A lot of people who sell their iPhones to BuyMyTronics.com want to get the most bang for their buck! Most iPhones that we get are working, and that ensures their maximum value, but the worst thing that could happen is when we get a seemingly working iPhone that the water damage sensor has been tripped. We never like having to give out less money than we have to, and after reading this guide you’ll be a pro at making sure your iPhone is properly diagnosed before sending it to us!
First we need to make sure that it’s working, here’s a simple method to test your iPhone to make sure it’s working:
First, get to your home screen by pressing the home button and sliding to unlock. Then push both the volume up and volume down keys on the side, if you can see the volume bar go left and right on your screen, it works. Once you’ve done that rock the vibration switch back and forth, it should show the vibration icon, and vibrate in your hand when activated. After this push the sleep/power button on the top to put it to sleep, then press the home button and slide to wake up. If all that goes smoothly, then great! All the exterior buttons work!
Second, go into your calculator app, and push all the buttons. Make sure that the button on the screen looks like it’s pushing in, or making a sound. Once you’ve pushed all the buttons that you can, turn it on its side so that the scientific calculator shows up, once it has, push all the buttons on the left side of the screen (the only part of the screen you haven’t pushed yet). If this goes smoothly then that means both your screen and accelerometer works!
Lastly, test your camera app, to make sure your camera works, test your WiFi, to make sure it connects to the internet, connect your iPhone to your computer to see if it will recognize, and then play some music through both your headphones and speakers. If everything I’ve said so far is a go, then your device is at 100% functionality! Even though it’s 100% functional doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t broken. There are certain factors such as water damage and previously being opened that will immediately classify it as broken, but I’ll explain those now.
WATER DAMAGE:
Apple has cleverly hidden 2 water damage sensors in both the headphone jack and charge port of the iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPhone 4, and one water damage indicator in the headphone jack of the original iPhone. When ANY 1 of these water damage sensors are tripped, they must be classified under Broken > Water Damage. You may not have even dropped it in water, or taken it out into the rain, but it could still be tripped; it has been documented that certain humid climates can trip the water damage sensors. The picture below can help in identifying where your water sensors are.
OPENED:
What “opened” means is that someone has previously opened up the iPhone to expose all its gadgetry goodness, and then put it back together. Here’s a list of common places that you can check to see if it has been previously opened:
Original iPhone 2G: If you see clear prying on the back where the black plastic meets the metal.
iPhone 3G/3GS: If you see clear prying type marks around where the chrome bezel and plastic meet.
If any of those conditions exist then you have an opened iPhone on your hands and if you choose to sell it with us, you will need to mark Broken > Opened.
EXTREME DAMAGE:
See extreme damage.
Also, see...
NETWORK CONNECTIVITY AND WIFI ISSUES:
WiFi can be a tricky wicket sometimes when it breaks. Basically, all you need to do is make sure that it is able to connect with a network that you KNOW is a working WiFi network, and then just surf to any webpage, preferably one you do not visit that often, or at all. If it does not connect then it gets classified under Broken > Network Connectivity and WiFi Issues.
BROKEN PORT OR HEADPHONE JACK:
Identifying this is fairly simple. First, connect the iPhone to your computer, does the computer recognize it AND does it charge? Second, listen to music with your headphones plugged in, first listen to ONLY the right ear, then ONLY the left ear; headphone ports often go out in only 1 ear, and headphones themselves often go out in both ears. If you think it’s your headphones that are the trouble maker, double check with another set. If any of your ports are non functional I would mark them as Broken > Broken Port or Headphone Jack.
GLASS CRACKED BUT WORKING 100%:
This is actually found on the working side of things, but I’ll explain what it means here, since it can be kind of confusing. You’re merrily walking along one day when, “OH NO! I’ve dropped my iPhone on the cold hard ground! Everything seems to be working all right, but gosh darn it, there’s a huge crack on JUST the glass!”
“Fear not, sir or madam!” this is where I come in, “We at BuyMyTronics.com will pay for it as working! Just mark ‘Glass Cracked but Working 100%’ under the working condition side! Now I’m off to save cute kittens!”
BROKEN TOUCH SCREEN/LCD:
This is different than the Glass Cracked 100% Working classification, and I’ll tell you the differences. If an iPhone’s glass gets impacted so hard that you can see LCD fluid leaking under the screen, this one is for you. If you cannot touch a part of the screen, or you have to touch it in really weird ways in order to press the buttons you want, this classification is also for you. So to clarify, if you cannot touch parts of the screen or you can see LCD fluid leaking under the screen, or if you can’t see ALL of the screen, or parts of the screen are distorted, classify your iPhone under Broken > Broken Touch Screen/LCD.
Tune in next time for the dramatic conclusion of “Diagnosing Broken iPhones!”