New lawsuit accuses Apple of turning blind eye to 'touch disease' on iPhone 6 & 6 Plus

Posted:
in iPhone
A new class action lawsuit against Apple claims that the company has been aware of the so-called "touch disease" on 2014 iPhones for some time, and unfairly refused to repair affected devices at no cost.




The suit was filed with the U.S. District Court for Northern California, and accuses Apple of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of implied warranty, unjust enrichment, and breaking the Magnuson-Moss and Song-Beverly Warranty Acts, according to MacRumors. The plaintiffs are listed as Thomas Davidson from Pennsylvania, Todd Cleary from California, and Delaware resident Jun Bai.

"Many other iPhone owners have communicated with Apple's employees and agents to request that Apple remedy and/or address the Touchscreen Defect and/or resultant damage at no expense. Apple has failed and/or refused to do so," part of the complaint reads.

Affected iPhones will develop a flickering gray band near the phone speaker, which can also potentially expand over time and gradually reduce a device's touch sensitivity and response. The problem has been linked to faulty controller chips, and/or their solder joints. The lawsuit specifically supports the idea that the lack of a "metal shield" over the logic board is allowing iPhones to bend too much, damaging components. The iPhone 5s and 5c had such shields in place.

AppleInsider recently estimated that 11 percent of Apple's retail iPhone troubleshooting may now involve the problem, which could potentially make for a costly outcome in the lawsuit if Apple loses or settles out of court.
cyberforce
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Most of these class actions are thrown out. So will this one. My magic eight-ball says so.
    edited August 2016 lollivernolamacguykevin keejony0
  • Reply 2 of 28
    A $329 replacement phone in an Otterbox Defender case should last more than 5 months (2 more than the 90 day warranty).  Apple is re-selling junk.
    edited August 2016 doozydozen
  • Reply 3 of 28
    sog35 said:
    lkrupp said:
    Most of these class actions are thrown out. So will this one. My magic eight-ball says so.
    Exactly. The only ones winning in these are lawyers who collect a $2k retainer from a couple hundred idiots who think they have a chance for a huge settlement.

    Lawyers and Ads are the bain of society.
    Spoken like someone who has no idea what the purpose of class action lawsuits are -- not to put money in the pockets of "a couple hundred idiots who think they have a chance for a huge settlement", but to punish the corporation financially.

    How are you able to even work a computer?
    nolamacguydoozydozen
  • Reply 4 of 28
    The only thing I hope for is that this class action lawsuit forces Apple to address the situation. Great for you if the issue doesn't affect you, but it does affect me, along with a lot of other people. I don't wear skinny jeans. I don't put my phone in my back pocket. I even have a case on my phone....an Apple branded iPhone case too! However, my iPhone 6+ has had this so called touch disease for about 2 months now. Shame on me for not getting Applecare. I trusted Apple a bit too much not to design a phone with an obvious design defect. 
    doozydozen
  • Reply 5 of 28
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,311member
    sog35 said:
    lkrupp said:
    Most of these class actions are thrown out. So will this one. My magic eight-ball says so.
    Exactly. The only ones winning in these are lawyers who collect a $2k retainer from a couple hundred idiots who think they have a chance for a huge settlement.

    Lawyers and Ads are the bain of society.
    Spoken like someone who has no idea what the purpose of class action lawsuits are -- not to put money in the pockets of "a couple hundred idiots who think they have a chance for a huge settlement", but to punish the corporation financially.

    How are you able to even work a computer?
    A issue of such low magnitude that few are even aware of it in the two years since the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus came on the market, and now all of the sudden, pushed by a couple of aftermarket repair guys and AI, it's now a big deal worthy of an immediate class action lawsuit?

    Welcome to the internets...
    lolliverlkruppstevehericthehalfbeewilliamlondonjbdragonbadmonkjony0
  • Reply 6 of 28
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    I like how someone has some how determined that issue is related to a shield not being on a phone and that it is an issue with the display driver and poor solder. Sounds like lots of speculation an assumptions. If it was a design issue most all phones would be showing it, which they are not since I know lots of people with iphone even the iphone 6 and no one is having the problem I am aware of. People electronic fail they all do, it is call physics, you might want to take a few calls in physics and device reliability.
    tmaylkruppsteveh
  • Reply 7 of 28
    I have a 6+ that has been exhibiting this problem and getting progressively worse over the last few weeks. My friend who purchased one little after I did (Both were Nov./Dec. '14) is experiencing the beginning stages of the same problem. I have kept mine in a case from the beginning and out of my back pocket after seeing the bending that was occurring on the phones of those who did such. All I hope is that this suit forces Apple's hand.

