Apple activates iPhone 6 Plus repair program to address 'touch disease'

Posted:
in iPhone edited November 2016
In what appears to be a response to the so-called "touch disease" problem, Apple on Thursday initiated a special program to repair iPhone 6 Plus devices exhibiting screen flicker issues due to multiple drops on a hard surface.




Dubbed the multi-touch repair program for iPhone 6 Plus, Apple's new repair initiative allows customers affected by a rare screen flicker issue to fix their faulty unit for a flat $149 service fee. The company failed to detail which component or components are causing the ongoing issues, but intimated users are partially at fault.

"Apple has determined that some iPhone 6 Plus devices may exhibit display flickering or Multi-Touch issues after being dropped multiple times on a hard surface and then incurring further stress on the device," the company said.

Referred to as "touch disease," the problem presents as a thin grey flickering band located toward the top of an affected iPhone 6 or 6 Plus display. In extreme cases, the band progressively extends further down the screen, ultimately impacting touch response.

Following user complaints in August, AppleInsider discovered the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus malady accounted for roughly 11 percent of an Apple store's daily iPhone service volume. At the time, sources said the issue was related to iPhone's touch controller.

Specifically, some units were affected by the degradation of solder joints connecting the touch controller chip to the logic board, while others saw the chip simply fail. Both scenarios could logically be tied to multiple drops on a hard surface, as Apple claims.

Users who believe their iPhone 6 Plus is experiencing the multi-touch problem described above should contact Apple or take their phone in to an Apple retail store or Apple Authorized Service Provider for inspection.

As part of the new program, Apple is reaching out to reimburse iPhone 6 Plus owners sought repairs related to the multi-touch issue through Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider. Customers who paid for repairs and have not yet been contacted can send a request for reimbursement directly to Apple.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 44
    Ah so this is a real thing then. Thankfully I never experienced it.
  • Reply 2 of 44
    Being dropped multiple times on a hard surface is not analogous to a "disease". It's an "injury" caused by user behavior. Let's place blame where is actually lies.
    lolliverbaconstangmagman1979flashfan207icoco3cornchipjony0
  • Reply 3 of 44
    Total BS I picked up a brand-new 6Plus 2 weeks ago and with in one day had screen Flickr.  Just went back this weekend and replaced it.   Apple will never own up for anything   It's now in thier culture 
    Yeah, I'm going to have to call BS on that. For one, the 6 Plus has been discontinued for months.
    cogitodexterericthehalfbeelondorlollivermagman1979flashfan207jay-tmacplusplusmwhiteicoco3
  • Reply 4 of 44
    Total BS I picked up a brand-new 6Plus 2 weeks ago and with in one day had screen Flickr.  Just went back this weekend and replaced it.   Apple will never own up for anything   It's now in thier culture 
    If you're going to lie, at least make it convincing.
    ericthehalfbeethewhitefalconlondortmayzeus423pscooter63lollivermagman1979flashfan207iosenthusiast
  • Reply 5 of 44
    Being dropped multiple times on a hard surface is not analogous to a "disease". It's an "injury" caused by user behavior. Let's place blame where is actually lies.
    But that would fly counter to closely held belief that everything is apples fault! Judge first then double down later.
    cornchip
  • Reply 6 of 44
    Apple just stomped out all those class action lawsuits with this announcement. There's no manufacturing defect or coverup by Apple. Just a small number of devices that suffered a breakdown from abuse.
    tmaypscooter63lollivermagman1979
  • Reply 7 of 44
    tulkastulkas Posts: 3,757member
    Apple dropped the ball here. Blaming users for a known defect and charging them to fix the defect is going to bite them in the ass. 

    No drops and no abuse required. That is fiction. Yes, a drop could be a catalyst for the problem to show up, but the defect is there anyway. Blaming this on being dropped would be like Samsung blaming the explosive Notes on 3rd party chargers...sure they might have contributed in some cases, but the fact is that the Notes were defective with or without bad chargers. Apple needs to do the right thing and fix these without charge.
    perkedelduervo
  • Reply 8 of 44
    dr. xdr. x Posts: 282member
    Apple should take the blame on this one and not charge users for something that Apple made up, i.e. users dropping the device on a hard surface.

    Here is the article that Apple needs to read. Simply laid out https://ifixit.org/blog/8309/iphone-6-plus-gray-flicker-touch-death/

    Bendgate, structural flaw, not a user dropping the device which Apple claims
    edited November 2016 koban4max81cropr
  • Reply 9 of 44
    Being dropped multiple times on a hard surface is not analogous to a "disease". It's an "injury" caused by user behavior. Let's place blame where is actually lies.
    It is a phone. Apple needs to design their phones with the user in mind. Its not a desktop. Falls will happen. I have a Samsung S7 for work and it takes a few falls from time to time, it works fine.
    cropr
  • Reply 10 of 44
    roakeroake Posts: 809member
    Total BS I picked up a brand-new 6Plus 2 weeks ago and with in one day had screen Flickr.  Just went back this weekend and replaced it.   Apple will never own up for anything   It's now in thier culture 
    Yah, I hear you!  I picked up a Samsung Note and it exploded and took my arm off.  After the hospital, I went back for a refund, but Samsung wouldn't refund me because some of the pieces had not been surgically removed yet.

    Win some, lose some.

    Update: Not that it's related, but I went home afterwards to try to wash the blood out of my clothes, and my Samsung washing machine exploded and almost severed my other arm.  I wonder if I should try for a refund on that?  I don't think I'll be able to find all the pieces, so whatever... probably won't try.
    edited November 2016 magman1979Rayz2016baconstangmwhitecornchip
  • Reply 11 of 44
    roake said:
    Total BS I picked up a brand-new 6Plus 2 weeks ago and with in one day had screen Flickr.  Just went back this weekend and replaced it.   Apple will never own up for anything   It's now in thier culture 
    Yah, I hear you!  I picked up a Samsung Note and it exploded and took my arm off.  After the hospital, I went back for a refund, but Samsung wouldn't refund me because some of the pieces had not been surgically removed yet.

