Making the phone thin and weak to make it nice was stupid.
Tim Cook is not free from blame. Ultimately he's the top guy and needs to take the fall for this. I'm not saying he should be fired but he needs to get the blame.
Apple desperately needs a shake up at the top. I'm sorry but most of the top level guys seem lazy and comfortable.
I would fire Tim Cook personally, I know that isn't a popular opinion.
If this is related to bending/flexing of the 6 and 6 Plus, and at the same time isn't an issue with the 6s and 6s Plus, then the issue was likely mitigated with the redesign of 6s with a 7000 series aluminum housing; hence making the iPhone thin was, and continues to be, an excellent design decision. I note that this is an iPhone that has been in the system for almost two years, and only recently has this issue become notable.
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.
The Touch ICs was moved from the logic board onto the display on the iPhone 6S/6S Plus.
That's why the Phone 6S/6S Plus don't have this issue.
Also, this issue has been know for sometime in the repair community for a some time.
It only became an epidemic recently because people's iPhones ran out of warranty.
sorry but 6 days isn't a big enough sample size. nor is 4 stores. Nor is a couple hundred phones.
If more than .50% of iPhones experience this problem ( 1 in 200) then it would be serious.
IMO, the damage is from people abusing their phones. I bet most of these are people who sit on their phones on a regular basis or wear skinny jeans. I have the 6+ and have ZERO problems.
You're mistaken about the sample size, but that's fine. You're entitled to believe what you want. We'll all see together, with time. There are a pair of 6 Pluses in this house, and they're fine. I also have a 2012 Retina MacBook Pro without the GPU problem after four years, but I don't deny that there's a potential problem with that line just because mine works.
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.
In any event, have a good weekend. We're still collecting data.
If you want to respond as editorial staff, please provide an update in the original post, not in the comments. Don't argue your position without supporting data. You're a journalist, show tabulated data to back up your argument and or POV. If this is a big story then expect to provide details.
Arguing that at few thousand a week are failing is a significant trend, but you leave out the context of the pool of iPhone 6's and 6 Plus's that were manufactured since September 2014 and I'm guessing today that total exceeds 200 million. If they are only now beginning to fail in increasing numbers, then there is either a manufacturing issue, soldering of the device, or their is a correlation with the bending/flex of the iPhone housing, which to me should indicate a higher failure rate in the 6 Plus vs the iPhone 6; it's longer and wider and would have inherently higher loading.
Commenters are allowed, indeed expected, to spew unfounded crap, but AI editors should have a higher standard; show your work as updates in the OP.
I have a 6 Plus with no such issue, but my concern is the resale value once I decide to upgrade from the 7. People aware of this issue will shy away from the used 6 because it cannot be repaired.
You are right about that. I would avoid a 6 Plus (especially a used one) like the plague .
Making the phone thin and weak to make it nice was stupid.
Tim Cook is not free from blame. Ultimately he's the top guy and needs to take the fall for this. I'm not saying he should be fired but he needs to get the blame.
Apple desperately needs a shake up at the top. I'm sorry but most of the top level guys seem lazy and comfortable.
I would fire Tim Cook personally, I know that isn't a popular opinion.
If this is related to bending/flexing of the 6 and 6 Plus, and at the same time isn't an issue with the 6s and 6s Plus, then the issue was likely mitigated with the redesign of 6s with a 7000 series aluminum housing; hence making the iPhone thin was, and continues to be, an excellent design decision. I note that this is an iPhone that has been in the system for almost two years, and only recently has this issue become notable.
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.
The Touch ICs was moved from the logic board onto the display on the iPhone 6S/6S Plus.
That's why the Phone 6S/6S Plus don't have this issue.
Also, this issue has been know for sometime in the repair community for a some time.
It only became an epidemic recently because people's iPhones ran out of warranty.
So it's a pool of some 200 million devices; and defining an "epidemic" by anecdotal evidence is a big premature, don't you think, without actual data.
I was one of the first in Denver to get a 6+. The phone has been babied -- no cracks, nothing, Always in a protective sleeve. My touch disease issues began about 3 weeks ago. Apple checked the touch screen and gave the phone an overall check and could find nothing wrong. The problem has not gone away, but comes and goes. Their solution was a suggestion to buy a new phone from them for $329. My issues are the flickering bar at the top, failure of the touch screen to respond, inability to turn off the phone and "automatic" filling in of letters when I text -- just nonsense, of course. This is a real problem, and Apple needs to fix it. At their cost. Those of you who do not have it -- wait -- odds are you will get it eventually.
You're mistaken about the sample size, but that's fine. You're entitled to believe what you want. We'll all see together, with time. There are a pair of 6 Pluses in this house, and they're fine. I also have a 2012 Retina MacBook Pro without the GPU problem after four years, but I don't deny that there's a potential problem with that line just because mine works.
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.
In any event, have a good weekend. We're still collecting data.
If you want to respond as editorial staff, please provide an update in the original post, not in the comments. Don't argue your position without supporting data. You're a journalist, show tabulated data to back up your argument and or POV. If this is a big story then expect to provide details.
