. Take the handset to your nearest Apple store. They’ll swap it out ASAP.
Shane

The touch functionality stopped working for me today for the second row of icons from the main screen. The guy at the Apple store did a restore, (back to 2.0) and still no worky. Luckily it was still under warranty and they are replacing it at no cost. This is however technically the second iPhone I’ve had replaced, as the first week I had mine, there was a dead pixel. I believe I read that Apple is willing to replace two. I did also have them replace a pair of earphones. So I technically have only experienced this problem on 2.0.
Sietedos72

To everyone posting to this site who experiences a ‘dead’ area on their iphone screen:

1) This is a hardware fault, no amount of software updates/restores will fix it.

2) If you’re warranty is still valid then take the handset to Apple, they will replace it there and then.

3) If you’re warranty is out of date – go buy an iphone 3g.
Tiffany

I have an iphone 8GB. I got the phone brand new over a year ago. Approximately 4-5 months after buying the phone, the headset hole stops working. Can’t use headphones. I’m ok with that and drudge onward. Few months later the camera starts to malfuction. The camera would turn green and stay green. I found out that if you knock the top of the phone into the palm of your hand, the camera would change back to regular.

I called apple about these issues hoping they could provide support (tell me how to resolve this on my own) or offer to replace it. They said they would replace it and within a day I had a prepaid box to send it back in.

I sent the phone back and 2 days later the new box came in. I was soooo excited. Opened the box, and there was my old iphone. Not a replacement. I turned it on thinking “oh well at least it’s fixed” and low and behold it was NOT FIXED! Instead there was a letter telling me that the issues were my fault and thus voided my warrenty and they were unable to help.

1 month after this the DEAD STRIP started. The bottom keys (phone, messages, safari and ipod) do not work at all. You can touch them all day long, but they will not respond. The unlock stip still works but these keys do not.

Is there anything at all that I can do considering the fact that apple refused to fix the 1st issues????

PLEASE HELP!!!! heathercaylor@msn.com
Andy Heather

I just bought a white 16gb iPhone on the Softbank network in Japan. I don’t know if they rushed this batch to market, but straight out of the box the strip along the bottom row of applications is dead. It’s not someting you can work around. The dead strip is right were most application sign in buttons and message dimiss buttons are located.

It’s a wondrous gadget and I certainly won’t give up on Apple just yet, but I really hope Softbank replace this without an argument.
Erica

The bottom part of my screen stopped working! and my warranty just expired 1 week ago!! They said they won;’t do anythign about it! One week I mean come on!
kim

for of ya’ll who have LOCKED iPhones, that only work on the AT&T service…

1st GEN iPhone USERS, you HAVE to get it BACK TO the USA to get it fixed. all 1st GEN iPhones need to brought back to the states for WARRANTY repairs (i.e. NO costs and replaced for free of hardware issue like dead zones and other stuff like camera)

For all you who’ve UNLOCKED it, pretty much screwed. it already voids the warranty even if you bought it yesterday. you can try to but you guys are now being a$$es for unlocking it in the first place- BUT i can see why you should be able to get it fixed- the dead zone is prevalent in a couple of Batches of iPhones, so yea, it was bound to happen, regardless of unlocking or not.
aakash goenka

the touch screen portion in the 4th row of icons, just above the dock just became unresponsive on my iPhone. It is clearly a manufacturing defect, Apple should replace even after warranty!
charley r

My phone had the dead strip near the bottom when i first bought it, and has been intermittent since then. Weird. Restarting has no effect. My phone has also begun “GHOST TYPING” (i.e. sending “gasddjf;odisjaf” text messages, making calls, opening ipod) while laying on the counter undisturbed.

Avoid this phone- I only hope AT&T will understand and let me go back to my old phone with Verizon.
iphone lover

My iphone is JAILBROKEN with dead zone on the bottom strip. no iphone plan or anything.