    Win some, lose some.

    Update: Not that it's related, but I went home afterwards to try to wash the blood out of my clothes, and my Samsung washing machine exploded and almost severed my other arm.  I wonder if I should try for a refund on that?  I don't think I'll be able to find all the pieces, so whatever... probably won't try.
    That made my night!!! Great one!!!

    I have to call BS on Apple too though. I had this problem with my phone. No drops and used Otterbox and Lifeproof cases. One day it just started flickering. Had to pay $320 for refurbished 6plus in June. I for one would like a partial refund to bring my price inline with the repair cost they are offering. I'm happy they did something though to possibly avoid lawsuits. Those don't help us like it helps the lawyers.
    duervo
  • Reply 12 of 44
    Total BS I picked up a brand-new 6Plus 2 weeks ago and with in one day had screen Flickr.  Just went back this weekend and replaced it.   Apple will never own up for anything   It's now in thier culture 

    Just close the Flickr app dude!
    duervoRayz2016baconstangSoliiosenthusiastcornchip
  • Reply 13 of 44
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    Total BS I picked up a brand-new 6Plus 2 weeks ago and with in one day had screen Flickr.  Just went back this weekend and replaced it.   Apple will never own up for anything   It's now in thier culture 
    You're full of shit man; a lying sack of crap.

    There is way too many of you throllish sack of crap on the internet, go back to your mama at Macrumors were they tolerate your kind of crap.
    ericthehalfbeetmayiosenthusiastmwhite
  • Reply 14 of 44
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    pujones1 said:
    roake said:
    Total BS I picked up a brand-new 6Plus 2 weeks ago and with in one day had screen Flickr.  Just went back this weekend and replaced it.   Apple will never own up for anything   It's now in thier culture 
    Yah, I hear you!  I picked up a Samsung Note and it exploded and took my arm off.  After the hospital, I went back for a refund, but Samsung wouldn't refund me because some of the pieces had not been surgically removed yet.

    Win some, lose some.

    Update: Not that it's related, but I went home afterwards to try to wash the blood out of my clothes, and my Samsung washing machine exploded and almost severed my other arm.  I wonder if I should try for a refund on that?  I don't think I'll be able to find all the pieces, so whatever... probably won't try.
    That made my night!!! Great one!!!

    I have to call BS on Apple too though. I had this problem with my phone. No drops and used Otterbox and Lifeproof cases. One day it just started flickering. Had to pay $320 for refurbished 6plus in June. I for one would like a partial refund to bring my price inline with the repair cost they are offering. I'm happy they did something though to possibly avoid lawsuits. Those don't help us like it helps the lawyers.
    Right... I really "believe" you.

  • Reply 15 of 44
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Does Apple actually repair the phone, or just give you a refurbished one?
  • Reply 16 of 44
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,624member
    This is not very clear. They have 'determined' that 'some' phones? Are they saying there was a production run, or design change that could have affected certain phones or that out of all of the phones that were ever built of this model, some could exhibit this problem? And what is the reason that other models do not exhibit the same behaviour? How are they determining that the phone was dropped multiple times? There were reports of replacement phones (not dropped) exhibiting the same behaviour.

    I wonder if anyone from Denmark will take this issue to the consumer council, ;-)
    edited November 2016
  • Reply 17 of 44
    Apple just stomped out all those class action lawsuits with this announcement. There's no manufacturing defect or coverup by Apple. Just a small number of devices that suffered a breakdown from abuse.
    say what..? This is a serious design defect, I'm not a huge proponent of class actions but in this case they do have merit.

    I'm on my third six plus - I bought the largest storage version (i.e. most expensive), fortunately together with AppleCare. I've never dropped an iPhone, they've not been squished. This response from apple is an aggressive response to the lawsuits to imply it's happened only to careless iPhone users who phones were dropped. I'm happy for users who don't have this issue, but I can tell you it's a real issue that for me started after about 9 months.

    I feel sorry for the six plus purchasers who had the problem shortly after a year, and were asked to pony up something like $250 for a replacement device.

    No, the class actions aren't going away. Apple's main focus seems no longer to be on customer service but squeezing margins. I'm an iOS developer, I own Apple stock and my view is that it's time for new leadership there.
    cropr
  • Reply 18 of 44
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Being dropped multiple times on a hard surface is not analogous to a "disease". It's an "injury" caused by user behavior. Let's place blame where is actually lies.
    Sine have reported it happened over time as phone slightly bends without drops. Others have said it happened from day one with phone slightly bent straight from manufacturing—though that's hard to know from reading the internet.
    edited November 2016
  • Reply 19 of 44
    curtacurta Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    I have a Samsung S4 and I have dropped it probably 50 times on hard concrete, it still works perfectly. It goes to show how cheaply designed/fragile Apple products are. I was considering getting an IPhone 6 Plus but now I realize it's not worth the money!!! Like every other Apple product... It is not worth the money! I've never bought an Apple product in my life and probably never will.
    edited November 2016
  • Reply 20 of 44
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    curta said:
    I have a Samsung S4 and I have dropped it probably 50 times on hard concrete, it still works perfectly. It goes to show how cheaply designed/fragile Apple products are. I was considering getting an IPhone 6 Plus but now I realize it's not worth the money!!! Like every other Apple product... It is not worth the money! I've never bought an Apple product in my life and probably never will.
    Then why are you here? You have such a dull life you find trolling Apple forums enthralling?
    macxpressiosenthusiastmwhite
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