iOS 7 update brings more Wi-Fi issues for some iPhone 4S owners

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  • Reply 61 of 117
    hazy11 wrote: »
    Ok i will reply to this - quite frankly I am over the whole affair, and this has badly damaged my relationship with Apple.
    I have struggled with the wifi issue for over two weeks, i believe the OS is actually screwing the phone up, as it got frozen in airplane mode just now.
    IF I CAN REITERATE UP UNTIL I UPDATED THE IOS I HAD NO ISSUE WITH THIS HANDSET!

    First contact with "Applecare" i got the standard company line that an out of warranty phone meant that I would have to pay $200NZ to be supplied a refurbished handset. No amount of arguing could change that.
    Yesterday on my day off I had to spend nearly 2 hours on the phone battling applecare again. They will now supply me with a phone for free, HOWEVER since there is no Apple Store in New Zealand I have to send the handset off and be without one for probably 2 weeks. OR have $750 frozen on my credit card while they send me another handset. And then once they receive the faulty one back they release the funds.
    Luckily I am travelling to Sydney Australia next week, where there are Apple Stores, And i will book an "appointment" although from what I read these are touch and go as well.
    So I will have to waste precious time on a business trip to Australia to fix an issue created by Apple.

    At the moment I don't know if I would buy another Apple product ever again, this has been so badly handled - right from the lack of accountability from Apple for their product.

    SHAME ON YOU APPLE


    So let me get this straight, your phone is out of warranty and Apple wants to replace your device for free and you still shame Apple? First off, Apple has no obligation to replace your out of warranty device at no cost. Secondly, apple didn't create this issue. If you read the TOS before updating you would see that Apple cautions updating can strain the hardware. The wifi card simply failed. A warranty is a guarantee that the product will last as long as the warranty and if anything goes wrong the company will make it right. If you have AppleCare you have more time than the standard one year. The fact they want to replace it for free at all is a surprise to me and above and beyond what they should do for you. As to your issue with getting the device, it's a free replacement. You can't expect apple to give you a replacement on good faith that you didn't lie about the physical condition of the phone, tampered with it to void the warranty, or might not even mail back the bad phone. I think you made out and yet you still complain? Good luck getting a free replacement from any other phone manufacturer out of warranty. Grow up
  • Reply 62 of 117

    I have the same issue with 4s.  It is true it is a hardware problem....caused by a software problem.  I can fry my motherboard by overclocking it too.  I almost got the applecare jackass to agree on a chat...but no luck.  Apple is not offering anything over the phone...any examples on the web are rare.  The protocol is to send you to a nearby store to validate the issue.  They told me to see sprint(my carrier) first, i asked why and they said he was reading the protocol sheet....literally.

     

     My neighbor had luck on telling it was a battery issue and got a refirb for 85 bucks(evidently they dont replace batteries?)  I am trying that in the afternoon. I realize these things can happen, but I would just never had updated to ios7.  

     

    Apple lost a great customer(4 ipads, 3 apple tv, 3 iphones, macbook air and imac.)  I have now had 2 bad experiences, one I was in warranty and they had to get manager approval for a known issue with a $3 cable.

    I'm going to android (sigh) on my next swap.  

    Maybe not in a week, but sooner or later Apple will be Blackberry.  Rotten fruit.

  • Reply 63 of 117
    Originally Posted by Doneonce View Post

    Apple lost a great customer


     

    Later. No one cares.

  • Reply 64 of 117
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,927member
    doneonce wrote: »
    Apple lost a great customer(4 ipads, 3 apple tv, 3 iphones, macbook air and imac.)  I have now had 2 bad experiences, one I was in warranty and they had to get manager approval for a known issue with a $3 cable.
    I'm going to android (sigh) on my next swap.  
    Maybe not in a week, but sooner or later Apple will be Blackberry.  Rotten fruit.

