Apple’s Official Technician Guide Leaked for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S | Hacker News Reader

Apple’s Official Technician Guide Leaked for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S

cydiaism.com

101 pointscydiaism54 comments

This doesn't exactly seem useful. I was expecting a guide to repairing/identifying issues. The one problem I had on my old iPhone 4 - the Home button not responding (a problem a lot of people seem to have), the end of the flow was "Determine if the issue is caused by accidental damage.", and mostly consisted of instructions on wiping the phone.

I'm assuming this is a store "Genius" guide, and not for actual technicians.

If your're curious about the power button on your old iPhone, here is an image of the flex cable: http://phonedoctors.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_5133.jpg

The top left piece is what is pressed by the external power button. The small black dot is raised, and wears down over time, eventually failing to make contact with the external button. The cable just needs to be replaced and can be found online for ~$5.

Welcome to the assembly-line disposable products world.

Just like the previous complex organic disposable system world.

The bit in the middle where we make things out of a few dozen pieces of human sized metal is the aberration.

Go on...

Are you talking about pack animals and the like...? I think your parent was talking about recent-ish times wherein tools and things were made custom, serviced and maintained by the owners or the local smithy or carpenter.

There are also some Apple's video tutorials leaked by Sonny Dickson for iPhone 4 Repair; http://cydiaism.com/watch-leaked-official-iphone-4-repair-vi...

The home button problem is fairly common and it is usually due to gunk/corrosion hampering the underlying connections.

There's an easy, tool-free fix: Liberally spray the home button with some Deoxit [which can be found at a RadioShack or on Amazon]. Then press the home button several times to ensure that the solution fully saturates the underlying connection. Wipe off the excess and let your phone sit for a while. Your home button should work wonderfully after that.

My 2 week old iPhone 5 had the same problem - home button never worked properly from day one. As this was my first Apple purchase it took me that long to validate that this wasn't normal behaviour after comparing with other iPhone 5s. At the Apple store they just replaced it without any questions.

A little bit OT but if you have an iPad you can enable additional gestures in the settings. This allows you to switch from one app to another app by swiping with four fingers across the screen and it allows you to go back to the home screen by pinching five fingers together. This allows you to still use the iPad even with a broken home button.

FYI, the Apple Store Geniuses are actual technicians and do most repairs in-store.

I have yet to meet one worthy of the moniker.

Never! I have had 2 problems with my Ipad, 3 with Iphone - 3 times they just couldn't help and rang someone else for advice and on the other 2 times, they just replaced the device on the spot. (backlight flickering Ipad and I can't remember what was wrong now with Iphone, but IMHO, easily repairable with the right parts).

Swapping a broken device for one that's already been repaired is far more efficient, isn't it? Except for some cosmetic wear and tear, they're all identical.

You don't have to wait, they don't have to worry about giving you back "your" specific device after it's been repaired. They can just wipe the data and put it on the pile of refurbs.

I had also have a slightly unresponsive home button, on an iPhone 4.

Try running the Apple Calc app, then hold the power button until the 'slide to power off' prompt appears and then let go and hold the home button gently until the calculator app force-closes.

A previous reddit thread advised that procedure, apparently to trigger some 'recalibration'. It's possible it's placebo effect, but it appears to have slightly helped for my home button. http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-recalibrate-iphone-home-but...

I can attest that using denatured alcohol, which I use for cleaning lenses and scanners, will destroy your ipod.

It works even better if you do it while hanging upside down and while your spouse or significant other sacrifices a live chicken.

Seriously, it's a physical switch. There's no "calibration". "Recalibrate" a physical switch by doing some magic ritual in the Calculator app? If you believe that worked, I have some really high-quality HDMI and SATA cables you might be interested in purchasing, for very reasonable prices.

Here is a theory. Switches, specially push buttons, need debouncing in software. If a switch has problems then the characteristics of the debounce might change. Which could possibly be fixed by recalibrating.

(Not by holding a switch down of course, you would need to push and release the switch many times to see a debouncing change)

Poor debouncing could conceivably cause a single push to register as two, or vice versa, but it's not going to cause a push to fail to register at all, which is part of every complaint I've heard so far.

I also see no reason that debouncing would require calibration. Basic debouncing just ignores any additional events that occur within a set period. That would just be set at the factory. There's a huge gulf between the timeframe of multiple events occurring due to switch mechanicals and the timeframe of legitimate ones.

Finally, the idea that somehow the Calculator app triggers a secret magic calibration step is just absurd. Even if you can somehow swallow the idea of software calibration of a simple mechanical switch, that detail makes it clear that this is nonsense.

Ha - I agree that that procedure seems preposterous. I have seen it listed in several forums, and only considered it after several others had reported success. I figured it didn't cost much to empirically give it a go. I present weak evidence that it appears it may have helped for me.

For what its worth, I am doubtful. There did appear to be some subjective improvement in responsiveness, but I didn't benchmark it. It is not the Calculator app in itself that functions as this, I had originally read any stock Apple app would do it.

Software reset does fix this for some, so I don't think that some button state polling problem relating to software is inconceivable. Possible, but unlikely.

More info here - they acknowledge it is likely bs. http://lifehacker.com/5909709/recalibrate-your-idevice-home-...

I can't believe Apple still hasnt responded to this issue on the iPhone4S: https://discussions.apple.com/message/19619592#19619592

It's approaching 470,000 views and not one real response from them.

