iPhone 4 Rear Panel Smashed

My new iPhone 4 fell off the mantle piece a couple of weeks back onto the marble hearth. My heart sank when it happened but was relieved to find no damage, great this new toughened glass, and i did have the bumper fitted so all was well.

 That was until last week when it happened again only this time i wasn't so lucky. I'd removed the bumper and it completely shattered the back panel.

Fortunately no damage to the internals and i'm told that if it had been the front panel i'd be in for some major repairs.

What to do

First thing i did was scour the internet for panel replacements and information on a quick fix solution. The excellent iFixit.com sells replacement rear panels for $109 and also offers the tools and a breakdown on what to do. Of course you void the warranty if you do a DIY job so i didn't want to do that.

Ok that's one option. The next thing i did was ring my insurance company and asked if it was insured. Of course it wasn't being a mobile, although i'm sure some policies do, but mine didn't so no surprises there then.

Ok time to ring Apple. The phone is only 4 months old so i figured they'd had issues like this before. The guy was ultra helpful. Quoted me £139 to replace the phone or fix the panel. I could either visit my nearest Apple store or send the phone to Apple and they'd do the rest. I opted to visit the store so he made me an appointment for 9.10 saturday morning.

I arrived at the store in Newcastle at 9.00, the guy who served me was a star. I was in there 5 mins max and he'd replaced the panel. And...it only cost £25.00 to replace. Now it's as good as new and still covered by Apple warranty.

Job done!