We’re all huge fans of the iconic glowing Apple logo that lights up every time we open up our MacBooks, so wouldn’t it be nice to have the Apple logo on the back of our iPhones do the same? Thanks to Andy and Chris at the U.K.-based iPatch iPhone & iPod repair specialists, you can have your iPhone 4 modded to boast a glowing Apple logo every time your screen lights up.
This awesome mod is expected to cost less than £100 (approx. $159) when iPatch begins offering the service, which they estimate will be in less than a month. What’s more, the process will take less than an hour and it uses your iPhone’s original rear casing without adding any increase to its depth whatsoever.
We’ve seen those third-party colored conversion kits you can get for the iPhone 4, but they’re nowhere near as cool — or as cheap — as this glowing Apple logo mod.
For those of you in the U.S., iPatch offers a mail-in service that will allow you to send your iPhone over to the U.K. for modding, then they’ll ship it back. Though pricing for this service is yet to be confirmed. Keep on eye on the iPatch Twitter account for availability and pricing.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
142 responses to “This Awesome iPhone 4 Mod Illuminates Your Apple Logo Like Your MacBook”
Oooo, I want!
If your iPhone 4 wasn’t already a beacon to thieves to rob you.
Now you can turn on the bat signal at night.
cool.
this for real?
Wow. They are based in Leeds City Centre. I am a Local, might go check it out.
Surely this is going to rape battery life even more?
I took my old 3gs to iPatch, the guy was really helpful…highly recommend them ^_^! This is a pretty cool mod.
Surprised to see a Leeds based shop on this website, it’s about 5 mins walk from my house!
Does it have any impact on camera usage?
This mod does not drain the battery life as much as expected. From out test iPhone we have not had a noticeable loss in battery performance.
iPatch
Feel free to come have a look although it is still in its early test stages atm.
iPatch
Yes this 100% real.
iPatch
This does not have any effect on the camera from what our tests have shown.
iPatch
That looks so cool! Wish it wasn’t so expensive, but I understand why it is. Great job iPatch.
Thanks, So how many pirate puns have you guys gotten due to the name iPatch?
Thanks. We now have a Leeds City Centre located shop.
iPatch
The price is no yet confirmed, the price depends on how well we can develop the light kit. The price does include a new genuine Apple back slightly modified.
iPatch
do you actually put in a led into the phone or just make the back translucent where the logo is?
we will let your imagination decide. At the moment we are keeping it under raps.
iPatch
so coool …
I just got a $829.99 iPad2 for only $103.37 and my mom got a $1499.99 HDTV for only $251.92, they are both coming with USPS tomorrow. I would be an idiot to ever pay full retail prices at places like Walmart or Bestbuy. I sold a 37″ HDTV to my boss for $600 that I only paid $78.24 for.
I use BIDFiRsT. COM
I’m skeptical about this mod having zero impact on the camera. If this was a good idea I would think that Apple would have done this already after all it was their idea in the first place – on Mac notebooks at least. Remember the rumored delays for the white iPhone? One of them was about light leaks. Well this is a nice Apple shaped light leak.
i live Birmingham, UK but deffo interested in this. If we can send in iPhones to have this done i’d deffo have it done straight away!!
Looks a beaut man!!
Obviously it couldn’t be done on a White iPhone? You wouldn’t see the light/glow.
You would the same as on the black. You can also adjust the brightness of the apple using the screen brightness option.
iPatch
VERY cool! Especially if it pulsed like the heartbeat G4s :)
Yes you can send them to your Leeds repair centre. It might take a week or so before it will be available. We will post regular updates on our website. Follow the link in the post.
iPatch
The the light leeks you are referring about came from the corners on the battery emitting small 1mm gaps of light from the LCD back-light. This is an interiorly seprate source of light to make the apple glow.
iPatch
Far to many.
iPatch
“What’s more, the process will take less than an hour and it uses your iPhone’s original rear casing without adding any increase to its depth whatsoever.”
Please show me how does it look like when the logo wasn’t illuminated?
We will post some on our website soon.
iPatch
Just a few clarifications, there is no noticable change in day to day battery life from before or after the mod and the apple logo only illuminates at the same time as your front display (so isn’t just on in your pocket etc). When the light is off, you are left with a standard ‘frosted glass’ apple logo.
iPatch
this is really really sick.
about how long does it take to install? you should make a kit and sell that so people in the U.S don’t have to mail their phone to the U.K and go a couple weeks without a phone…
This makes me hope that the iPhone 5 isn’t a major redesign, so that when I get one I can add this mod.
