I have a 16 month old iPhone 5 that is subject to recall for a defective Sleep/Wake Button.

The above notice says that if one has not experienced problems it is not necessary to have the button replaced.

And that is my case. My phone is problem free and in pristine/new condition. Ergo, I am undecided re the wisdom of having the work done for fear that the repair will cause more problems than it fixes, or that I will get a replacement phone at the expense of one I know to be in perfect shape.

So, great FTM sages, what say you? Is your counsel to not mess with success (take Apple’s advice), or quit pretending the problem will not develop and get the repair done?

I have had three iPhones replaced because of problems, but no recalls. In every case the new/refurbished replacement worked as well or better than the device it replaced. Personally, I would back up the iPhone to my Mac, delete if from the list of devices in iTunes, and then get me hence to the Apple Store for a replacement. If you elect to setup the new phone yourself you should be in and out of the Apple Store in under 15 minutes. Just be sure to register the replacement phone on iTunes and restore from the backup you made immediately prior to going to the Apple Store.

In rereading the Recall Notice, I find my quandary may be academic. I don't quality for the repair: "Apple will replace the sleep/wake button mechanism, free of charge, on iPhone 5 models that exhibit this issue and have a qualifying serial number". (I only have the later.)

I have one of the affected iPhones, and the button has the problem. I am very, very happy they are fixing it. It's incredibly annoying that the button doesn't work.

The problem started gradually--the button mostly worked, but every so often it wouldn't, and I'd have to press it a bunch of times to sleep the phone. It gradually got worse and worse, and now the button doesn't work at all.

Given how gradually it started and how annoying it is, if I had a phone that was covered by the recall, I'd take it in--even if the button was working. I'd tell them it has occasional, intermittent problems.

It appears to be a manufacturing defect that affected an entire production run, so I'm glad they're doing the right thing in taking care of it. When mine first went wonky, I was told the fix would be $200.

The notice also implies they will repair the phone, not replace it. Thus, the owner needs to leave the iPhone in the Apple Store (or mail it in). No time frame is given, but no phone during the repair period. How dependent are you?

My notice said a free iPhone 5 loaner phone would be provided to affected customers.

Yeah, I see that too. But does that mean you can take the loaner phone and use your last back up to make that phone "yours"?

Given that the NSA et al have infiltrated virtually everything electronic, it might not be such a great idea to drop your back-up onto a loaner. But what the hell do I know? I'm a Luddite.