I bought an iPhone 17 Pro from T-Mobile about three or four weeks ago. Today I accidentally dropped it several times from roughly two feet high, and now the display is completely white. I've already tried force-restarting it and the usual troubleshooting steps, so I'm assuming the screen needs to be replaced. There's no obvious external damage, and I normally keep the phone in a case. Is this something the standard warranty or AppleCare could cover, or am I stuck paying the $359 repair cost?
1 Answer
The standard limited warranty generally covers manufacturing defects, not damage caused by accidental drops—even when there are no visible cracks or dents. Apple may still be able to diagnose it, but they’ll likely treat the white screen as accidental damage if the drops caused an internal display failure. AppleCare+ could reduce the repair cost, but adding it after the damage occurred may require a remote or in-person inspection, and coverage can’t normally be used for a problem that already exists.
I do keep it in a case, and there’s no visible damage, so I was hoping it might still qualify as a defect. I’ll check whether AppleCare+ is still available, but I understand they may inspect it first.