    Good luck with Android. You'll be back.
  • Reply 65 of 117

    My wife's phone is doing the exact same thing. iPhone 4s 64G and soon as ios7 was installed the battery life has gone down the drain (yes I did all the suggested fixes to cut down on the battery drain), but the battery just drains for no reason. It was at 100% this afternoon and now it is at 23% and the phone has been sitting on the dresser not doing anything. Also the Wifi is greyed out. The phone is mint and has always been in an otter box. I am not going to try to freeze or heat my phone, it is clearly something with the update to ios 7. My wife was so mad about the battery thinking it wa apples way of making people ugrade to a new phone, she went out and bought a Galaxy S4. I am also due for an upgrade and was looking at the 5S, but if Apple is not going to do anything about this, I amy also look to another manufacturer as well after having an 3S, 4 and 2 4S's, 2 ipods, itouch, etc (10 apple devices over the last 4-5 years).

  • Reply 66 of 117
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by hillstones View Post

     

    Since most of you commenting don't have this problem, and have never seen it, you don't understand the issue.  It is not a software problem, it is a hardware-fault.  I have my sister's 4S, which is out of warranty, with the greyed out Wi-Fi.  Apple would not replace the phone since the one year warranty expired.  She bought a new iPhone using her son's upgrade eligibility when Apple said her only option was to pay $199 for another 4S.

     

    The problem started after installing iOS 6, so the issue has been around long before iOS 7.  The problem is the Wi-Fi chip overheating and becoming disabled.  Bluetooth continues to work, but you cannot turn on Wi-Fi.  Some have found a temporary fix by freezing the iPhone, but that is only temporary.  The Wi-Fi will fail again.  Freezing did not work with my sister's 4S.  Many have found the solution to be using a heat gun to heat the solder joints around the chip and let them cool again to re-seat the chip on the logic board.  It is a process known as "re-working" the solder.  A small percentage of 4S' have this problem.  So not enough iPhones are affected for Apple to issue an extended warranty, unfortunately.

     

    I restored iOS 6 and upgraded and restored using iOS 7, but the Wi-Fi is still greyed out.  An interesting bug is in iOS 7.  Control Center allows you to turn on Wi-Fi even though the chip is disabled.  It doesn't really turn Wi-Fi on.  When you go into settings, the Wi-Fi is still greyed out even though Control Center indicates it is on.  Apple wouldn't think to troubleshoot this bug since they are not testing it on broken iPhone 4S'.

     

    If you have a 4S still under warranty with the problem, then Apple will replace it, obviously.  Many have 4Ss that are out of warranty, but still under contract, so they are stuck in a bind.  I need to buy an iPhone screwdriver kit so I could try to re-work the solder to restore the Wi-Fi. So far, my 4S is over a year old and the Wi-Fi still works.  I bought it July 2012, so hopefully first run 4S' had the problem, and not the later manufactured models.


    Then the title of the entire thread is wrong correct?

     

     

    Yet how does a hardware issue "start" with a  software change?  ii.e.: "The problem started after installing iOS 6, so the issue has been around long before iOS 7." I'd suggest that a problem that starts after a software change is, more than likely, related to that software change.... 

  • Reply 67 of 117
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    I read somewhere that it was indeed a hardware problem, the LSI, now greying out the WiFi setting after upgrading to 7...
  • Reply 68 of 117

    I have had this iPhone 4S since October 2012. I bought it with it's original iOS 5 and upgraded to iOS 6 having no problems. The button for the wifi button didn't grey out until I updated to iOS 7. This means that this is not a hardware problem, because the phone was perfectly fine with the previous two iOS updates. Now I can't even turn my wifi on, having to use my 4G every day even though my home internet is faster I don't have the option to be able to use it. I hope the next update iOS 7.0.3 would fix this issue, I really hope to stick with the Apple company because I personally love iPhones more than the Samsung Galaxy phones. Apple please do your best and help us!

  • Reply 69 of 117

    Well, I guess I'm one of the UNLUCKY ones! 

    My 4S - only a year and 7 months old, worked great. Before...the update. My husband warned me to never update my phone since he has had 2 iPhone's that have had problems after the update, but that stupid little "1" that stays on my phone unless I update gets me every time. 

     

    First few days - my phone was fine. Then, the battery started wearing down. I read every blog from here to Nigeria to find out how to fix it. I turned off everything I could.

