People are really making counterfeit iPhones?

Yes, we’ve seen counterfeit – fake – iPhones come into Mission Repair for service. It never works out.

Unfortunately, bogus iPhones aren’t always so obvious. Sometimes they appear in seemingly legit online ads or real-world stores (NEVER at Mission Repair!) Regardless of where they appear, they’re out there, and the people who buy them are being ripped off.

Just how many fake iPhones are being sold in the U.S. is actually hard to pin down. Apple won’t discuss the issue, despite repeated requests for information. Anti-counterfeiting watchdog groups say the problem is big, but they don’t have numbers.

But the anecdotal evidence is there: There was the recent seizure of more than 40,000 counterfeit iPhones in China. Sales of the fakes are not uncommon overseas. Among those who have been caught peddling fake phones stateside recently are a father-son duo in Orange County, Calif.; a teen in Utah; and two stores in a Maryland mall.

Fake iPhones are just part of a much larger counterfeit-electronics problem.

“Counterfeit consumer electronics were the second-most-seized commodity in fiscal years 2013 and 2014, with an estimated MSRP (retail price) of around $145.86 million and $162.20 million, respectively,” said Matthew Bourke, spokesperson for the Intellectual Property Rights Center at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And remember: Those numbers represent just seizures, not the real volume of counterfeit goods being sold, which everyone involved assumes is much higher.

However big the problem is, what should you do when that guy slides up to you at the bar and offers you a great deal on a phone for cash — or if you’re looking at what you think is an iPhone on sale?

Do yourself a favor, don’t buy it. While it may be a good deal, and it could quite possibly be legitimate, it’s most likely going to cost you big time in the near future. Fake iPhones are not repairable…like at all. We can’t get parts for them at Mission Repair, and we have no idea who even made them. Or worse yet, the phone is real, but let’s say it crashes after 15 minutes of use after it warms up. We see this a lot…and you’d never know what kind of odd issues that piece of electronics is having without knowing it’s origin. Buyer beware, and we’re just here trying to help you out.

Good luck, Ryan

Casey can tell you the differences…

My son Casey is in the market for a new phone. I can feel the push coming from him, and his iPhone 5 just doesn’t seem to be cutting it any more.

So last night I heard him talking to Dandra and making the “sales pitch” to her and trying to talk her into getting a new phone as well. She asked “what’s the difference between the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus?”

It’s mainly about screen size. At Mission Repair we have found that both size screens are just are easily “crackable” as another; and both are equally difficult to repair.

The world’s iPhones have got thinner and lighter since 2007 but in late 2014 Apple really worked some iPad Air-style magic on the dimensions of its latest handsets. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 is just 6.9mm thick (shaving another 10% off the already slim 7.6mm iPhone 5S) while the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus has a thickness of just 7.1mm.

Again, the screen is where we find the biggest gap between the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus – it’s the main distinction between the models. The iPhone 6’s display measures 4.7 inches corner-to-corner at a resolution of 1334 x 750 pixels (or 326 pixels-per-inch).

The 6 Plus ups this to 5.5 inches and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (401ppi). These figures put the iPhone 5S firmly in the shade, with its 1136 x 640 pixel, 326ppi display.

All that means you get more pixels on the 6 Plus spread across a larger area. Website text will be bigger, movies can be viewed from further away, text will be sharper, and so on. It also makes the device harder to hold in just one hand, but the one-handed mode built into iOS 8 (the operating system that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus ship with) should be able to alleviate some of those problems.

Both of iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus feature the same camera lens technology. That means an 8-megapixel shooter (as with the iPhone 5S) but an improved f/2.2 aperture and processing algorithms, so your pictures are going to look better than ever in all conditions.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus unsurprisingly make the jump to Apple’s A8 64-bit dual-core processor, giving it more oomph for your games and video editing. On-board RAM remains constant at 1GB, however, so for most day-to-day tasks you’re not going to notice a huge difference in the capabilities of these two phones.

The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus match in terms of storage capacities too: for the first time there’s a 128GB level to join the 64GB and 16GB options. You can pick any of these three with any handset, though the iPhone 6 Plus is more expensive across the board, so you’ll be paying more for the same amount of space in return for a larger device and clearer display.