Brought to apple store w/ friends sim. They checked the imei and said it wuz under a diff name. I said i dont know, it shouldnt be. so he took it restored it and check it out. Then he just went inside, got a refreb out and replaced it.

if urs is jaibroken. restore to 1.1.4 with the ipsw, and use iliberty and ONLY jailbreak and activate. nothing more.
nicolas

Right after I upgraded to 2.0 I started having the “deadstrip” problems as well. I just bought this phone from a friend (he upgraded to the 3G) and it is out of warranty. I had been holding out for the 3G but couldn’t upgrade because i was under contract. I had just switched to At&t in February because my verizon phone took a crap. Now I’m under contract and can’t get the 3G unless I pay full price. *** Why would I or anyone buy the new phone when they’ve had a multitude of problems with the first one and it’s carrier?!!?!!
iphone lover

LOL the opposite sex thing worked xD
kld

About a week ago I began getting the “strip of death”. I am considering taking it to an apple store but worried they will not help me because the phone is not under warrenty. I am also not the original owner, I bought the phone from a friend about six months ago. I did, however, register the phone to my name through at&t. Does any one know if apple will still exchange my phone, or what I could do to better my chances of getting a working one.
tony

I think it just happened to me it’s wierd the bottem half of my iPhone does not respond to tough but the top half does so now all i can do is turn the phone off and on…is their any fix?
versionx

This just happened to my 1st gen iphone a few days ago. I got mine on launch date so no warranty. Top strip of icons is dead to touch-click but am able to sweep back and forth to the different pages. Same thing happened to my wife’s phone a couple of months ago (hers was under warranty still luckily) and also a friend of mine had the same issue. As mentioned by others, this is definitely a hardware defect. and I understand that they want to avoid the bad press of a recall but this seems very widespread and really should be replaced by Apple even if out of warranty. I will see if I can persuade my Apple store to feel the same way, but first I will do a restore to see if it helps and because I dont want to stand there for an hour while they do one for me at the genius bar as part of the procedure.
Shay Ceasary

I have a growing problem with grey pixels on top left and buttom right. I started with a few dots and it is spreading.

Is there anything to do (Apple do not support iPhones in my neck of the woods)?

Any help will be appriciated.
brother breeze

My 1st generation iPhone began this behavior yesterday at about 2pm. I received a call from a relative and it was working fine. About ten minutes later I attempted to take a picture with it and the bottom row buttons would not respond to my touch. Since that moment I can receive a call — but I can’t actually answer it since the take call button is at the bottom of the screen. I can receive a text message, but I can’t answer the message – again the required buttons are at the bottom. I can’t play my music as my iPod button is also at the bottom of the screen. In the meantime, I have friends, family, and business acquaintances wondering why I dropped off the face of the earth. Yeah . . . I’m pissed.
paris

OK
So i noticed this same behavior last night. buttons at the bottom of the screen didn’t respond correctly, the slide to unlock took 4 or 5 attempts. I purchased my phone just over a year ago.
Today It got much worse. So I did a google search and found a few article’s including this one.
So I called AT&T. After the usual wait and discussion. The gentleman in customer support (who was excellent btw), asked me to confirm my serial number. He then said something to the affect of

–that falls in the range, so even though it is out of warranty, im going to go ahead and replace it.—

He asked which was the closest apple store to me, and then told me to go down there.
So I went down to the Apple store on MIchigan ave in Chicago.
While i was sitting in the store, the phone got worse, bejeweled started moving pieces on its own. Everytime i went to the home screen, it would constantly open the apps on the bottom row.

SO the genius at the store looked it over, saw what it was doing, and then ran a diagnostic. He said that the diagnostic didnt find anything, but that

—-even though it was out of warranty, im going to go ahead and replace it anyway—–

Weird how they both said almost exactly the same thing.

I then asked how many phones a day were coming in with this problem?
he said “a few”.

Just then I noticed a pile of 10 iphones in little white boxes behind him, Just like the box he pulled my new phone out of, and put my broken one in….

The young lady sitting next to me had the same problem as well.

So, that makes 12, at one store in one day.
197 stores in the US = 16,500 iphones a week going bad!?

They seem to know which ones are bad by the serial #’s, so why havent they contacted the owners and replaced them?!!

WHAT DO THEY KNOW AND HOW LONG HAVE THEY KNOWN IT?

it would not surprise me if the same problem pops up in the 3g phones soon……
shayne

I’ve got a couple questions and was wondering if anyone could help me out. I have the new iPhone 3G and have had it for about two months. The first problem is that there a few spots on the screen that stay blue the entire time. And I do not know what that is. Second, the screen of my iPhone (not just the touch-screen, the entire screen, including the non-touch areas on the front surface of the phone) seems to be popping out. I can feel that the left side is sticking out further than the right side. Any ideas as to my predicament?
sietedos72

Reply to Shayne: If there is anything you can learn from reading this page its that you should take it back to Apple. If you bought it two months ago its still under warranty and they will replace it.
Parker

I just bought a 16GB 3G, and I have a ‘dead strip’ that affects the 1,2,3 buttons on the dial
Pedja

Hello ppl.
I have my Iphone3 8GB for 22 days now and I have dead strip. It’s located on bottom of screen. I will go to apple rite now and make appointment for replacement.