    People can say one should just expect it to last the warranty or buy an extended warranty, but is that what Apple sells? Apple touts the design, lasting endurance, and quality of their products as being above the competition. By so doing, they imply said products will perform well for a reasonable amount of time. Under 2 years or much less in some instances is not reasonable. Refusing to acknowledge the bending and flexing that seems to create this problem over time is what started this whole mess.

    The 6+ was a first gen product, but a first gen that was sold, bought, and advertised as an iteration of a successful product. This reminds me of the iPad 3 which was not prepared to handle a retina screen. I owned it and while it managed, it certainly wasn't as advertised. In reality, both of these products were such major shifts that they really constituted something new, not iterative in the way the 4s to the 5 was.

    For me (speaking only of my personal experience) this is a trend in Apple products. I had a 2010 MacBook Pro that had to be replaced after 4 logic board failures. It was replaced by a 2012 Pro that again was replaced after 3 logic board failures. I now have a late 2013 Retina Pro that has had its logic board replaced 2 times. All the failures from the 2010 through the 2013 have been in the GPU. My iPhone 4 had to be replaced due to failure. My iPad Air had to be replaced due to multiple button failures which was linked to the logic board by the geniuses. Now my 6+ is suffering with this problem and my 2013 Pro that had its logic board replaced last month is starting to exhibit some of the same symptoms it did in the months leading up to the GPU failure. I love how the Apple ecosystem works together. But it has become increasingly harder for me to use that system as the products that sustain it have failed to function. Just my 2 cents. 
    edited August 2016 xixodoozydozen
  • Reply 8 of 28
    tmay said:
    sog35 said:
    lkrupp said:
    Most of these class actions are thrown out. So will this one. My magic eight-ball says so.
    Exactly. The only ones winning in these are lawyers who collect a $2k retainer from a couple hundred idiots who think they have a chance for a huge settlement.

    Lawyers and Ads are the bain of society.
    Spoken like someone who has no idea what the purpose of class action lawsuits are -- not to put money in the pockets of "a couple hundred idiots who think they have a chance for a huge settlement", but to punish the corporation financially.

    How are you able to even work a computer?
    A issue of such low magnitude that few are even aware of it in the two years since the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus came on the market, and now all of the sudden, pushed by a couple of aftermarket repair guys and AI, it's now a big deal worthy of an immediate class action lawsuit?

    Welcome to the internets...
    I don't think the issue is one of magnitude, rather it is a matter of many experiencing the problem (see the Apple forum links from the first article with hundreds of people discussing it over the last year or so) but it not being unified under any one name by which folks would identify it and discuss it. From what I see this is a coalescing of users around a common problem, not a sudden rush of users who are trying to say they have a problem.
    edited August 2016 doozydozengatorguy
  • Reply 9 of 28
    singularitysingularity Posts: 1,328member
    sog35 said:
    fatkid98 said:
    The only thing I hope for is that this class action lawsuit forces Apple to address the situation. Great for you if the issue doesn't affect you, but it does affect me, along with a lot of other people. I don't wear skinny jeans. I don't put my phone in my back pocket. I even have a case on my phone....an Apple branded iPhone case too! However, my iPhone 6+ has had this so called touch disease for about 2 months now. Shame on me for not getting Applecare. I trusted Apple a bit too much not to design a phone with an obvious design defect. 
    This is your sixth post on AppleInsider. Thank you for your comment, but your comments will not be seen by other members till your 50th comment. Please feel free to step on a steaming pile of radioactive waste on your way out. Thank you and have a nice day!
    This is your 10k plus post but your comments are still full of hyperbole and general lack of reality.
    Please feel free to have a rest and mind your step.
    Thank you and have a nice day.
    xixodoozydozengatorguy
  • Reply 10 of 28
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    A $329 replacement phone in an Otterbox Defender case should last more than 5 months (2 more than the 90 day warranty).  Apple is re-selling junk.  
    Oh look, mommy! A YouTube troll!
  • Reply 11 of 28
    My Iphone 6 has been experienced the touch disease.  I have an appointment tomorrow at the apple store where I will probably be told they cannot do anything for but feel free to buy a used Iphone 6 for 329 dollars which will end up the same way.  I will be joining the class action suit.  Anyone who is having issues should.  Yes lawyers will make most of the money, but apple will get bad publicity and hopefully lose sales in the future.  If they come clean admit their phone has a the clap and offer a replacement phone at a reasonable cost this would not happen.  Since Steve Jobs apple has been going down hill.  
    xixo
  • Reply 12 of 28
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,311member
    tmay said:
    sog35 said:
    lkrupp said:
    Most of these class actions are thrown out. So will this one. My magic eight-ball says so.
    Exactly. The only ones winning in these are lawyers who collect a $2k retainer from a couple hundred idiots who think they have a chance for a huge settlement.

