Man files class action lawsuit over broken iPhone 4 glass

By Aemon Malone January 27, 2011

A man in California hadn’t owned his iPhone 4 a month before his daughter dropped it while trying to send a text message. The phone’s glass casing shattered in the fall. Now Donald LeBuhn is leveling a class action lawsuit at Apple charging the company with knowingly selling a defective product.

“Months after selling millions of iPhone 4s, Apple has failed to warn and continues to sell this product with no warning to customers that the glass housing is defective,” LeBuhn says in the complaint. LeBuhn claims that he previously dropped an iPhone 3GS from the same height — about 3 feet — without the device suffering any harm.

It’s not the first time the iPhone 4’s glass has been scrutinized. In October, a study by warranty provider SquareTrade revealed that iPhone 4 owners were reporting damage 68 percent more frequently than iPhone 3GS owners did four months after both devices had been on the market for four months.

Broken screens were the most frequently reported damage for the iPhone 4, according to the study. However, it’s important to remember that the iPhone 4 has two sides of glass housing — the 3GS only has one side of glass.

SquareTrade issued a followup report a month later that found the iPhone 4 to be the most reliable smartphone on the market, but also on track to become the most accident prone, thanks to breaking screens.

LeBuhn’s lawsuit alleges that Apple makes false claims about the iPhone 4’s durability. Apple’s website says the iPhone 4’s screen is “chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic” and “ultradurable” and made from the “same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains.”

LeBuhn’s lawsuit asks for the $252 that he paid for the phone to be refunded, and that all iPhone 4 owners who’ve had similar experiences receive a refund or be reimbursed for the cost of repairs.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Mobile

Best iPhone 14 deals: Unlocked and refurbished

The Apple iPhone 14 Pro's camera module

While the iPhone 15 may be Apple’s most recent iPhone release, that only makes the iPhone 14 a better way to save. The iPhone 14 isn’t far removed from being among the best phones on the market, and it’s still a powerhouse option for most smartphone users. There are a lot of ways to save on an iPhone 14, with shopping refurbished models being one of the best. You'll get a good warranty and a large return window shopping refurbished with most major retailers, which makes them some of the best iPhone 14 deals you'll find. With so many to take advantage of right now, we thought we’d do the heavy lifting and put all of the best iPhone 14 deals together in one place. Reading onward you’ll find some impressive savings on all models of the Apple iPhone 14.
Apple iPhone 14 -- from $479, was $699

With the Apple iPhone 14 you’re getting what is still one of the most popular smartphones on the market. This is the iPhone 14 model that’s meant for everyone. It holds back a few features you can only get on the Pro model, but it still has an impressive 6.1-inch display, an impressive camera, and dozens of ways to personalize your iOS experience with widgets and fonts. The phone can reach up to 26 hours of battery life on a single charge, and it’s powered by Apple’s A15 Bionic chip. Face ID, emergency SOS via satellite, and super fast 5G cellular connectivity round out the top features of the Apple iPhone 14.
Buy Refurbished at Amazon — from $479

Mobile

How to turn off call forwarding on iPhone and Android

A person holding the Apple iPhone 15 Plus, showing the camera.

If you’re mysteriously missing calls on your iPhone or Android smartphone, it may be because call forwarding is activated on your line. In that case, all your incoming calls could be going somewhere else.

Call forwarding shouldn’t typically be active unless you’ve specifically turned it on, but another person or app may have done so without your knowledge. And since call forwarding is a carrier feature, it could still be enabled on a line you inherited from someone else, even if you’ve swapped their SIM card into your phone or transferred it to a new account.

Mobile

iPhone 16: news, rumored price, release date, and more

A person holding the Apple iPhone 15 Plus and Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

We're more than six months removed from the launch of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, so you know what that means: iPhone 16 rumors are in full force. Talk is heating up about everything from design leaks and rumored specs to camera changes and more.