iPhone 4 Refurbishment?

russ9898 · 6 May 2012 at 10:17

Hi Everyone,

My iPhone 4 has become very tired looking of late. Purely my fault from not having it in a case etc. I was wondering if it is possible to get them refurbished? New screen/back/recased or whatever is required? If so can anyone recomend where/rough costs?

Thanks a lot,

Russ

deusexlumina · 6 May 2012 at 20:06

if you do it yourslef using parts on fleabay, then not much, maybe 30-40 for a new back, body and digitiser (maybe a bit more). This is using non genuine parts though.

If you want someone to do it for you, at least £100 using non genuine parts.

Not sure what apple charges. In short, its not really worth it IMO.

russ9898 · 6 May 2012 at 20:39

Thanks for the replies. Looks fairly easy to change the screen and back myself. Any idea what the quality of non genuine parts are like?

ganesh · 6 May 2012 at 21:03

To get a replacement refurbed phone from apple will cost £119, you do get 3 months warranty with it though.

deusexlumina · 6 May 2012 at 21:09

russ9898 said:
Thanks for the replies. Looks fairly easy to change the screen and back myself. Any idea what the quality of non genuine parts are like?

From what ive seen and used on ipod touchs, it varies but generally its not great. I could tell the difference in screen quality, colour vibrance etc. even the home button felt different.

The costs are likely to be more than what i said as i didnt realise the screen and front glass were one unit.

Personally, if what the above poster said is true i'd do that. Not terrible value if you want one that looks new.

lamboman · 6 May 2012 at 22:03

I fancy boys said:
From what ive seen and used on ipod touchs, it varies but generally its not great. I could tell the difference in screen quality, colour vibrance etc. even the home button felt different.

The costs are likely to be more than what i said as i didnt realise the screen and front glass were one unit.

Personally, if what the above poster said is true i'd do that. Not terrible value if you want one that looks new.

It is true, it's roughly that price.

Honestly, OP, you're best off going down the warranty replacement route, it'll cost you a bit more but at least you'll get something that is in great condition, and probably newer than yours too!

"andy" · 7 May 2012 at 10:27

ganesh said:
To get a replacement refurbed phone from apple will cost £119, you do get 3 months warranty with it though.

This , and of your doing it I'd consider selling your working phone and buying a smashed screen one to have them 'refurb'

kilohawk · 7 May 2012 at 10:47

ganesh said:
To get a replacement refurbed phone from apple will cost £119, you do get 3 months warranty with it though.

Go for this of you can, I didn't realise how cheap it is for a refurb!

ALSO, I did my screen a few months ago ( and a friends ) and my screen is uneven in colour, and has serious backlight leakage on the top and bottom edges which show as discolouration.
My friends which is from a different seller, looks different but on black screens there is a huge blue blob in the middle.
Plus the plastic around the edge is nothing like Apple's, and the camera hole doesn't quite match up with the lense.
Both from an auction site for £25 ish.

russ9898 · 7 May 2012 at 11:09

Anyone able to point me in the direction of where i can find the apple refurb for £120? I cant find it anywhere.

uniQ · 7 May 2012 at 11:14

You have to go into an Apple store and speak to someone at the Genius bar or contact their Customer Services.

russ9898 · 7 May 2012 at 11:17

That's a pain, we arent fortunate enough to blessed with an Apple store in Stoke. Guess ill have to take a run to the Trafford centre at some point

lamboman · 7 May 2012 at 13:42

Something else that I will suggest, seeing as you are going to be travelling a longer way to get this replacement; take a long, good look at the phone to make sure there aren't any issues, dead pixels, etc. You might get the "Genius" saying that he can't open too many up as they don't have many, ignore him. You are entitled to a phone that is free from functional problems (there almost definitely will be some tiny, slight cosmetic issues that aren't really noticeable). I say this merely as the store that is closest to me (Cribbs Causeway) is absolutely useless and rude, and it seems to be a store-by-store issue.

HAz · 9 May 2012 at 00:09

kilohawk said:
Go for this of you can, I didn't realise how cheap it is for a refurb!

ALSO, I did my screen a few months ago ( and a friends ) and my screen is uneven in colour, and has serious backlight leakage on the top and bottom edges which show as discolouration.
My friends which is from a different seller, looks different but on black screens there is a huge blue blob in the middle.
Plus the plastic around the edge is nothing like Apple's, and the camera hole doesn't quite match up with the lense.
Both from an auction site for £25 ish.

You didn't fit it right then.

SMed · 9 May 2012 at 00:57

I'm not sure if it's exactly the same for the 4, but I've done this on the 3G. The front is 3 separate parts. 1) Glass 2) digitiser 3)LCD display. 1 and 2 are usually held together and sold together. If your LCD is fine, leave that and just replace the outer glass and digitiser. The glass and digitiser shouldn't affect image quality at all. The cheap ebay LCD iphone displays are dreadful.

The back for the 3G iphone was a big task to replace, because just about every internal component is secured to the back plastic plate, so that entailed a complete full dismantle. I don't know if this is the same for the 4, but I'm sure there are guides out there to let you know.

HAz · 11 May 2012 at 23:34

SMed said:
I'm not sure if it's exactly the same for the 4, but I've done this on the 3G. The front is 3 separate parts. 1) Glass 2) digitiser 3)LCD display. 1 and 2 are usually held together and sold together. If your LCD is fine, leave that and just replace the outer glass and digitiser. The glass and digitiser shouldn't affect image quality at all. The cheap ebay LCD iphone displays are dreadful.

The back for the 3G iphone was a big task to replace, because just about every internal component is secured to the back plastic plate, so that entailed a complete full dismantle. I don't know if this is the same for the 4, but I'm sure there are guides out there to let you know.

Nope 4 is a all in one glass touch and LCD. Don't be fooled by the digitizers for iPhone 4 as they are pointless.

ganesh · 11 May 2012 at 23:55

russ9898 said:
That's a pain, we arent fortunate enough to blessed with an Apple store in Stoke. Guess ill have to take a run to the Trafford centre at some point

Yep, you have to make an appointment and speak to a genius. It's exactly £119 and was very quick and easy, the genius didn't even look at my phone, I just showed him what my problem was and he got a new one straight away, didn't even check for water damage or anything. The good thing is that you get practically a new phone, brand new glass, battery etc. I believe they just recycle the motherboard and components inside.