Arguing that at few thousand a week are failing is a significant trend, but you leave out the context of the pool of iPhone 6's and 6 Plus's that were manufactured since September 2014 and I'm guessing today that total exceeds 200 million. If they are only now beginning to fail in increasing numbers, then there is either a manufacturing issue, soldering of the device, or their is a correlation with the bending/flex of the iPhone housing, which to me should indicate a higher failure rate in the 6 Plus vs the iPhone 6; it's longer and wider and would have inherently higher loading.
Commenters are allowed, indeed expected, to spew unfounded crap, but AI editors should have a higher standard; show your work as updates in the OP.
Edit to correct date of iPhone 6 release.
Classic case of Internet amplification of a negative. Use words like “widespread” “epidemic” and spout statistics out of context.
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.
From experience I can personally guarantee you would rather have an Android phone than cancer even if it may be a close call.
Incidentally, how do you know for certain you're being contacted by Apple Geniuses and not Samsung shills? Are you independently confirming their employment status with Apple?
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.
We are confirming their employment, yes. We've tossed some data sources out for lack of that confirmation.
If you want to respond as editorial staff, please provide an update in the original post, not in the comments. Don't argue your position without supporting data. You're a journalist, show tabulated data to back up your argument and or POV. If this is a big story then expect to provide details.
Arguing that at few thousand a week are failing is a significant trend, but you leave out the context of the pool of iPhone 6's and 6 Plus's that were manufactured since September 2014 and I'm guessing today that total exceeds 200 million. If they are only now beginning to fail in increasing numbers, then there is either a manufacturing issue, soldering of the device, or their is a correlation with the bending/flex of the iPhone housing, which to me should indicate a higher failure rate in the 6 Plus vs the iPhone 6; it's longer and wider and would have inherently higher loading.
Commenters are allowed, indeed expected, to spew unfounded crap, but AI editors should have a higher standard; show your work as updates in the OP.
Edit to correct date of iPhone 6 release.
When we have tangible, collated data that merits an additional story, we will make it so. I will respond how I see fit, as I am labeled as staff in the forums, as well as the author of the post. Nothing I've said here could be construed as adding to the story, as everything I've said has been within the original piece.
The ONLY thing that we've said regarding the data that we have is that in the last six days, including three days before the story went public, had an out-of-proportion percentage of eyeballs on it from Apple staff. In fact, we specifically said in the article that the surge was likely from people living with the problem, and NOT coming into the store before hearing about it.
Looking at the data, over the last six days the percentage of iPhone 6 Plus units affected is disproportionately high as compared to the iPhone 6, considering by all estimates (also as stated in the story), only one in four iPhone 6 family phones (not 6s) sold is a Plus model.
Like you (and we) said, the same thing that caused the "bendgate" tempest is possibly leading to or aggravating this problem. We don't know. We didn't say we claimed to know.
Don't infer more meaning to the data than what I wrote. Read the words that I wrote, and only the words that I wrote -- you can draw your own conclusions, but don't call them mine. We don't have data from a year ago, and may not get it. Right now, all we have is the last six days, and that's what we said. The only thing that we said is that there is something going on NOW causing statistically significant failure rates, and relayed what we've been told by customer-facing Apple staff, working at Apple stores.
Your "tabulated data" that you seek could put the employment of some of the sources at risk. Identifying specific day-to-day numbers by individual store would make it trivial for Apple to see where the sources are coming from, and take measures. If we don't protect our sources, we'll lose them.
You have what we have. Like I said, we'll all see together what happens.
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.
Ever hear of capacitor plague? It's not the first time medical terminology was used in tech.
I can't believe some people here who's saying that it's not a problem because it hasn't happened to them personally.
Yes people, it's a problem!
It's a problem, of course. But what is the overall percentage? There's what 200+ million iPhone 6 and 6+ sold. 11% from people going to a Apple store because they have some issue is just that. How many from that group having issues out of everyone not having any issues? The real world percentage could be quite low! No one has any idea about what that number may be. 11% means 89% didn't bring their phone to Apple for that issue. Add them to everyone that didn't go to Apple period!!! Does the issue in real numbers effect .05% of all iPhone 6&6+ users? That clearly wouldn't be a epidemic now would it.
My wife dropped her phone and we had to pay $329 to get a new one from SimplyMac 5 months ago. The "new" phone out of the box started developing this exact issue slowly over the past few months. I originally thought it was the Otterbox Defender case with the built-in screen protector causing the issues. I ripped out the plastic screen and it didn't make any difference. We bought the beefy case to protect the new phone, but it turns out the new phone is defective.
After calling Apple, I received the run around where I finally received a "no, we can't replace the phone" from a supervisor named Carlos as it's out side the 90 day replacement warranty. Hopefully the fact that so many other people are having this problem will cause Apple to acknowledge they made some batches of crappy phones.
This is very frustrating! The products and phone support have gone downhill in my mind.
Making the phone thin and weak to make it nice was stupid.
Tim Cook is not free from blame. Ultimately he's the top guy and needs to take the fall for this. I'm not saying he should be fired but he needs to get the blame.