My gf have also iphone3g 8GB and after less then one week of usage her silent button broke off!!!! She had her iphone3g replaced with new one. In her case they told her that they will get new phone in 2 days. It took them 2 weeks, and I wryly hope that I won’t have same case like she did…

pc.. I am from Canada/Toronto
Tony UK

I have had my iPhone 3G 16GB for just over two months. I look after the phone very carefully (hard case, protective screen etc…) and it has never been dropped or even handled roughly. However, last night when I went to use the phone the slider would not respond and then the whole screen went black. I couldn’t get any response from the home button or the power button. The phone just seemed dead but I was able to connect to my PC and download my photos and view iTunes.

I took it into the o2 store (equivalent of AT&T in the UK) and they didn’t seemed surprised at all as it appears to be a common fault. The phone will be sent to Apple for repair/replacement which will take at least a week. Until then I am without my appointments, contacts and other applications that I rely on. The store did not have a loan phone available either so I am left using an old Siemens SL55 that I have had laying around for about six years! It still works so why can’t Apple make a phone that works for three months?
Michael Chang

hi my iphone bottom slider lost its sensitivity and the only way i could unlock it is using the very tiny park above the slider. i jailbroke it and unlocked it…if i wanted to bring it to the apple store should i restore it and then bring it in or is this problem unadvoidable
simon

im just havin that problem on 2g … and it sucks – i really thing is not hardware but some virus or somthing, maybe some cydia soft is not so good for our devices and mac canot addmit its a virus
ok i know im just traying to have some laught out of it canot take it to mac casue i bought it illegaly
haw do you thing, do the changin of whole screen would help ? (dont want to put more money in it.. if it does not)
Will Park

Simon, take it into the Apple Store anyway. Chances are they’ll replace it on the spot. I took an out of warranty iPhone 2G into the Apple Store (it wasn’t even mine, I was doing it for a friend) and they replaced it right away.
Roger

I took my i phone to the apple store and told them that the screen was dead and they replaced the phone with no questions asked. mine even had a cracked screen. they said some of the first phones had this problem!
andrew

my bloody iphone has the deadstrip any ideas how to fix?
Israel

Hi there!, my bloody iphone has the deadstrip too, I bougth it about 1 year ago m,this is first generation, if you know how to fix this please post the possible solution. thanks!
Stephanie

I just had my first generation iPhone screen “die” last night. Apparently if you don’t remember to charge it and it runs out of a charge, then this problem can come up (this is the third time for me). I did get it fixed on my own, however, by holding down both buttons simultaneously for about 10 seconds. The Apple logo appeared after that, and I was back in business. Lesson learned.
Daniel

I have the same issue come up on Monday, took it to the store on Tuesday, I was out of warranty. I didn’t buy the Apple care, I was told to buy a new one. I asked that if I could buy the apple care right then and there and was told no. So I was SOL, though I had read here that they would replace it cause they new of the problem. Frustrating to say the least.
ME

yes i have the same problem ,the midel strip is not working #456 and i’m out of warranty any class action suit? let me know! i’m in!!!!!
Ruggy

There is a software setting which controls the touch screen sensitivity. The setting is called “Touch” and the software to adjust it is already in the phone; but it is not listed in the Settings utility. There is a hacked General.plist file available for certain firmwares which makes this slider available in Settings>General.
Samir

Just bought my iphone last week, and I already experienced issues with the touch screen strip. I have to reset it to fix, and I’ve done this 3-4 times already !
Will Park

Next time that happens, just take it into the nearest Apple Store and have them swap it out for a new one.
Chris

My i pod touch is acting unresponsive, the second row wont work!!
and the thing that sucks is i bought my 32gig for close to 500 bucks the second day they came out !!
Tony

hey i this just hapened to me, but it only happens when someone calls me so icant pick up the phone nor decline, i’ve booked a appointment at apple store. wish me luck
Pro Rox

i got aq iphone and it has the same problem. i got it as a gift and have no reciept so i cant get it fixed ….PPL
introducer

hey i got an iphone 8gb from rogers as a gift on my b-day. I have only dropped it on a carpet from about max. 1.5 feet. I got no reciept so they wont fix it….PLEASE HELP!!!
Mikester

