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lysdexia Author

Level 1

145 points

cracked sleep/wake button

My iPad mini 6 slid off my pillow and bed onto something hard (maybe the baseboard), from 16” to a 14” fall and I found the plastic surface of the sleep/wake button cracked. What trashy design! Touch ID still works but I don’t know what to do. AppleCare doesn’t repair cosmetic damage without a failure but I worry that cosmetic damage could lead to failure which defeats the purpose of the coverage’s short term. Apple Support chat could only refer me to a store. But is this a repair or replacement job?

iPad mini 6, 17

Posted on Jul 6, 2024 9:56 PM

5 replies

razmee209

Level 10

192,390 points

Jul 6, 2024 10:01 PM in response to lysdexia

lysdexia wrote:

My iPad mini 6 slid off my pillow and bed onto something hard (maybe the baseboard), from 16” to a 14” fall and I found the plastic surface of the sleep/wake button cracked. What trashy design! Touch ID still works but I don’t know what to do. AppleCare doesn’t repair cosmetic damage without a failure but I worry that cosmetic damage could lead to failure which defeats the purpose of the coverage’s short term. Apple Support chat could only refer me to a store. But is this a repair or replacement job?

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/b7611c3e-4b98-4983-a25e-5bcdb9e73565

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/025419a8-0543-4f91-a67a-4ba3ade85e75

Nobody here works for Apple, so you'll find out when you take it into the store.

And no other products from any other company would have any issue when it falls of the bed hitting something hard, only Apple makes trashy designs right?

Jul 7, 2024 4:29 AM in response to lysdexia

The TouchID button is an electro-optical sensor. Damage to this button is not just cosmetic.

The main sensor is optical glass - surrounded by a metal ring. Your finger must make contact with both the optical surface (to read fingerprint ridge detail) and the surrounding ring (measures electrical properties).

Damage to the TouchID sensor often results in complete failure of the sensor. If the sensor continues to read your fingerprints, it is perhaps on borrowed time. The only remedy when the sensor fails is replacement of the sensor.

For practical purposes, in lieu of repairing and returning your own iPad, Apple usually exchange the iPad for a renewed/refurbished iPad of the same model and specification. The cost of the exchange is the same as would otherwise be charged for repair.

As for out-of-warranty repair costs, Apple offers a fixed-price price repair. You can verify eligibility and cost for your region/country here:

iPad Repair & Service - Apple Support

If you have an active AppleCare+ plan, the cost of repair is reduced to a small excess/deductible fee.

In addition to Apple's mail-in repair service, you can arrange repair at the Genius Bar of your local Apple Store or Apple Authorised Service Provider (AASP):

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

lysdexia Author

Level 1

145 points

Jul 7, 2024 10:00 PM in response to LotusPilot

(can’t even see what you said minutes ago)

Searching for touch ID glass gets lots of similar stories, some with self-destructive brittleness, but also your old posts where you relate Apple’s info that this surface is sapphire, the opposite of a glass.

About Touch ID advanced security technology - Apple Support

“The button is made from sapphire crystal—one of the clearest, hardest materials available. This protects the sensor and acts as a lens to precisely focus it on your finger. On iPhone and iPad, a steel ring surrounding the button detects your finger and tells Touch ID to start reading your fingerprint.

The sensor uses advanced capacitive touch to take a high-resolution image from small sections of your fingerprint from the subepidermal layers of your skin.”

But nothing protects the button. Nylon, which may be transparent, has thrise the Izod impact strength of alumina and deforms to transmit the impact into the frame. As the button is flat there is no “lens” or “focus” unless there’s a refractive index gradient which I doubt. It also seems the capacitive (C, V) touch and imaging (IR?) are conflated.

Apple’s replacement price is most of the tablet and Apple Care+, which is too late to get, is like insurance where others pay for one’s damages. I hav yet to see Best Buy’s repair quote but their flat fee is $85. Unlike most of the other reports my incident was a lucky split rather than dent on one end of the sensor where the finger doesn’t rest so the touch ID still works. I should save my money until I need touch during a failure.

lysdexia Author

Level 1

145 points

Jul 6, 2024 10:43 PM in response to razmee209

razmee209 wrote:

Nobody here works for Apple, so you'll find out when you take it into the store.

And no other products from any other company would have any issue when it falls of the bed hitting something hard, only Apple makes trashy designs right?

Nobody here knows how hardware works nor has a similar incident?

I’m not familiar with tablets in general. Every phone I’v used has a metal sleep/wake so this shouldn’t happen to them.

lysdexia Author

Level 1

145 points

Jul 7, 2024 9:59 PM in response to lysdexia

cracked sleep/wake button