My brand new XR fell form a shelve and the back screen is smashed. It’s fully functional and don’t feel like paying the advertised repair cost if I can avoid it. I don’t want to use a case (I’m a slow learner).
Can I use a screen protector to keep it together? Any downside?
Make sure it doesn’t get worse. My wife tried putting a protector on a broken screen and the cracks got worse over time. It was a waste in the end because a small crack became larger and she needed to screen replaced after a couple of weeks.
Thanks Rob. It’s smashed - not a small crack, so I’m unfortunately beyond that point!
Sorry to hear about it. Cracks can spread, but you can help maintain the back’s integrity with gaffers tape.
Apple charges $199 for XR screen replacement, but I don’t know what they charge for the back. Maybe less?
FYI with the $149 AppleCare+ for XR, for up to two incidents of accidental damage the charge is $29 for screen repair and $99 for anything else, and battery service is free with AppleCare+, $69 without.
So maybe if this is the only damage your phone ever experiences, your total cost might be the same as Applecare+. Small consolation, I know.
With the X replacing the back was much more than the front because the battery and some other components are glued to it. 
2 Likes
Oof. So if a typical iPhone has a 3-year lifetime, as reported recently, that $149 charge for (2 years of) Applecare+ for the XR (or $249 to include theft/loss) seems like an uncomfortably pricey yet recommended adjunct.
When yesterday I bought an XSmax I opted for the AppleCare+ plus theft/loss, which Apple bumped up to $299. With tax the iPhone came in just under $1700. (Oof again.) Hopefully I’ll never need it, but if I do it’ll have been worth the up-front pain.
This happened to me on my iPhone 8, and I didn’t have AppleCare (first time ever, go figure) and tried a number of measures to keep the cracking from getting worse: tape, a glass screen protecto, a Zagg-type screen protector inside an otterbox case, etc. and I STILL had major ongoing cracking issues.
I ended up biting the bullet and doing a full handset replacement, which was about $349 through Apple.