Apple desperately needs a shake up at the top. I'm sorry but most of the top level guys seem lazy and comfortable.
I would fire Tim Cook personally, I know that isn't a popular opinion.
Lern to read. The problem isn't because the device was big and thin, it was because of the touch controllers, since only some iphone units have this problem. Some even came with the problem out of the box.
According to ifixit, the root cause of the problem is the bending issue. The latter happens at the height of the volume buttons,exactly the place where the touch controllers are put and are getting bad soldering. In the iPhone 6s the touch controllers are moved to a different place, so no issue
So....do we all still believe the "only 9 phones were bent" argument from 2 years ago? The rabid apologists from then seem strangely silent now, or did they go away when Apple switched to a stronger alloy? Let's all take a moment to think back to that time the next time Apple and Tim make another assertion that seems incongruent with reality.
I was one of the first in Denver to get a 6+. The phone has been babied -- no cracks, nothing, Always in a protective sleeve. My touch disease issues began about 3 weeks ago. Apple checked the touch screen and gave the phone an overall check and could find nothing wrong. The problem has not gone away, but comes and goes. Their solution was a suggestion to buy a new phone from them for $329. My issues are the flickering bar at the top, failure of the touch screen to respond, inability to turn off the phone and "automatic" filling in of letters when I text -- just nonsense, of course. This is a real problem, and Apple needs to fix it. At their cost. Those of you who do not have it -- wait -- odds are you will get it eventually.
Please don't repeat the term "touch disease", it's moronic.
Making the phone thin and weak to make it nice was stupid.
Tim Cook is not free from blame. Ultimately he's the top guy and needs to take the fall for this. I'm not saying he should be fired but he needs to get the blame.
Apple desperately needs a shake up at the top. I'm sorry but most of the top level guys seem lazy and comfortable.
I would fire Tim Cook personally, I know that isn't a popular opinion.
Fire Tim Cook because his soldering isn't up to snuff?
You're painfully transparent. You want Apple to do ANYTHING that will cause a short-term tickle in the stock price, even if it leads to long-term disaster for the company. Typical amateur investor thinking.
All Apple needs to do is find the cause of the problem and learn from it.
And this is why people will still upgrade every 2 years.
Who wants to deal with this crap?
And guys what do we expect?
We use our phones 16 hours a day 365 days a year. Should we really expect them to last more than 2 years on average? Probably not.
Just go out and upgrade next month to the awesome iPhone 6ss. If you trade in your old phone it will only cost you 50 cents a day.
Do it. Buy it. Every 2 years.
Thank you.
Yes, I know you think that this will increase the share price, but if you go around telling people that iPhones are only built to last two years then they'll stop buying iPhones.
Comments
Arguing that at few thousand a week are failing is a significant trend, but you leave out the context of the pool of iPhone 6's and 6 Plus's that were manufactured since September 2014 and I'm guessing today that total exceeds 200 million. If they are only now beginning to fail in increasing numbers, then there is either a manufacturing issue, soldering of the device, or their is a correlation with the bending/flex of the iPhone housing, which to me should indicate a higher failure rate in the 6 Plus vs the iPhone 6; it's longer and wider and would have inherently higher loading.
Commenters are allowed, indeed expected, to spew unfounded crap, but AI editors should have a higher standard; show your work as updates in the OP.
Edit to correct date of iPhone 6 release.
Like you (and we) said, the same thing that caused the "bendgate" tempest is possibly leading to or aggravating this problem. We don't know. We didn't say we claimed to know.
Don't infer more meaning to the data than what I wrote. Read the words that I wrote, and only the words that I wrote -- you can draw your own conclusions, but don't call them mine. We don't have data from a year ago, and may not get it. Right now, all we have is the last six days, and that's what we said. The only thing that we said is that there is something going on NOW causing statistically significant failure rates, and relayed what we've been told by customer-facing Apple staff, working at Apple stores.
Your "tabulated data" that you seek could put the employment of some of the sources at risk. Identifying specific day-to-day numbers by individual store would make it trivial for Apple to see where the sources are coming from, and take measures. If we don't protect our sources, we'll lose them.
After calling Apple, I received the run around where I finally received a "no, we can't replace the phone" from a supervisor named Carlos as it's out side the 90 day replacement warranty. Hopefully the fact that so many other people are having this problem will cause Apple to acknowledge they made some batches of crappy phones.
This is very frustrating! The products and phone support have gone downhill in my mind.
Here's the video of her phone:
So....do we all still believe the "only 9 phones were bent" argument from 2 years ago? The rabid apologists from then seem strangely silent now, or did they go away when Apple switched to a stronger alloy? Let's all take a moment to think back to that time the next time Apple and Tim make another assertion that seems incongruent with reality.
Have a 6, haven't experienced this issue. Hope they find the cause.
You're painfully transparent. You want Apple to do ANYTHING that will cause a short-term tickle in the stock price, even if it leads to long-term disaster for the company. Typical amateur investor thinking.
All Apple needs to do is find the cause of the problem and learn from it.
Watch out out for that rake.