Sources: iPhone 6 series 'touch disease' now accounting for about 11% of Apple Store repairs
Exclusive AppleInsider research points to about 11 percent of an Apple Store's daily iPhone service traffic to be related to the so-called "touch disease" problem, eclipsing all other individual issues dealt with by retail personnel on a day-to-day basis.
Data from four high-traffic Apple stores was obtained over a period of six days -- three days before the initial reports of touch controllers failing on the iPhone 6 family, and the three days since.
What users are seeing
Some 2014 iPhone 6 and 6 Plus develop a small grey flickering band at the top of the screen always just below the phone speaker regardless of device orientation. The clearly abnormal band can be sporadic, may respond to torquing or pressing on the device.
The band will sometimes extend further down the screen over time, coupled with touch sensitivity and device response to the touch getting progressively worse.
Colloquially called "touch disease," the issue appears to stem from failure of the chips that translate the user's touch to information the iPhone can use. These controller chips are sometimes failing outright, and in other cases the microscopic solder joints connecting each chip to the motherboard are breaking, causing the progressive failures.
Prior to publication of "touch disease"
Prior to the report, the four stores had a total of 2,804 customers make appointments or walk in needing some form of assistance with an iPhone from specialists or Geniuses. Of the 2,804, 547 were for the iPhone 6, and 965 were for the iPhone 6 Plus.
Between Aug. 20 and 22, a total of 47 customers across four stores were diagnosed by Apple staff with the "touch disease" problem for the iPhone 6. However, 265 iPhone 6 Plus customers seeking help had it pinpointed as the cause of the problem prior to any press coverage of the issue.
Looking at the same figures on a percentage basis, 8.5 percent of a store's traffic for iPhone 6 problems and 27.5 percent of iPhone 6 Plus service customers were found to suffer from the specific issue.
Post-revelatory surge
Following the reports of the problem, the service departments of the Apple stores saw a surge in customers diagnosed with the problem.
Between Aug. 23 and 25, a total of 3,039 customers came in for assistance on an iPhone across the four locations, with 564 iPhone 6 customers and 1,094 iPhone 6 Plus owners amongst them.
Of the 563 iPhone 6 customers, 66 were diagnosed with "touch disease." At the same time, 409 of the iPhone 6 Plus population was found to be manifesting the problem by Apple technicians.
Again, examining percentages, 11.7 percent of iPhone 6 owners had the problem, and 37.4 percent of the iPhone 6 Plus traffic had the problem -- both up since the media reports began.
Overall, across all four locations prior to the wide reveal of a potential issue, 11 percent of customers seeking help for an iPhone-related issue were ultimately found to have the "touch disease." After the reveal, 22 percent of all iPhone service traffic was related to the problem.
The surge in traffic for the problem after the reveal could be a temporary push of people who were just living with the issue in its earlier stages of only minor impact. Service personnel AppleInsider spoke with believe that the ratio will return to previous levels after the peak is over.
The iPhone 6s family does not appear to be affected by the problem at all, with zero incidences of the issue reported by the stores in either the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus.
In the trenches
AppleInsider has spoken to several Apple Genius staffers, as well as iPhone Specialists from the stores where we obtained the data.
"In our notes, we started calling it by a specific name we made up at our store because we all knew it," one specialist told us when asked how the problems were identified by staff. "Management said we had to refer to it as flickering."
The same specialist said it took about 6 months for Apple to issue formal guidance to staff on iPhone 6 Plus flickering displays. The employee expressed frustration with the length of time it took.
Guidance given to the stores was that a "modular replacement" would not fix the problem, and the only solution was to replace the unit.
"It's about time that the Apple press got a whiff of the problem," one Apple Genius said to us. "I'm getting tired of pulling service stock out of the box, and seeing the exact same problem that the customer has on the replacement before I leave backstage."
Why is "touch disease" happening?
The problem may be related to the "Bendgate" issue from 2015, where the large and thin iPhones were warping as a result of force applied by users. The increased incidence of flexing of the case because of the larger surface area may be exacerbating the problem over time, and causing more solder joints to break.
Chip solder connections breaking under stress is confirmed to be the cause of a different high-profile problem. The "red ring of death" and "E74" issues experienced by Xbox 360 users before a redesign was attributed to insufficiently braced chip connections flexing as a result of heat-up and cool-down cycles.
Location of the touch controller chips - photo courtesy iFixit
What to expect at the Genius Bar, and other options
Users experiencing the problem with an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus under AppleCare warranty and demonstrating it before an Apple service technician are universally getting replacement devices, which are sometimes also afflicted by the same problem. Out of warranty repair fees assessed by Apple for the problem reportedly vary, with fees falling in a range between $85 and $249.
Third party repair shops that have specialized micro-soldering gear can replace or "reflow" the touch controller chips, but this invalidates any Apple warranty.
