Comments on: The iPhone 3GS rattle – Tale of a manufacturer’s defect?

By: Slinga

Slinga — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:02:37 +0000

Hey… I’ve also got this rattle in my black 16gb 3gs… Wondering what it was I googled it and sure enough there is a thread on it… Are you sure it is a shake censor rattling? Reason I ask is that since I read this thread I’ve tapped over my iPhone and sure enough it comes from the camera lense area, so as I originally thought it to be something to do with the camera lense/focus, I loaded the camera app and tapped it again and it seemed a lot louder and as if somthing is looser, I tried this a few times with the camera app on and off and it is defo a more pronounced rattle with the app on… So does the camera focus work abit like a cd drive laser focus and floats when on and is held back (but not solidly) when off?

Try it out see if yours does it… It seems to be only the camera app that gets it to do it worse…. I could be wrong as I have no idea how the camera focus works on the iPhone 3gs

I wonder if apple actually know where it comes from or if they are assuming “it must be x” as the iPhone 3g has shake to shuffel so therefore has the censor but no rattle

By: ML

ML — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:01:39 +0000

My dad works for apple and the rattle will not b fixed. The rattle when u shake it a part right below the camera moves. This peice is the censor that tells the iPhone 3GS to reload the internet page for different apps and the shake to shuffle feature. For the new iPhone to b released early to mid july they r puting the shake censor in the middle on its own so it has nothing to rattle against. Your iPhones r fine

By: Erik907

Erik907 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:41:37 +0000

I’ve had my 16g iPhone 3G(s) for a month now and just today noticed a rattle. Drives me crazy since I paid full price of $600.00. This thread makes me feel a bit better though.

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:23:17 +0000

Just noticed the same rattle after a week of have my new 16g White 3gs. Thought it was broken till I saw this thread but seems like it’s almost every 3gs does this! On a positive note this phone is amazing who needs a computer anymore!

By: Kristian Thrane

Kristian Thrane — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:11:35 +0000

I’ve just recieved my Black 32 GB in Denmark (via 3.dk) and i have the same problem. Being very observant of these kind of errors, i’m pretty anoyed by the rattle.

Will probably contact Apple for at suggestion …

Thanks for hosting this thread

By: Brad Wrye

Brad Wrye — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:38:55 +0000

Just got the black 16 3gs. found the problem the 3rd day i had it. Bugged the hell out of me till i found this thread.

By: Justin JDOG Marks

Justin JDOG Marks — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:55:46 +0000

Upgraded to an 8G 3G phone last week, and decided to exchange it for the 16G 3G-S today in black. I noticed when lightly putting it down on the table it did the rattle, so I started tapping the phone lightly, and noticed it does seem to be coming from the camera.

The regular 3G didn’t do this, so logic tells me it’s just the autofocus camera. Of course that makes no sense if it’s all software based. Considering the high number of reported cases my guess is the lens system in the new camera. If that’s the case then it’s normal. 8 extra gigs, video, better camera, and faster phone with a faint rattle when provoked… I’ll keep the 3GS

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:14:20 +0000

I don’t understand why everybody cares so much, it makes the rattle noise when you put it down on a desk in complete silence, big deal. I’ve managed to live with mine. Its an amazing phone i think i can put up with a little rattle to have something this great.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:52:41 +0000

I am on my fourth White 32gb 3gs and in addition to the rattle the sim tray does not fit flush. My black 16gb 3g was flawless, I wish I had not upgraded to this piece of crap. It is driving me crazy!

By: Conner

Conner — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:08:15 +0000

Yep, same here! Black 3GS, 32GB 3days old, aquired in Italy. Same rattling noise when tapped top right…! In some forum someone opend it and found a loose screw! I hope it doesn’t short circuit anything…

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:22:01 +0000

Glad to see that other people have the same problem. I bought my 32Gb black 3GS a week ago and was about to complain. After spending £275 on a phone I don’t expect it to rattle when I put it on my desk, also you have to wonder if whatever is loose is likely to break later….

By: David T

David T — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:45:48 +0000

32G Black – rattles when tapped. I just assumed it had to do with the vibrater. Not really a big deal, unless it leads to something disconnecting. Actually, it does rattle when I shake it along its long side. Great…I’m really glad I read this post. Now it’s gonna bother the hell out of me

By: Ross

Ross — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:27:13 +0000

I just phones apple about this before and the person that I spoke to on the phone told me that it was caused by the shake to shuffle ipod function

By: Ian

Ian — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:23:40 +0000

Yep, just received brand new white 16GB iphone by post (PAYG). Opened it, all fine build quality seems better than the first 3G I had. Put it down on my desk and ‘ratttttttlllllllleeeee’. Googled this straight away and found this thread. Kinda made me feel better now I know it’s not just me! At this stage I would guess at it being the focus mechanism, all my other buttons are tight. Will stay tuned to this to see what happens !

By: Shaun

Shaun — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:52:56 +0000

White 16GB 3GS. Rattle found especially when you tap the top left hand corner of the back by the camera. I was initially worried about this but went into the Apple Store just off Oxford Street. Picked up 5 or 6 3GS’s (White and Black) and they all had a rattle. It is annoying but I am hoping a fix will be sorted soon as I don’t really want to put up with the rattle for another 18 months. A real shame as other than this the 3GS is a fantastic piece of kit.

By: lele

lele — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:34:17 +0000

My iphone 3gs black acquired in italy rattles, too. Maybe this is not a trouble. I think/hope is some cable and not some of expensive hardware.

By: T

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:46:09 +0000

Yup my white 3G S rattles too!!!

By: Aditya

Aditya — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:00:16 +0000

Black 16GB. I get the rattle too. Interestingly, I didn’t find the rattle while tapping, but while a video is being compressed before uploading to youtube. Also, trying to upload multiple videos one after the other caused the app to crash – thrice. Uploading one, closing, reopening and uploading another works fine.

By: Jean V

Jean V — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:14:30 +0000

No rattle. Black 32GB – 3GS. Not so much as a hint of a rattle.

However, my headphone connector seems loose-ish and the headphones pop out with the lease provocation. I don’t see how I’ll be able to even take walks while listening to my iPhone’s iPod feature as the least movement ejects the headphone plug from the phone and doing so much as turning my head makes the sound pop and sputter. WTF?

I’m used to exercising vigorously while listening to my Sansa pseudo-iPod thingy from Radio Shack. I thought I was graduating to the big time and now this is a bit scary.

Anyone else with a poppy headphone jack?

Thanks!

By: NEWS: VIDEO: iPhone 3GS rattle | Tech Blog

NEWS: VIDEO: iPhone 3GS rattle | Tech Blog — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:36:38 +0000

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