     

    Then, no wifi. Completely greyed out. Again, read every blog, restored to factory settings, lost everything. Finally, I apple-chatted. They told me I had to bring it into the Genius bar.

     

    I brought it into the Genius bar in Mission Viejo, CA. They ran a diagnostic test and the girl told me this:

     

    "I'm sorry. When you updated your software it seems to have broken the hardware in your phone that runs the wifi. The only thing I can offer you, since your warranty ran out, is another refurbished phone for $199." 

     

    So you want me to pay $199 for a refurbished phone. When the Apple software that I downloaded (with no discretion that it could ruin my 4S, even though I probably should have already known) broke my hardware. 

     

    There you go. So now, my iPhone has NO apps, I can't check email, I can't play my spotify, iTunes radio, etc. because they all eat up too much data. 

     

    Basically you could give me my old 1996 Nokia phone and I'd be happy. 

     

    Apple, I just want to give you the biggest middle finger and CUSS WORDS I possibly can. 

  • Reply 70 of 117
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MegsMore View Post

     

    Well, I guess I'm one of the UNLUCKY ones! 

    My 4S - only a year and 7 months old, worked great. Before...the update. My husband warned me to never update my phone since he has had 2 iPhone's that have had problems after the update, but that stupid little "1" that stays on my phone unless I update gets me every time. 

     

    First few days - my phone was fine. Then, the battery started wearing down. I read every blog from here to Nigeria to find out how to fix it. I turned off everything I could.

     

    Then, no wifi. Completely greyed out. Again, read every blog, restored to factory settings, lost everything. Finally, I apple-chatted. They told me I had to bring it into the Genius bar.

     

    I brought it into the Genius bar in Mission Viejo, CA. They ran a diagnostic test and the girl told me this:

     

    "I'm sorry. When you updated your software it seems to have broken the hardware in your phone that runs the wifi. The only thing I can offer you, since your warranty ran out, is another refurbished phone for $199." 

     

    So you want me to pay $199 for a refurbished phone. When the Apple software that I downloaded (with no discretion that it could ruin my 4S, even though I probably should have already known) broke my hardware. 

     

    There you go. So now, my iPhone has NO apps, I can't check email, I can't play my spotify, iTunes radio, etc. because they all eat up too much data. 

     

    Basically you could give me my old 1996 Nokia phone and I'd be happy. 

     

    Apple, I just want to give you the biggest middle finger and CUSS WORDS I possibly can. 


    "NO apps"? That's just not possible, run that cable back to your computer and sync the thing and all your apps will be restored (is the backed up image on that machine perhaps iOS 6?), no functioning WiFi needed.OR authorize another computer to your account: connect via iTunes, get your purchased apps off of Apple and sync with that computer. All your apps are recorded with your Apple account: they are always available for redownload.

     

    But I'd still want a second opinion, software can mess up, but permanently damage hardware? That I'm skeptical about.

  • Reply 71 of 117

    Let me clarify - I can get apps - but to use the ones I like to use - would eat up my data plan. I like to run my music apps, etc. at home over WiFi or at work. If I ran them now it eats up too much of my data plan and I keep having to pay overages.

     

    I have gone to two Genius Bars now - Mission Viejo and Irvine Spectrum - both have said the same thing. The only thing I can do is to purchase another phone, and that is after they have run the diagnostics. The software isn't made for the 4S, its for the 5. Supposedly this happens if your hardware is on the verge of breaking, so the update sends it over the edge. 

     

    Not sure how I like that answer since I never had  an issue with my phone before. But I have to take it. 

  • Reply 72 of 117
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MegsMore View Post

     

    Let me clarify - I can get apps - but to use the ones I like to use - would eat up my data plan. I like to run my music apps, etc. at home over WiFi or at work. If I ran them now it eats up too much of my data plan and I keep having to pay overages.

     

    I have gone to two Genius Bars now - Mission Viejo and Irvine Spectrum - both have said the same thing. The only thing I can do is to purchase another phone, and that is after they have run the diagnostics. The software isn't made for the 4S, its for the 5. Supposedly this happens if your hardware is on the verge of breaking, so the update sends it over the edge. 