Not cut and dried, but close
While the total numbers of phones brought in for service per location per day are precise, the entire data set may not be completely accurate. Apple employees do have "rules of engagement" and procedures to follow, but they also have wide discretion on ensuring customer satisfaction.
Phones may have been replaced by service personnel without fully diagnosing the problem and not categorized under the flaw, or may have been replaced under the auspices of the issue.
The data has been collated from four of Apple's higher-volume stores and does not include any mail-in service facilitated by AppleCare representatives, or data from countries outside the U.S. Globally, there are 479 stores in 18 countries, with 268 of the retail locations inside the U.S.
Additionally, the numbers do not reflect that service staff may discover multiple units from replacement stock suffering the same problem out of the box.
Complicating analysis, the exact number of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus units "in the wild" isn't known with any precision, outside of Apple.
In the two years since the release of the iPhone 6 family, Apple has sold over 472 million iPhones, including the iPhone 4s, 5c, 5s, 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and SE. In the U.S. early reports after the iPhone 6 release suggested that the iPhone 6 outsold the iPhone 6 Plus by four times.
The start of the process, not the end
Even given minor flaws in the survey method, the collected data does add up to a problem that more than the "average" number of users with failures is seeing. Apple does have a history of issuing repair extension programs for notable problems, but not always at the speed that customers want to see them.
Problems with the 2011 MacBook Pro line surfaced shortly after the line shipped to customers, but wasn't widely known until October 2013. The repair extension program spanning more models than were suspected by early reports started in February 2015.
While smartphones aren't generally retained as long as MacBook Pros are, the road to a repair extension program isn't short. Apple appears to be on the path to such a program now, and may have been for some time, given design modifications made between the iPhone 6 and 6s.
AppleInsider reached out to Apple for comment on this story. As of publication, the company had not responded.
Data from four high-traffic Apple stores was obtained over a period of six days -- three days before the initial reports of touch controllers failing on the iPhone 6 family, and the three days since.
What users are seeing
Some 2014 iPhone 6 and 6 Plus develop a small grey flickering band at the top of the screen always just below the phone speaker regardless of device orientation. The clearly abnormal band can be sporadic, may respond to torquing or pressing on the device.
The band will sometimes extend further down the screen over time, coupled with touch sensitivity and device response to the touch getting progressively worse.
Colloquially called "touch disease," the issue appears to stem from failure of the chips that translate the user's touch to information the iPhone can use. These controller chips are sometimes failing outright, and in other cases the microscopic solder joints connecting each chip to the motherboard are breaking, causing the progressive failures.
Prior to publication of "touch disease"
Prior to the report, the four stores had a total of 2,804 customers make appointments or walk in needing some form of assistance with an iPhone from specialists or Geniuses. Of the 2,804, 547 were for the iPhone 6, and 965 were for the iPhone 6 Plus.
Between Aug. 20 and 22, a total of 47 customers across four stores were diagnosed by Apple staff with the "touch disease" problem for the iPhone 6. However, 265 iPhone 6 Plus customers seeking help had it pinpointed as the cause of the problem prior to any press coverage of the issue.
Looking at the same figures on a percentage basis, 8.5 percent of a store's traffic for iPhone 6 problems and 27.5 percent of iPhone 6 Plus service customers were found to suffer from the specific issue.
Post-revelatory surge
Following the reports of the problem, the service departments of the Apple stores saw a surge in customers diagnosed with the problem.
Between Aug. 23 and 25, a total of 3,039 customers came in for assistance on an iPhone across the four locations, with 564 iPhone 6 customers and 1,094 iPhone 6 Plus owners amongst them.
Of the 563 iPhone 6 customers, 66 were diagnosed with "touch disease." At the same time, 409 of the iPhone 6 Plus population was found to be manifesting the problem by Apple technicians.
Again, examining percentages, 11.7 percent of iPhone 6 owners had the problem, and 37.4 percent of the iPhone 6 Plus traffic had the problem -- both up since the media reports began.
"It's about time that the Apple press got a whiff of the problem," one retail source told AppleInsider.
Overall, across all four locations prior to the wide reveal of a potential issue, 11 percent of customers seeking help for an iPhone-related issue were ultimately found to have the "touch disease." After the reveal, 22 percent of all iPhone service traffic was related to the problem.
The surge in traffic for the problem after the reveal could be a temporary push of people who were just living with the issue in its earlier stages of only minor impact. Service personnel AppleInsider spoke with believe that the ratio will return to previous levels after the peak is over.
The iPhone 6s family does not appear to be affected by the problem at all, with zero incidences of the issue reported by the stores in either the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus.
In the trenches
AppleInsider has spoken to several Apple Genius staffers, as well as iPhone Specialists from the stores where we obtained the data.