Is it me or do these things crop up right after your warrenty expires. I got the dreaded dead strip on the bottom rendering all phone features useless. My warrnty expired in October!! and this happened in November! This happend to my borthers as well but his was still under warrnty! Luck! This is an issue. Luckly most have failed under warrnty thats why there isnt much out cry, but once this starts happening more out of warrnty I smell Class action.
james

my screen just went black and the lock button and home button will not respond, I plugged it into the charger and it made the noise like it recognized it but still a black screen, i did the same for plugging it into my computer…i dont know what to do….any suggestions..?
Mark

Oh no!!! It happened to me too! My iPhone is just over 1 years old and the bottom half of the screen has stopped working. The top two rows are working but the rest of the screen is dead. I phone iPhone Tech Support and they scheduled an appointed at the Mac Store… they said no need for additional troubleshooting or restoring the phone. Will update once I have the tech session.
Mike

Argh! SAME thing happened to me. I’ve had the first-gen iPhone for 11 months and the bottom-half of the touch screen stopped responding yesterday. I have an appointment with a Mac store Genius this afternoon.
Chris

My Iphone 3G 8gb has the dead strip on the whole left hand side from phone upwards! frustrating as iv only had it 6months, can text except the q,a,z,w buttons dont work which is annoying! plan to go straight to apple store tomorrow and have them replace it this will be my second replaced 3g iphone as my home button stopped working after 3months! i shouldnt have any trouble getting them to replace the phone since this is a well known fault should i?
bipin

a dead stip .. talk about a dead screen. the whole screen wudnt respond
i made the battery die completely (took 2 weeks) and plugged it in and it worked
so i was happy
i got my hopes up.
now its happeneing again
but on and off.
what to do!!!!
Ray

Right side comes and goes. Took to store, suggest wiping phone and starting fresh without doing a restore….let you know.
Jaime

Mine has the same problem bottom row is not working, I can’t unlock because the row that unlocks the phone is the one not working. Mine is out of warranty you think I can still get one since this is a known issue?
muaddib420

yup, 1st gen iphone, bought it 3rd day it was out. last night was working fine, this morning, bottom half of the touchscreen not working. can’t operate the slider so i can’t answer calls or access the iphone at all. on/off and soft reset did nothing. didn’t purchase apple care and i’m out of warranty but i’m taking it to the apple store anyway this afternoon and seeing if i can get at least a refurb replacement. i’ll post an update tomorrow as i can see that this is a growing problem with 1st gen iphones.
sunny

Same problem, Was working fine last night. Now the top row is unresposive to touch. I am out of warranty. Any options other than trashing my phone?
muaddib420

update to my previous post (two above this comment). took out of warranty phone to genius bar, was told i could get it repaired for about the same cost as buying a new 3G iphone. so i sucked it up and bought the new phone. afaik, Apple is NOT replacing these phones unless you have apple care.
Oystein

Bought my I-phone in N.Y.C Apple Store dec. 07 and didnt start using mine until fall 08. After a couple of months of careful use, the lower portion of my touch screen stopped responding. This is NOT the result of heavy use, or abuse. Reading the messages above, gives a clear indication that this is a reoccuring problem with these phones. I don´t reside in the U.S. and the Apple Store in this country claims no responibility for foreign bough phones. The only sell 3G phones. Am I really screwed here?

Although mine is passed my warranry, Apple clearly has a responsibility since this is not a result of maluse. The is clearly a malfunction of the display design.
John

I have a 1st generation iphone (4gb) with a dead band on the bottom of the touch screen. Basically all the buttons on the bottom (phone, safari, ipod, mail) won’t work. Apple is claiming that article TS1827 people is only for a specific serial # range and my phone is not within that range. The article itself doesn’t specify a serial # range. Even so, why should my phone be refused service based on the serial # range when this is a documented problem with the hardware? Apple has clearly set a precedent by replacing other defective units and no explanation is give as to why my phone is not eligible

Now here is where the issue is compounded, the first person I talked to said that Apple would waive the fee and replace the phone but he had to pass me off to technical support to process the replacement. When they passed me off to tech support said he won’t do it even though customer service said they would. After a 20 minute discussion he hung up on me. How can Apple agree to waive the fee and then go back on that promise?