Currently it takes around 4-5 hours to complete and requires very experienced electrical knowledge. I wish we could create a simple kit but as it’s quite an advance mod, there would be no way to do it cost effectively and in a kit easy enough for someone to carry out. One idea would be to ‘train’ someone in the states to do it and effectively franchise the idea
I really love this, brilliant the fact that it only illuminates when your screen does and supposedly has no extra drain on your battery. Nice.
Very, very, very nice
If there is no realistic added supplemental drain on the battery itself… Then I would completely agree. :)
So does it use a “new genuine Apple back” or does it use “your iPhone’s original rear casing?”
4-5 hours and only $160 bucks? Wow..it seems even cheaper now. Very Smart, Very Cool idea
That is actually very, very cool!!! I would do that in a heart beat!
does it add any extra thickness to the iPhone?
i’ve been wanting that for a while now! i don’t want it on when I’m browsing the device, just when i’m calling. be like “thats right, it’s a glowing apple” when people walk by.
I often thought the Apple logo should be an LED notification, flash when phone rings, flash for missed call.
Are you in Leeds Plaza still? That’s where I remember you being when I saw you guys last. Might consider this, just jail broke my iPhone 4, could add another mod for a laugh. Looks cool man good work!
None at all Alex, using special (and very secret) techniques, the iPhone looks exactly like normal except the logo has a slight frosted appearance instead of silver at the moment. We are working on it remaining silver but may not be possible
It does come on and turn off at the same time as your front screen. When someone calls or texts and the phone is face down, the apple beautifully glows to life!
maybe the iPhone 5 will have this feature built in already? ah, probably not.
This is f*cking ridiculous. The parts cost five dollars. Smd leds, wire, resistors, and sandpaper. All they did was sand out where the logo is. It is glass after all!! It leaves it. Stick a few leds hooked up to the backlight positive and negative, and BAM glowing apple logo. Secret techniques and 160 dollars my ass.
This is f*cking ridiculous. The parts cost five dollars. Smd leds, wire, resistors, and sandpaper. All they did was sand out where the logo is. It is glass after all!! It leaves it. Stick a few leds hooked up to the backlight positive and negative, and BAM glowing apple logo. Secret techniques and 160 dollars my ass.
if it uses the light emitted from the backlight then how would it use more battery?
translucent I’m sure. thats why it doesn’t drain your battery
-1
If you like lights, the apple logo and watching your battery drain at the same time, this is god send for you.
Yeah, that seems SO easy to do…That’s why nobody’s done it before.
Same here. I want it on the iPhone5!
You are uninformed. If you were aware, they sell clear back panels and front panels for the iphone 4. I have done many led mods for the iphone, but not just the logo. Scour some forums sometime.. Any thing can be easy with experience.
Yeah, I want 2 send my iPhone 4 to the UK<\u> and spend $159.00 USA dollars 2 have a glowing apple…
I’ll pass, another new external hhd sounds better 2 me…
this guy may be interested. i do now know him, bu have used his service. http://drbrendan.com/
If only it would be that simple! Feel free to have a try and end up with a result that doesn’t look tatty! Also see if you can get the perfectly distributed light, not just random spots and also the ability to have a completely transparent logo that enables all kinds of light designs to be put in (not just a frosted scratched glass look). On top of all that, done within the 2 millimetres of space inside the phone
Price is only estimated up to that amount and is likely to be considerably cheaper
Price is only estimated up to that amount and is likely to be considerably cheaper
i think it’s sick Andy, don’t listen to these haters. I just don’t want to send my iphone to the UK. That’s the only thing that sucks…
is there any chance to send my iPhone from Germany to get this mod???
Perfect timing, just as the iphone 5 is about to come out
That’s just straight-up bad-ass. ;-)
that is pretty kewl. apple haters will have a fit lol..respond android or be destroyed
Pretty cool. I want mine to glow now =)
http://www.focusupply.com supply all color iphone 4 conversion kits, all LCD is original retina.
@Essa: http://www.iphone-ticker.de/ip…
I know I’m commenting 3 weeks late, but can you put a picture of how it looks like on a white iPhone 4 / 4S. I really want to know if it is noticeable!! (I think A LOT of us do)
where can i buy this patch/mod?
Want to win an iPhone 4S? Follow http://www.twitter.com/iPhoneR… and become a fan of our Facebook page: http://t.co/eEgmFRS7 Details: http://t.co/Lf4aSpU
goodbye battery
For those who take more than 20 minutes to install this, you probably shouldn’t be doing it! The battery life isn’t greatly affected (probably about 2-3% over a day). It really does look cool.
And for those in Australia: http://www.authentec.com.au/iphone
This mod will surely rape the battery even more
Ooo very nice. Me likey
What a bargain at only $160!