"In our notes, we started calling it by a specific name we made up at our store because we all knew it," one specialist told us when asked how the problems were identified by staff. "Management said we had to refer to it as flickering."
The same specialist said it took about 6 months for Apple to issue formal guidance to staff on iPhone 6 Plus flickering displays. The employee expressed frustration with the length of time it took.
Guidance given to the stores was that a "modular replacement" would not fix the problem, and the only solution was to replace the unit.
"It's about time that the Apple press got a whiff of the problem," one Apple Genius said to us. "I'm getting tired of pulling service stock out of the box, and seeing the exact same problem that the customer has on the replacement before I leave backstage."
Why is "touch disease" happening?
The problem may be related to the "Bendgate" issue from 2015, where the large and thin iPhones were warping as a result of force applied by users. The increased incidence of flexing of the case because of the larger surface area may be exacerbating the problem over time, and causing more solder joints to break.
Chip solder connections breaking under stress is confirmed to be the cause of a different high-profile problem. The "red ring of death" and "E74" issues experienced by Xbox 360 users before a redesign was attributed to insufficiently braced chip connections flexing as a result of heat-up and cool-down cycles.
Location of the touch controller chips - photo courtesy iFixit
What to expect at the Genius Bar, and other options
Users experiencing the problem with an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus under AppleCare warranty and demonstrating it before an Apple service technician are universally getting replacement devices, which are sometimes also afflicted by the same problem. Out of warranty repair fees assessed by Apple for the problem reportedly vary, with fees falling in a range between $85 and $249.
Third party repair shops that have specialized micro-soldering gear can replace or "reflow" the touch controller chips, but this invalidates any Apple warranty.
Not cut and dried, but close
While the total numbers of phones brought in for service per location per day are precise, the entire data set may not be completely accurate. Apple employees do have "rules of engagement" and procedures to follow, but they also have wide discretion on ensuring customer satisfaction.
Phones may have been replaced by service personnel without fully diagnosing the problem and not categorized under the flaw, or may have been replaced under the auspices of the issue.
The data has been collated from four of Apple's higher-volume stores and does not include any mail-in service facilitated by AppleCare representatives, or data from countries outside the U.S. Globally, there are 479 stores in 18 countries, with 268 of the retail locations inside the U.S.
Additionally, the numbers do not reflect that service staff may discover multiple units from replacement stock suffering the same problem out of the box.
Complicating analysis, the exact number of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus units "in the wild" isn't known with any precision, outside of Apple.
In the two years since the release of the iPhone 6 family, Apple has sold over 472 million iPhones, including the iPhone 4s, 5c, 5s, 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and SE. In the U.S. early reports after the iPhone 6 release suggested that the iPhone 6 outsold the iPhone 6 Plus by four times.
The start of the process, not the end
Even given minor flaws in the survey method, the collected data does add up to a problem that more than the "average" number of users with failures is seeing. Apple does have a history of issuing repair extension programs for notable problems, but not always at the speed that customers want to see them.
Problems with the 2011 MacBook Pro line surfaced shortly after the line shipped to customers, but wasn't widely known until October 2013. The repair extension program spanning more models than were suspected by early reports started in February 2015.
While smartphones aren't generally retained as long as MacBook Pros are, the road to a repair extension program isn't short. Apple appears to be on the path to such a program now, and may have been for some time, given design modifications made between the iPhone 6 and 6s.
AppleInsider reached out to Apple for comment on this story. As of publication, the company had not responded.
Comments
The pool of customers is sufficient to generalize trends.
John
At the same time, I'd guess that over the product life cycle of the 6 and 6 Plus, Apple was building something on the order of 350,000 units per day, so the rate of failure, so far, looks to be relatively small.
Lessons to learn, sure, but I'm not seeing anyone that should be fired, especially not Tim Cook.
My best wild-ass guess, based on previous history and what I'm seeing now, is between 1 in 15 and 1 in 25 iPhone 6 Plus users will experience the problem. Apple is still widely regarded for customer support, and still, only about 1 in 100 customers need to talk to Apple for ANY support reason after purchase. One in 25 is a lot compared to that.
Was just a couple days ago:
get. help. seriously.
Yawn.
Those 54 geniuses that have contacted me about the article an hour ago? Up to 70 now. Even if you don't believe the numbers for whatever your rationalizations are, the anecdotal evidence from the people dealing with the customers is weighty.
We did address that the damage may be from the stresses that flexing the larger phone may induce. Like I said, we'll see with time.
Additionally, I'm not sure why you're taking this so personally. A cliche, sure, but it is what it is. It's not a disparagement of what you bought, or on Apple as a company. Its just what's happening, outside of Apple's statistical norm.
By the way, ncsucpe joined in December 2014. I don't think that he/she lurked waiting for this to pop up.
