My iPhone started acting up a couple of days ago. Any time the screen went blank (either via auto-lock or if I manually hit the lock switch) it took about 30 seconds and the iPhone would just shut itself off. If I turned off auto-lock, the phone stayed on for as long as it could (battery dependent, of course). It also only seemed to have this problem when running on battery power. Very strange problem, indeed. I restored my phone and set it up as a new phone and thought that would clear it right up. It definitely did not.

Next step, set up an appointment at the Genius bar nearby so I could stop there before work that evening. I walked in and talked to a very nice Apple Genius. I explained my problem to him and he only really had one option that he could try on his end. He was going to “restore” the firmware in case something went wrong there. Alas, it was not looking good for me. Until the king gentleman said to me “Well.. your phone appears to be a couple months out of warranty…”. I had gotten my iPhone 3G the day it came out, so I already knew this. But then he went on to say ”.. but, we’re going to cover it for you. How about you just consider this a lucky day for you?”.

I was ecstatic! As much as I kind of want a 3GS, I figured I could make due with what I had until the NEW new iPhone came out later next year, but this plan was going to be thrown out the window if I had to subsidize another phone through AT&T as soon as they would let me. So now I should be able to make due with my iPhone 3G for another 7 months or so. Thank you Apple!

Which begs the question. With all the talk about iPhone killers lately, and all blackberry vs. android vs. iPhone debates, I can’t foresee a similar situation happening when you take your G1 or Droid or Whichever Blackberry 10 Billion that you have in after the warranty has expired and your experiencing some strange behavior. If you know anyone who has done this, I’d love to hear about it. I know it happens with much greater frequency with Apple products, though.

So, again, Thank you, Apple.