I called back today and spoke with a different person with similar results. He said if the original conversation was documented he would honor the request but since it didn’t list this under my case notes, he won’t. After a bit of arguing (although I was polite and didn’t raise my voice) he said that “maybe the iphone isn’t for me”. He went on to asked me if I had a “job” and that I should develop a “hobby” since he implied I didn’t. In this economic crisis Apple has the nerve to make a comment like that?
Dave

I have only had my iPhone for a few weeks. Over the past few days, I have started having issues with the very top section of the phone’s touch sensitive screen. This is problem however is intermittent. I spoke to Apple and the first thing they say is you have to do a complete restore of the phone to original factory settings, not a backup to the old phone settings.
I have done this, and it is still an issue.
I have got an appointment in store to try and resolve this. I am pretty annoyed to be honest. If I get a replacement, how long will it be until that one goes wrong as well?
jack may

i have had three of the 3G 8 GIG phones the screen keeps cracking . the last one is only 3 weeks old . and of course the glass is not covered by any warranty. so it costs me 217.00 every time i take to them for repair. there is some thing going wrong . i have a very rugged case to protect it and it still breaks. i will be at the apple store today to see if they replace the three week old phone or not.if not i will no lomger have an i phone and will switch to another company. i can’t keep paying for a new phone every time.if any one else has this problem contact me at jwmay49@aol.com.
Rob

Hi,

I purchased my iPhone two weeks ago via Carphone Warehouse on the O2UK network. Yesterday I got the dead strip on the bottom third of the screen. Today I popped over to my local Apple Shop and have an appointment to see the Genius team tomorrow. I left under the impression that they are going to replace this for me without any hassle. I’ll update tomorrow.
Vanessa

Ive had my iphone 2 weeks and i have a ‘dead’ strip. I cant use half my keys so i cant text message anymore. I have a loss and damage warranty but shes telling me i need to install the new update..im pretty sure its stopped working cos its dodgy and not because it wants to be updated (but i may be wrong..we will see tonight) anyone know anything?
Matt

I just got the dead-strip after over a year of using my iPhone! Of course it’s out of warranty now, but the $399 first generation iPhone should have lasted a bit longer than a year and four months. I mean, c’mon! That’s ridiculous.
Tac

give me a break! all this article does is scare people and not provide any remedy to the issue.

no lawsuits- since this is a problem with ALL touch screen devices- I’ve had an issue with the DS and now the cowon D2
Greenie

Dam – just bought the new iPhone 3Gs and guess what – still has that screen strip problem. Top row of the keyboard and menu selections don’t work. Have an appointment with our business rep on Monday to sort out. I’ll let y’all (sic) know how it goes. G
jstall

lost the top part of my iphone had it almost 2 yrs nothing helped got a new 3G s.
Lois and Josh

We bought my son an i phone in October of 2007. The touchscreen began failing in June of 2009. The failure began at the bottom of the phone and eventually rendered the entire screen completely unresponsive.

We went to the Apple store at Southpoint Mall in Durham North Carolina for our “genius” appointment. We were told that we had three options: try to sync the phone and upload all new software to see if this would fix the problem; pay 200.00 dollars to have the touchscreen repaired; or buy a NEW i phone for 199.99.

After 3.5 hours at the Apple store, after synching the phone did not work, we met with the manager who, even though he was a nice guy, looked at us with a blank expression when we asked how many i phones are they seeing with the same problem.

We ended up buy a new phone for 199.99 which, by the way, required a new 2 year contract with AT & T to get the phone at the low price.

I will not buy anything with an apple on it ever again. I forsee a “class action” lawsuit against both Apple and AT & T in the future. When hundreds of thousands of people buy a 400.00 phone only to have the touchscreen fail and render the phone useless and then told that they have to buy a new phone AND renew their conract with AT & T to get the new phone at the discounted rate, is going to catch up with Apple and AT & T eventually.
Mike 77

What’dya know it’s less than 6 months and my phone’s screen suddenly locked up. I was looking on yahoo, the screen went black. I the main button to bring it up again, and poof $300 piece of high tech crap suddenly quit working.
I held the power button down nothing. I can’t slide it to restart the phone, can’t answer calls, nothing.

I’ve been very cautious with my phone!!! Never dropped, never got wet, never tossed it onto my couch, NOTHING!