I have experienced exactly the issue described twice - initially mid-May 2015 - they replaced the screen, and Jun 2015 - they replaced the whole phone - no questions asked. I have had no issues since - though at times if my fingers are damp the screen may not react as expected.
I have always had a quality case and screen protector on the phone - careful not to bend it by not leaving it in my pocket when I sit down.
There is clearly an issue of some type that effect a small proportion of phones, and the fact that after the initial repair not solving the issue long for more than a month, they were so prompt at replacing the phone, someone knows there is an issue and has done so for at least a year, whether they knew the actual cause or not.
Your personal anecdote is not a big sample size.
Anyway, I'm waiting until this new one comes out this year then I'll decide whether to get the 7 (or whatever it'll be called) or just get a 6S since I'd rather save my money but I do need an upgrade. The only thing I haven't liked about the 6+ has been the lag that occurs from time to time due to the A8 not being able to handle the 2K pixels it's outputting...
Hi jason powers (jpowers ),
Thanks for participating in Apple Support Communities.
We removed your post Re: iPhone 6 touchscreen issue (touch disease) because it was nontechnical or off-topic. We understand wanting to share experiences, but these forums are meant for technical questions that can be answered by the community.
Thursday, Aug 25, 2016 08:25 AM
Duration 27 minutes 22 seconds
Mercedes
Thanks for contacting AppleCare chat support. How can I help you?
Mercedes
Thank you for contacting Apple Care! My name is Mercedes, how can I help you today?
jpowers
my iphone has the touch disease
Mercedes
Ok! What do you mean by touch disease?
jpowers
http://gizmodo.com/touch-disease-is-the-latest-flaw-killing-iphones-1785712917
jpowers
Here’s where the plot thickens: Replacing the touchscreen doesn’t fix the problem. The gray bar eventually shows up on the new screen, too. Because, according to repair pros, the problem isn’t the screen at all. It’s the two touchscreen controller chips, or Touch IC chips, on the logic board inside the phone.
jpowers
These two chips translate your finger mashing on the display into information your phone can actually use. When the Touch IC chips go bad, you can jab, tap, and poke the screen all you want—your phone can’t correctly process the information. At least, not until the bum chips are replaced with new ones.Apple’s repair Geniuses aren’t equipped to make specialized repairs to the logic board in-house, so they can’t actually fix Touch Disease. But skilled, third-party microsoldering specialists (most “unauthorized” to do Apple repairs, according to official company policy)can fix phones with symptoms of Touch Disease. And they can do it a whole lot cheaper than the cost of a new logic board or an out-of-warranty phone replacement. Which is precisely why so many of these damaged iPhones are finding their way into repair shops around the world.
Mercedes
Give me just a few moments to look over that website you sent.
jpowers
if you pull up touch disease iphone in google many articles.
Mercedes
What is it showing on your phone?
jpowers
gray bar on top and frozen
jpowers
my wife has a 6+ and its starting to do the same freezing
jpowers
not to happy
Mercedes
Your whole device is freezing? Is it not letting you do anything on the phone?
jpowers
yes. i have to press the phone like the article says
jpowers
doiung a soft reset does not work
jpowers
very unhappy
Mercedes
Ok, I’m trying to find an article for this on our end. Just a few moments.
Mercedes
I’m going to go ask one of my advisors what we can do for you. This is a very new concern and I want to give you the best help I can.
jpowers
I appreciate it
jpowers
very frusterating. thank you
Mercedes
just a few moments.
Mercedes
Ok, so Apple hasn’t released an official report on this issue. I did look on Google as you said, and all of those articles are about a day old. Since Apple hasn’t released anything yet, unfortunately all I can really tell you is to stand by.
Mercedes
I could set you up with an appointment for a store but it looks to me like they will be telling you the same thing, to stand by.
Mercedes
Once Apple releases an actual statement on this issue, we wont really know how we can help everyone having the problem.
jpowers
that;s what I thougt
jpowers
have an appointment but saw this article last night
Mercedes
You already have an appointment set up?
jpowers
so until apple says this is a problem and fix i am out of luck
Mercedes
What I would do is let them know at the appointment. They MAY be able to help you, but Apple hasn’t released anything to us, yet.
jpowers
okay thank you
Mercedes
Your welcome, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help you further.
jpowers
can you tell apple about the problem
jpowers
make sure to note it.Yes people, it's a problem!
Also, who (unless they had a specific agenda against Apple) would ever describe the alleged issue at hand as a "touch disease"? That is some prime anti-Apple propaganda right there.
Is that some kind of viral skin infection that people get after using an iPhone? Is it contagious?
Who came up with that name? Samsung? Some Fandroid?
I don't have any problems with my phone, since I have a solid as a rock iPhone SE, built like a tank, but If I were forced to choose, I'd rather have Touch Disease instead of Android AIDS, not to mention Samsung Ebola. Even Zika or cancer is preferable.