iPhone Lock Button Replacement Program
A while ago, my iPhone 5's lock button stopped working. I took it to the Apple store and didn't have Applecare and sure enough they wanted $140 to repair it. I took it to another shop and they did it for about $75, but after a few months it went out again. I follow a couple of Mac blogs very closely and noticed that Apple started an iPhone 5 Sleep/Wake Button Replacement Program. After a couple months of being annoyed, I took it in last night.
The process itself was pretty painless. A Genius Bar tech will run the serial number of your device against their database and then wipe your phone (make sure you've backed it up recently and turned off "Find My iPhone".) After that, they'll do a quick diagnostic test and note the physical condition of your phone (i.e. has it been opened before?) If everything passes, they'll send you on your way with a loaner 16GB iPhone 5.
I'm not planning on doing much with the phone in the next week, but I downloaded a few apps and signed into my iCloud account for access to my contacts.
This got me thinking about how Apple notifies customers that qualify for these programs. I've brought the phone in to a Genius Bar before, Apple must know the serial number of my device, so why didn't they contact me about this? Why did I have know that this program existed and run my serial number against their database? They're obviously trying to replace as few of these buttons as they can, but hasn't Tim Cook declared recently that they're 100% focused on the customer or something like this?
My friend had an original MacBook Air that had broken hinges. There was a replacement program for this as well, but since she isn't as much of a nerd as I am, she didn't know about it and they repair window has since passed.
Making consumer electronics is a risky business and Apple seems to have a particularly risky go of it since they push many materials to their limits, employing them in ways we've never seen before. An aluminum laptop? A computer sheathed in a plastic cube? I just wish that when the materials did fail, Apple would be a bit more forthcoming about it.