I hope someone starts a class-action lawsuit!
Gaurav

Same problem with me.
Have a 8GB, 1G iphone, and a strip in middle suddenly stopped working. I am unable to use apple store (cant press ok after entering the password), and a lot of other things.
any solutions any body?? except going to apple store?
Alvaro

Same problem with my iPhone 16GB bought in January 2008. Never been hit or dropped and today the lower third of my screen is not working so I can’t even unlock the phone or pick up any calls!!! LAWSUIT!!!!!!!!!!!
Suzi

It happened to my 8gb 3gs phone within the first month but I am a heavy user of apps/games. Initially it was the left had side but now it’s gone on to include the entire screen (phone mode only!?). I just received my replacement phone via Purolator and am supposed to send back my the defective one. There’s a warning letter inside advising me that should they find misuse caused the problem I will be charged $550. It got me wondering did I get it wet while watering flowers, did I drop it? Thank goodness I found this site it’s definitely stopped me from second guessing myself. I am frustrated though. Is it because I use the touchscreen a lot? Does anyone know what causes this?
Brandon

AUUUGHHH! i think i might have the dead strip problem. i finally got the invisible shield on my iphone, life was great. then about 1 min after using it, the bottom of the touch screen ceased to respond to my touch! i am ultra pissed. my iphone is out of service and i only use it as an itouch, i am an atat customer but i question whether or not apple will replace it. any advice? ANYONE W/ ADVICE PLEASE EMAIL ME AT Brandon@hbol.com ASAP! ALSO A PRICE RANGE FOR WAT I CUD SELL IT FOR WUD BE NICE
Ney dantas

My ifone has a dead stri since i bought it. It is over the letter after O. As you can notice i can’t use it. Some times it works, but it is rare
Brady Hopkins

I have had my iPhone for less than 2 months and it has started to get the dead strip! What does apple do when you take it in? Will they replace my iPhone? By the way, it’s a iPhone 3gs 32gig. Help!
Danjal

My iphone is dead, wow it only has one button, does not help much when the touch does not work. This will be my last apple product. Steve Job – FUCK YOU
brad

(3Gs) My problem started about 1 wk after the mms update I noticed that the new camera icon in text mode did not take me to the camera. This was not a problem. I didn’t use it anyway. Next the Q in text didn’t work every time. This was not an issue how many times do you use a Q. than the A started Than the Shift key. So yesterday Nov 29 I did the 3.1.2 update thinking this may help.[[ BAD IDEA ]]. Now the whole left side is doing weird things. Restart sometimes helps but now it is getting to be a real problem.
Fred

LOL all the noobs here…. ya it’s almost 2010 and every iphone and ipod touch i have is working perfect! Mass Effect 2 BITCHSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS…………………….
brad

I am happy to report that Apple fixed my issue while I waited at the apple store. They replaced the top half of the phone and it is working great. At no cost to me except for the inconvenience to drive there.
Ian Thomas

I’ve been having this problem and have come to the conclusion it is related to humidity/condensation inside the phone. When I leave the air conditioning on the phone always works. When air con is off (overnight) problem becomes intermittent the following day and sometimes the touchscreen goes into a frenzy ramdomly pressing keys. Several times I have placed the phone in a sealed box with silica gel packs and this has the cleared the dead zone issue too. May be this will help someone if you are in a humid area. I live in Abu Dhabi (very humid). Tis such a pain.
Hiren

Hi, Ive been using the iphone for about 2 yrs +, recently , the phone startsgoing black and i get some coloured scrips then the phone oges dead, after shutting it down for about 20-30 min, it comes back to normal… any gues whts happend to this one
GUEST

i had this problem on my second phone…first one suddenly lost the signal, and when i tried to restart i only came to the apple screen…i got a new one with the dead strip…GREAT…sendt it back today, so i i guess i wil get a new phone again…
Rushin420

the bottom 1/2 inch of my iphone isn’t responsive, at all
Barry

White iPhone 30 days old and got the dead strip just below the top of the screen. Within 24 hours now most of the touch screen does not function. Did my iPhone supplier get the cheap defective ones that delayed the release of the white version???
Summer

I’ve had my iphone 3gs for a little over a year and I have recently gotten the dead strip on the bottom 1/2 screen. At first I thought it may have something to do with my broken front glass and broken lcd screen, but I replaced both and the phone looks great but still has the dead strip. I cannot take the phone to apple to have it fixed because of the modifications I’ve made to it myself and a full restore didn’t help my problem, any ideas?
Accurate Flooring

i have a strange clock type lock logo on the top of my screen next to the battery sign. what is it please?