Wow, you weren't kidding. September 2012 and still going strong.

Does apple respond to questions in it's forums?

From the forum main page:

"Join the conversation. Share tips and solutions with fellow Apple product users from all around the world."

So, no.

If you have an iPhone 4S and your WiFi doesn't work after a software update, DON'T follow the instructions in that discussion thread. There's some really bad advice in there, like putting your phone in an oven or a freezer. Instead, make a tethered backup, then contact Apple to get your phone repaired or replaced.

> [...] then contact Apple to get your phone repaired or replaced.

You can only get your iPhone repaired or replaced without paying if you bought AppleCare.

Or you could use the one-year warranty.

That's strange, what about normal warranty? I had my iPhone replaced twice without buying AppleCare. But I'm in Europe.

Apple's Genius Bar has a good reputation for customer support and repair/replacement. Even out of warranty, they can be very helpful as well.

You can always get your iPhone repaired or replaced by Apple. Whether you have to pay for it is determined by a lot of variables. The main ones:

- Is the product newer than 12 months, or if isn't, did you purchase an extended warranty (AppleCare)? That certainly helps.

- Is it a manufacturing defect, or hardware damage caused by an Apple software update? Then Apple won't charge you for repairs, even if your phone is officially out of warranty.

- Did the product stop working correctly after something you did to it? (dropped it, banged it, froze it, fried it, took it into the shower with you, opened it up, etc etc.) Even if you did do something stupid to your phone, chances are that Apple will fix it for free.

This is my experience as well. Although Apple has a reputation as an "expensive" brand, between the low depreciation and generous support I think I've come out financially ahead of where I'd be over the years if I'd gone with the lower sticker price.

Nope, 1 year full warranty including just walking into an Apple Store where they will usually offer you a replacement free of charge.

Maybe in the U.S., but in Australia they must repair the device. We have strong and unified consumer laws that companies like Apple can't get around.

This issue has been solved on Apple's Support page.

"Tim... is just not a product person"

- Steve Jobs

The discussion forums were set up while Steve Jobs was iCEO but he's never commented there and he has never referred to it in a keynote.

Let's not pretend that since Tim Cook took the reigns Apple has suddenly become less communicative, that's poppycock. If anything, since Jobs' passing, the company has become more open towards its customers, its investors and the press.

See for instance the following press releases, they reveal a lot more than Jobs would have allowed:

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/02/07Statement-by-Apple...

http://www.apple.com/letter-from-tim-cook-on-maps/

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/10/29Apple-Announces-Ch...

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/08/27Craig-Federighi-Ap...

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/03/19Apple-Announces-Pl...

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/02/13Fair-Labor-Associa...

I had the same issue - went to Apple and got a new one without warranty.

>Users can download Leaked Apple’s Official Technician Guide for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S before it disappears from the internet.

Yeah...no. Nothing ever dissapears from the internet. It's like taking piss out of a swimming pool.

That's what I thought; but then the links didn't work. Looks like one has to actually make an effort to track down where it's at. I'm sure it'll be on wikileaks or TPB or somesuch.

They were uploaded to Scribd, so if you're on a Mac you can choose the print option and then open it in Preview as a PDF or save it directly as a PDF right from the Scribd preview on the page. I had trouble using this method with Chrome, but Safari worked fine.

This is an amazing methaphor. :)

This is a newer version of the guide that lacks the "Visual Mechanical Inspection Guide." (it was broken out into a separate document) Basically the step by step guide used to determine if something is the users fault or covered under warranty (i.e. are the moisture sensors tripped).

Apple don't do any actual service on iPhones, iPads or iPods. They are replaced with a "replacement unit" which can be a brand new one of the production line (which is likley in the beginning of the product cycle) or a unit with a new battery and new consumer facing parts (casing, screen, buttons, etc). The old unit is then recycled, either for parts or materials.

So this is the actual guides for Apple Technicians, but they are not exactly so useful since all hardware related issues is always resolved by replacing the unit.

The Macbook Pro repair guide can be of some use though. But on the other hand, iFixit will probably give you the same or more information.

I like the big metal jig with a pressure roller for pressing the battery into place (page 141). It's also interesting that they suggest using the calculator app for testing the screen, since it's wall-to-wall buttons.

I've seen this problem many times, and I've always fixed it by plugging the device into iTunes and there's been a button that literally says "Enable WiFi on this device".

I'm not sure which issue you're referring to, but that checkbox is to enable WiFi syncing with iTunes.

Reading the document kind of felt like being a journalist with a piece of highly secret leaked government data in his hands.

"Make them buy a new iPhone."

Mirror anyone? Already down.

http://evasi0nblog.com/download-leaked-apples-official-techn...

Downloadlink there does not work for me: AccessDeniedRequest has expired

They were uploaded to Scribd, so if you're on a Mac you can choose the print option and then open it in Preview as a PDF or save it directly as a PDF right from the Scribd preview on the page.

I had trouble using this method with Chrome, but Safari worked fine.

Link to Scribd?

The original source still works fine:

http://sonnydickson.com/apple-technician-guide

This S3 is set with signed URLS. You should use the signed one to get them.

iPhone

http://s3.amazonaws.com/files.posterous.com/temp-2013-02-16/...

MacBook

http://s3.amazonaws.com/files.posterous.com/temp-2013-02-16/...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com