    Lawyers and Ads are the bain of society.
    Spoken like someone who has no idea what the purpose of class action lawsuits are -- not to put money in the pockets of "a couple hundred idiots who think they have a chance for a huge settlement", but to punish the corporation financially.

    How are you able to even work a computer?
    A issue of such low magnitude that few are even aware of it in the two years since the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus came on the market, and now all of the sudden, pushed by a couple of aftermarket repair guys and AI, it's now a big deal worthy of an immediate class action lawsuit?

    Welcome to the internets...
    I don't think the issue is one of magnitude, rather it is a matter of many experiencing the problem (see the Apple forum links from the first article with hundreds of people discussing it over the last year or so) but it not being unified under any one name by which folks would identify it and discuss it. From what I see this is a coalescing of users around a common problem, not a sudden rush of users who are trying to say they have a problem.
    No, it's an issue of magnitude, or lack of it to this point in time.

    Apple tracks failures, and since the release of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, this has been either a low rate issue;  has been treated as a general touchscreen issue, or;  is one of many issues that is caused by bending, and diagnosed by Apple as such. Apple defines it as "flickering" according to Mike in his previous AI article, which would be a pretty definitive symptom.
    edited August 2016
  • Reply 13 of 28
    seankillseankill Posts: 566member
    Impossible to argue that Apple didn't drop the ball on the iPhone 6/6+ design. The upgraded aluminum for the 6S only proves the point.

    Coming from an iPhone 6+ user.
    doozydozen
  • Reply 14 of 28
    bellsbells Posts: 140member
    sog35 said:
    lkrupp said:
    Most of these class actions are thrown out. So will this one. My magic eight-ball says so.
    Exactly. The only ones winning in these are lawyers who collect a $2k retainer from a couple hundred idiots who think they have a chance for a huge settlement.

    Lawyers and Ads are the bain of society.
    First, lawyers take these on a contingency fee basis. If they lose, they get nothing and likely have to eat any cost they incur. Second, a settlement in this type of case would likely require Apple to extend the warranty period for this issue, and cover costs for people who paid out of pocket.




    doozydozenroger wade
  • Reply 15 of 28
    I once bought an amplifier. The instructions that came with it mentioned the occurrence of a likely problem, and proceeded with: "but in no way your amplifier is at fault". It repeated this mantra perhaps 10 times, giving me the giggles. Same is happening here. In no way Apple is at fault is the gist of many posts, oftentimes put in an abusive way. Where are the insightful posts with clever observations? 
  • Reply 16 of 28
    xixoxixo Posts: 450member
    I have a 6+ that has been exhibiting this problem and getting progressively worse over the last few weeks. My friend who purchased one little after I did (Both were Nov./Dec. '14) is experiencing the beginning stages of the same problem. I have kept mine in a case from the beginning and out of my back pocket after seeing the bending that was occurring on the phones of those who did such. All I hope is that this suit forces Apple's hand.

    People can say one should just expect it to last the warranty or buy an extended warranty, but is that what Apple sells? Apple touts the design, lasting endurance, and quality of their products as being above the competition. By so doing, they imply said products will perform well for a reasonable amount of time. Under 2 years or much less in some instances is not reasonable. Refusing to acknowledge the bending and flexing that seems to create this problem over time is what started this whole mess.

    The 6+ was a first gen product, but a first gen that was sold, bought, and advertised as an iteration of a successful product. This reminds me of the iPad 3 which was not prepared to handle a retina screen. I owned it and while it managed, it certainly wasn't as advertised. In reality, both of these products were such major shifts that they really constituted something new, not iterative in the way the 4s to the 5 was.

    For me (speaking only of my personal experience) this is a trend in Apple products. I had a 2010 MacBook Pro that had to be replaced after 4 logic board failures. It was replaced by a 2012 Pro that again was replaced after 3 logic board failures. I now have a late 2013 Retina Pro that has had its logic board replaced 2 times. All the failures from the 2010 through the 2013 have been in the GPU. My iPhone 4 had to be replaced due to failure. My iPad Air had to be replaced due to multiple button failures which was linked to the logic board by the geniuses. Now my 6+ is suffering with this problem and my 2013 Pro that had its logic board replaced last month is starting to exhibit some of the same symptoms it did in the months leading up to the GPU failure. I love how the Apple ecosystem works together. But it has become increasingly harder for me to use that system as the products that sustain it have failed to function. Just my 2 cents. 
    I also got burned by the MacBookPro 2010 graphics card failure. Back and forth, nothing but a runaround from the genius bar, finally sold it for parts on eBay after the 3rd repair failed after the 90 days warranty and apple wanted $300 to replace it again. A month later, the free exchange / repair program was announced after all the blame-gaming from apple technicians.

