iPhone 3G dead out of warranty

White Screen of Death

The other day I went to check my messages on my iPhone and was greeted with a white screen with vertical colored bars. The iPhone appeared to be functioning, as I could hear the sounds when swiping to unlock and receiving e-mails even though I couldn't see anything. Hard resetting and doing a factory restore failed to fix the problem, so off to AT&T I went. They informed me that if there are problems after 30 days I need to contact Apple directly. I called Apple from the AT&T store, and was informed that I activated the phone exactly one year earlier. This meant that the included one year warranty had expired :-(

Buying a new phone?

Fortunately, AT&T offered me an early upgrade, AND Apple offered to make an exception and repair / replace the iPhone. I chose the latter, shipped it off Tuesday, Apple diagnosed the problem Wednesday and FedEx estimates I'll have a replacement Friday. I'm glad that everything worked out, and thankful that both companies offered to help me out even though they were under no obligation to do so. Thanks AT&T! Thanks Apple!

Replacement iPhone 3G

This is the second time Apple has offered to repair a product out of warranty, which makes me a happy customer.