I’ve used both phones and happiest with the smaller iPhone 6. I personally think that the 6 Plus is a bit overbearing…plus it doesn’t fit into the cup holder in my Toyota as nicely as the smaller version.

Just in case you were wondering…Ryan

Mission Repair Deal of the Month is having some surprising results!

Ok, It’s mid-day on Friday here in Kansas City;

That’s a good sign that the weekend is almost here! We’ve got a big weekend planned that’s for sure; our company picnic is on Sunday and there’s a little bit of planning and preparing left to do. Good thing is that I’m not doing any of it. Lennie, get to work!

There’s still time to jump on our iPhone 6 Screen repair deal that’s going on and blowing up (in a great way). We’ve taken record number of iPhone 6 Smartphones in for repair in the last few weeks, and this deal is good through the end of the month so don’t delay…

If you need a black screen repaired rather than a white one (that’s pictured above) that’s no problem. Just click here.

OK, I’m always about sharing our specials so if you have any questions, give your nearest Mission Repair location a call!

Take care, Ryan

So my iPhone 6 is bent – it’s not a myth.

Hello everyone,

I noticed this weekend that my new iPhone 6 screen was “clicking” when I pressed down on it along the left hand side. It appears that the screen wasn’t sitting in the unit properly. Then I noticed that my home button was kind of “clicking” as well. The home button normally just depresses smoothly and silently. Not mine, it’s “clicking” and you can actually hear it!

So I took a closer look at my phone, and unbelievably, it’s bent. Right along the edge. The worst part being right at the sim card tray area…

If I hold my phone up and look along the edge, it’s apparent that it’s bent.

So now…what to do? I own a repair shop as you know…but the last thing I want to do is open up a new “under warranty” phone when I can take it in for a replacement. But wait, Apple ISN’T replacing bent phones under warranty. Do you know why? They are deemed “damaged” by the customer and that’s not a warranty related cause. Armed with this info, I tried something simple on my own.

I bent it back.

A little pressure and all is well. Seems unbelievable that a phone could bend like this.

Without opening the device, I simply held it as shown above, and pressed with some aggressive but even “force” with my thumb against the sim card tray area. Guess what…the phone is straight again, the screen is sitting flush in the frame, and the home button is once again silent.

Now, I already know that some of you won’t believe this is true. It is. And some will speculate that it can’t be done. I did it. These iPhone 6 units are thin and BENDABLE.

Clearly, you could go too far so I don’t recommend that anyone do this at home or on their own phone. I am not suggesting that you put to much force on your device because you can break things, namely the screen could crack or you could have issues with your logic board. However without tools or dis-assembly, I was able to “straighten” out my phone without issues.

How did I bend it in the first place? I have NO IDEA. I NEVER put it in my back pocket or sit on it…so your guess is as good as mine. I think it’s just a bad design…because I have tortured other phones in my life and they never bent. Go figure.

Today’s tidbit, from the owner.

Take care, Ryan

iPhone 6 screen repairs – becoming more popular than you think.

Hello everyone,

I just noticed a new trend and that we’re buying a lot more iPhone 6 screens lately. Like a lot more.

The iPhone 6 screens have been in high demand, but they were also very expensive at the onset of these services. Now that a few months have gone by, the cost of the screen has been driven down and this service has become more affordable for all of our customers.

I’d be willing to bet that these screens will soon take over the majority of our screen repairs; it’s already apparent that they are breaking constantly…so if you’ve got an iPhone 6 that DOESN’T have a cracked screen, take care of it!

In fact, I’m still running a “purist” format and I don’t have a case on my screen at this point. It’s looks so nice as a “naked” iPhone 6, but I just know that I’m asking for trouble the first time it falls onto the ground. Mistakes happen, that’s why Mission Repair was born.

Remember that we continue to pioneer new services for our customers and the iPhone 6 screen repair service is almost “old news” at this point. It’s time for a new product. Apple, you listening?

Have a great Wednesday evening, Ryan