    Oh well, they really know how to maximize shareholder value. Writing this on a thinkpad running linux, smooth as silk!
    doozydozen
  • Reply 17 of 28
    xixoxixo Posts: 450member
    tmay said:
    tmay said:
    sog35 said:
    lkrupp said:
    Most of these class actions are thrown out. So will this one. My magic eight-ball says so.
    Exactly. The only ones winning in these are lawyers who collect a $2k retainer from a couple hundred idiots who think they have a chance for a huge settlement.

    Lawyers and Ads are the bain of society.
    Spoken like someone who has no idea what the purpose of class action lawsuits are -- not to put money in the pockets of "a couple hundred idiots who think they have a chance for a huge settlement", but to punish the corporation financially.

    How are you able to even work a computer?
    A issue of such low magnitude that few are even aware of it in the two years since the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus came on the market, and now all of the sudden, pushed by a couple of aftermarket repair guys and AI, it's now a big deal worthy of an immediate class action lawsuit?

    Welcome to the internets...
    I don't think the issue is one of magnitude, rather it is a matter of many experiencing the problem (see the Apple forum links from the first article with hundreds of people discussing it over the last year or so) but it not being unified under any one name by which folks would identify it and discuss it. From what I see this is a coalescing of users around a common problem, not a sudden rush of users who are trying to say they have a problem.
    No, it's an issue of magnitude, or lack of it to this point in time.

    Apple tracks failures, and since the release of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, this has been either a low rate issue;  has been treated as a general touchscreen issue, or;  is one of many issues that is caused by bending, and diagnosed by Apple as such. Apple defines it as "flickering" according to Mike in his previous AI article, which would be a pretty definitive symptom.

  • Reply 18 of 28
    misamisa Posts: 827member
    sog35 said:
    "Many other iPhone owners have communicated with Apple's employees..."

    Many is an opinion. Many could be a dozen or a bilion. Stupid lawyer talk not giving specifics.

    "AppleInsider recently estimated that 11 percent of Apple's retail iPhone troubleshooting may now involve the problem"

    based on 4 stores, and 1 week of data. Talk about weak 




    Also, based on what?

    How many Samsung's are returned to the Wireless company? It's all relative.

    When I worked for AT&T Wireless, the Samsungs and LG's would be frequently warranty exchanged, guess why? They were the free phone, therefor the most popular by "shipments." Little has changed in that regard.

    If this touch disease is a real problem, this is on Apple to quit chasing the "thinner, lighter" unicorn. The 6/6Plus already suffers from not being structurally solid. I no doubt suspect the touch disease is a symptom of the phone being flexed, but not to the point that it damages the shape. Considering that 90% of the reports are from people with the larger 6Plus.

    In fact this should be a warning to the other smartphone makers to stop chasing the "thinner lighter" unicorn as well. Apple can weather replacing the phones that develop the problem, everyone else will just throw them away in 3 years anyway. So one more year and they would have upgraded anyway. In theory. Having multiple products that continuously have the same problem is a bad thing, which is a lesson that Samsung and LG has never learned.

    Ultimately my experience at AT&T Wireless is why I would never buy a Samsung or LG phone, because their previous feature phones had terrible build quality. 

    Apple has so far had "Antennagate" and "Bendgate" (Iphone 4 and 6 respectively, so four product lines apart) What does that tell people? don't buy the even-numbered iPhones.

  • Reply 19 of 28
    A $329 replacement phone in an Otterbox Defender case should last more than 5 months (2 more than the 90 day warranty).  Apple is re-selling junk.
    Nice video. Has Apple blown you off when you brought it to their attention?
  • Reply 20 of 28
    yoyo2222 said:
    A $329 replacement phone in an Otterbox Defender case should last more than 5 months (2 more than the 90 day warranty).  Apple is re-selling junk.
    Nice video. Has Apple blown you off when you brought it to their attention?
    Yes, they did blow me off.  It took 4 days talking to 3 specialists and a supervisor.  The 1st person had me do a complete restore which didn't help obviously, the 2nd person told me to take it to Simply Mac to swap it out as it would be covered.  The Simply Mac folks needed an exception code from Apple which he didn't give me.  So I called again and the lady read through the case notes and said that she needed to transfer me to a Supervisor so that I could get the exception code.  The supervisor pretended like I wasn't transferred from the third person and was confused.  He read through the case notes and said they couldn't do anything as it was out of warranty.  After much complaining on my part for wasting my time at Simply Mac he said he would need to call around to make a decision.  He ( Carlos Garcia) finally called me back and told me they couldn't make an exception as they will only do one in your lifetime and apparently I used it on my Apple Watch.  I think the products and phone support have definitely gone down hill.  I'm not sure why I'm sinking so much money into Apple Products when they last just a few months regardless of how you take care of them.  Watch out buying a replacement 6 or 6 plus as you don't really know the condition of the refurbished phones.
    loquitur
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