iPhone 6 screen spontaneously cracked!!!???!!!?

probropro · Mar 30, 2017

So about 5 minutes ago, I pulled my iPhone 6 out of my pocket and I saw that the screen was completely cracked. Like absolutely 100% cracked. This was not here before. Earlier, I sat in a car from point A to point B on my phone (20-minute car ride). It was completely fine then, no hairline cracks or anything. After arriving at point B, I put my phone away, did the stuff I need to do there, and left to go to point C (5-minute car ride). At point C, I took my phone out, and it was completely cracked. I didn't run into anything because I was sitting still in a car the whole time; it just spontaneously cracked. The crack covers the whole entire screen and I use a Tech21 Elite case, and I've never had any cracks or screen replacements. The case is amazing and I did some drop tests when I first got the case; no cracks or anything. This is pretty bad. I don't have Apple Care anymore so I can't get a free screen replacement. I'll include pictures below.

As you can see above, these are some pretty nasty cracks. Can anyone help out?

scifan57 · Mar 30, 2017

It looks like the screen suffered multiple impacts. I see two or three points of impact based on the pattern of cracking. Apple will charge $129.00 for an out of warranty screen repair. iPhone Screen Repair & Replacement - Official Apple Support

carolineM · Mar 31, 2017

The drop tests you did may have weakened the screen and done some unseen damage, so that some slight stress caused the shattering illustrated.

probropro · Mar 31, 2017

scifan57 said:
It looks like the screen suffered multiple impacts. I see two or three points of impact based on the pattern of cracking. Apple will charge $129.00 for an out of warranty screen repair. iPhone Screen Repair & Replacement - Official Apple Support

This literally happened while it was in my loose cargo short pockets. It was in the one around the thigh.

probropro · Mar 31, 2017

carolineM said:
The drop tests you did may have weakened the screen and done some unseen damage, so that some slight stress caused the shattering illustrated.

I got the case about a month ago hand did one drop test. I had a Tech21 Sport case for about a year beforehand. No problems with either until now.

scifan57 · Mar 31, 2017

The reason I made the post I did is that your photo of the cracked iPhone screen showed multiple points of origin for the cracking. It doesn't take much impact force from certain objects to crack an iPhone screen. It's possible for this to happen without you knowing it's happened at the time.
Here's an annotated photo of your iPhone screen showing the points of origin for the cracking.

probropro · Mar 31, 2017

scifan57 said:
The reason I made the post I did is that your photo of the cracked iPhone screen showed multiple points of origin for the cracking. It doesn't take much impact force from certain objects to crack an iPhone screen. It's possible for this to happen without you knowing it's happened at the time.
Here's an annotated photo of your iPhone screen showing the points of origin for the cracking.
View attachment 31922

That's why it doesn't make sense to me. There are multiple points of origin.

scifan57 · Mar 31, 2017

probropro said:
That's why it doesn't make sense to me. There are multiple points of origin.

Was anything else in the pocket with the iPhone?

probropro · Mar 31, 2017

scifan57 said:
Was anything else in the pocket with the iPhone?

No. Just that. To me, if it has multiple points of origin, then it couldn't have been caused by a fall. I had problems with the screen detaching in the lower right and upper left corners in the past, so that might have something to do with it.

scifan57 · Mar 31, 2017

probropro said:
No. Just that. To me, if it has multiple points of origin, then it couldn't have been caused by a fall. I had problems with the screen detaching in the lower right and upper left corners in the past, so that might have something to do with it.

Maybe the screen detached at those points because the iPhone was very slightly bent. Repairing the screen to fit properly around the edges could then have placed multiple points of strain on the screen. In that case, it wouldn't take much to cause the extensive cracking that happened.

probropro · Mar 31, 2017

scifan57 said:
Maybe the screen detached at those points because the iPhone was very slightly bent. Repairing the screen to fit properly around the edges could then have placed multiple points of strain on the screen. In that case, it wouldn't take much to cause the extensive cracking that happened.

It is still the original screen and from what I'm aware of, it is not bent at all.

scifan57 · Mar 31, 2017

probropro said:
It is still the original screen and from what I'm aware of, it is not bent at all.

Place the iPhone back down on a smooth flat surface.Try to rock the iPhone by pressing diagonal corners alternately. Sometimes the bend can be so slight that its not noticeable without careful measurement.

probropro · Mar 31, 2017

scifan57 said:
Place the iPhone back down on a smooth flat surface.Try to rock the iPhone by pressing diagonal corners alternately. Sometimes the bend can be so slight that its not noticeable without careful measurement.

Well it has a bend now that it's completely shattered lol. It never had that before. If this is found to be a defective screen, would I be able to get a free screen replacement? My sister had a defective battery and she got a free replacement on it.

scifan57 · Mar 31, 2017

probropro said:
Well it has a bend now that it's completely shattered lol. It never had that before. If this is found to be a defective screen, would I be able to get a free screen replacement? My sister had a defective battery and she got a free replacement on it.

If Apple decides that the screen was defective, you'll get a free replacement. But with the way the screen shattered in the manner shown in the photos and with the bend in the case, you shouldn't get your hopes up. In any case you've nothing to lose by asking.

probropro · Mar 31, 2017

scifan57 said:
If Apple decides that the screen was defective, you'll get a free replacement. But with the way the screen shattered in the manner shown in the photos and with the bend in the case, you shouldn't get your hopes up. In any case you've nothing to lose by asking.

Thanks so much for your help man! I see why youre a super moderator now lol