Last week I vented my frustration with my iphone 5s. I wanted to fix it but…was the problem hardware? Software?

Prepared for the worse, hoping for the best, I ventured to a local Apple Store to solve the mystery and get my phone up and running properly. Of course, I did go on a Saturday… long lines of browsers, I assumed. But no, the majority of folks were there patiently waiting for a seat at the Genius Bar–Apple’s techies.

I gave my name and waited 45 minutes to ”sign in” with another of the Apple corps , then was seated at the Genius bar to wait another 30 minutes until someone got to me.

Long and short of THIS portion of the tale: it was ascertained that the camera was bad and needed to be replaced. That it happened after downloading the latest iOS was coincidental. Oh, and had I backed everything up to the cloud? Yes.

I left the phone for camera replacement. It would be ready in 2 1/2 hours. Realizing much of the timing issue was that I’d come on a Saturday, I swallowed my impatience and headed out, returning in 3 hours to wait another 30 minutes before being told that the camera replacement didn’t work and I was being given a new phone.The usual process followed–configuring settings, downloading data, photos, etc. from the cloud, and off I went to continue my restore at home.

On Monday, I texted my daughter only to find that she could answer in my thread but couldn’t reach me when initiating a new thread. Later that day, my husband called, but no one was there. I called him back. Again. No one there until I chanced to hit speaker… and there he was.

So… back to the Apple Store I went on Tuesday, hopeful that I’d not be there the majority of the day as it was a weekday. Not so much. A 20 minute wait got me to the Genius Bar, but it was another 35 minutes before a techie could see to my phone. The messaging problem was a settings issue, but the ‘phone’ problem was the earpiece–or earphone speaker. It was broken. I had to leave the phone to have that replaced. Came back 2 hours later to find that the entire screen had to be replaced. Okay, I thought, but when it wouldn’t open with a finger swipe–neither mine nor the techie’s–he took the phone back and gave me ANOTHER new one.

Again, we did whatever settings config, etc. were necessary, and I returned home to finish downloading my stored info from the cloud.

As of today, my phone is working… I assume. I live BY my phone, but not ON it. I have hopes that 3’s the charm and I’ll live happily ever after with this Iphone 5s, but I should note that at least 3 other people on line with me at the Apple Store on Sunday also had 5s problems, and another 2 on Tuesday, so, while I’m hopeful, I’m prepared to be watchful for more problems.