     

    Not sure how I like that answer since I never had  an issue with my phone before. But I have to take it. 


    Well one test you can do to verify that the hardware has an issue is downgrade to iOS 6. if that leaves the WiFi disabled then you know rather than taking anyone's word for it. OTOH maybe it comes back with the more compatible OS? At this point you might not have anything to lose... there's instructions in another thread. Post 82 of the thread on the person suing Tim Cook.

  • Reply 73 of 117

    My daughters 4S was having wifi issues while on IOS 6.1.2. It was disconnecting and greying out, but could get it back on by turning airplane mode on and off.  We talked with an Apple employee in a Mac store at our mall about it and they told us to wait and upgrade to IOS7, so we did. Now with IOS7 and then 7.2 installed the wifi problem is worse and wifi will not turn on at all. We restored and it fixed the problem for about 15 mins then her phone would go black and the only way to get it to turn on was by holding the power and home button for a reboot. After the reboot the wifi is greyed out. Tried restore again as new phone and didn't restore any of her backup back to the phone. Wifi turned on, waited a while and then bam, black screen again with the same result. I read to go into general/about/diagnostics & usage to see if there is a panic.plisk and if there is, it is a hardware issue.. Low and behold we had a panic.plist there. We are taking it in to the Apple Genius bar later today to have it replaced. Luckily we are still under warranty and hope this will solve the problem, because she has to use the data we all share and it has caused overages that are costing us. I will report back later with the Apple Genius results.

  • Reply 74 of 117

    Just don't buy Apple products - None represents any reasonable value to begin with ... And if you must buy one, don't ever update or upgrade software. It's understood they have every intention to kill off old hardware - that's why they don't allow you to roll back to older IOS. I suspect they program the update as such that it kills the older phones batch by batch.

     

    You just gotta teach this greedy company a lesson ... Don't buy their products. iTune itself is a living proof how greedy they are ... Don't support a bully, and Apple is a bully.

  • Reply 75 of 117

    UPDATE: Went to the Apple store and explained our problem and when the tech looked at the phone the wifi worked. Of course it made us look bad. She said all they can do is make notes about the problem and if it happens again they can do more.. She said never heard of the problem where the wifi was breaking in the soder. I said no, it will happen again in about 10 mins.. I asked for the manager and he went in back to do a diagnostic check and came back and said he would exchange it out, but didn't find a problem. As we were waiting for the replacement, it happened, then phone went black, rebooted and the wifi greyed out. I was sure to point it out to the manager for good measure. They didn't have one in stock and sent me to another apple store to pick it up. Funny, the tech we explained the problem to at the other store said that the wifi was breaking on the 4S's and new exactly what the problem was and called it a hardware problem.. So far the replacement is working flawlessly. I do want to give kuddos to the manager who believed me and offered a replacement to make me happy when he didn't have to.

  • Reply 76 of 117
    pdxmatts wrote: »
    I do want to give kuddos to the manager who believed me and offered a replacement to make me happy when he didn't have to.

    How can this be? This is not possible, a free phone: the poster right above you says Apple isn't like this. At all ¡
  • Reply 77 of 117
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post





    How can this be? This is not possible, a free phone: the poster right above you says Apple isn't like this. At all ¡

    I don't agree with the poster above. Apple did there best to help me. I was still under warranty and they took care of it..

  • Reply 78 of 117
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    pdxmatts wrote: »
    philboogie wrote: »
    How can this be? This is not possible, a free phone: the poster right above you says Apple isn't like this. At all ¡
    I don't agree with the poster above. Apple did there best to help me. I was still under warranty and they took care of it..

    Neither do I; hence the Inverted question and exclamation marks

    Enjoy your new phone. And welcome to the forum.
  • Reply 79 of 117
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post





    Neither do I; hence the Inverted question and exclamation marks



    Enjoy your new phone. And welcome to the forum.

    Thank you and I knew what you meant ;)

  • Reply 80 of 117
    Originally Posted by DefectingApple

    [post]

     

    Shut up and go away, moron.

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