Q: iPhone 6 plus intermittent unresponsive screen

it seems the Issue is with IPhone 6 plus and not the Iphone 6S PLUS.

I've done my part in regards to submitting a Bug Report and I'd encourage as many of you as possible to do the same! My once perfect phone has become quite frustratingly unusable.

I also submitted a bug report. Also, mine is definitely a hardware issue as I can replicate it by putting light pressure on the back or by slightly twisting the top corners in opposite directions. I'm wondering if installing OS 9 was just coincidental.  Can these OS 9 people recreate the problem as I can?

Mine has been randomly doing this for almost 4 months but my phone has been out of warranty for almost 6 months so I never had it checked out. I've had my phone in an otterbox since day one, never dropped it etc. The touch issue got so bad I finally gave in and had it checked at a local apple authorized service center.

The tech said there is a very slight bend and is known to cause the issue. My phone also failed the touch diagnostic. It fails every time when you slightly twist the phone at the 4 corners.

I called Apple care who wanted $379 to replace it so I declined and bought a Samsung Galaxy S7 instead. I didn't want to risk paying basically half the cost of the S7 and have the iPhone break again.

I've been using apple products for almost 4 years and between me and my girlfriend we have a iPhone 6, iPad Air, iPhone 5 and an iPad mini. I really didn't want to switch but spending $379 to fix what appears to be a design flaw was not worth the money.

It doesn't matter how good of an owner you are with your phone. Do you keep your television in an otterbox? Do you drop it? Does it have the potential to have issues after its warranty expires? You purchased an expensive phone and chose not to purchase AppleCare. You might have been out $99 vs your $379 you are quoting. You took a chance and it didn't turn I your favor. It's a bummer, but I don't have any empathy for your circumstances.

If 1 million TVs last ten years and 1000 TVs last one year - there is a "bad batch" from the manufacturer. One should not have to think that one needs "insurance" against a "bad batch" - one "insures" against "unforeseen accidents"

And may I ask where has that argument ever gotten you before? This is the point of a warranty. It is the entire point of it. It is expected that there will likely be some number of the yield that goes bad unexpectedly early. The company does the best they can to get the best yield possible, but there is no way any company will ever get 1,001,000 out of 1,001,000 to all work exactly perfectly. They warranty it for a year, offer the option to the customer to extend such a service and that is that. It is standard. There are also plenty of 3rd party options for such protection, and I would recommend you look into AMEX offerings. I purchase an iPhone, and if it needs a repair or replacement that would have been covered under the original warranty, they reimburse me for the cost of that. It's rather wonderful, and I go about my merry way.

You believe that all the devices should be perfect for everyone. I'm telling you that is a fantasy.

Dude, do you think you are defending/helping Apple? Do you think most of us come here to cheat Apple or to get some empathy? Why don't some customers wanna give even $379 for a replacement(a new phone, i suppose) and repair at an unauthorized repair shop? And some would even go for Samsung which cost double the price of a replacement phone. Do you think Apple is too big that they wouldn't made a mistake? Pls think again.

Some products give life time warranty, may not even need to be expensive. So, it's better not to compare. I thought AppleCare+ is for those who would likely to drop/damage or to change battery. Maybe i was wrong or the product is not as reliable as before, maybe you'd made a better decision on buying AppleCare. IMO, the only thing that should give way in the first 2 yrs for most users is the battery unless u damaged the phone or it has defects & design flaw.

Easy BBoiss - you can't be as adamant about your position as some others are about theirs simply because you are not afflicted - you have no data OR anecdotes.

I am actually neutral, since I have no dog in the fight. I am merely curious and a fair logical thinker (most folks with problems are seeing through a glass darkly)

It is clear that with the release of iOS 9.3.1, many iPhone 6 & some 6s started having this anomaly.

There are anecdotal reports of long lines at teh Genius Bar mostly with this issue.

There are reports of Geniuses admitting to the known issue

There are reports of some folks getting free replacements out of warranty period.

ADDED - there are reports of replacements immediately developing the issue after they are upgraded to iOS 9.3.1 when they got home

Read all 42 pages of this thread and all 6 of this one > Iphone 6 updated to ios 9.3.1 screen still unresponsive for the full story.

I personally find it difficult to buy that a software update can break hardware - an iPhone is not a centrifuge and iOS update is not StuxNet - but it could be possible that it "pulled back the curtain" on something laying dormant though.

Now if you wanna scold folks for not backing up their devices before they fail, have at it!

Just a heads up, BBoise: there have been multiple postings of AppleCare purchasers who have this issue only to find that Apple didn't help them out as this issue doesnt fall under what is covered by the extended warranty.

Many folks were unduly influenced (one way or another) over "BendGate" - folks purposely bending their iPhones to prove that they were "faulty" when in reality iPhones are slick, sleek, delicate devices.

Apple's position initially was "no comment" and now the Geniuses are diagnosing "slight bending" as a probable cause for the current anomaly. Doesn't happen to it happens and it it the users fault (likely true, carrying it in your back pocket is a sure fire way to make it happen)

Google this exact phrase with quotes > "touch ic chips on the motherboard" < and filter for the last month

As I have said, I have no dog in this fight.

Rants and raves get nowhere. Businesslike, polite conversation with Real Apple Folks, preferably in an Apple Retail Store, is everyone's best bet for satisfaction.

Then barrooze, maybe I was reading the wrong explanations of the issue? The posts I have read feel the issue is hardware and so it should be covered, because they as the user were not the ones who caused it. Additionally, they feel this is so because it became known to them after they had updated. I have ready many posting of this, but I have also read the same story posted about many others saying the same story all the way back to iOS 8.2. That is why I was explaining my position on the manner of hardware replacements and warranty.

ChitlinsCC, I am not stating that because it didn't happen to me under the same conditions that it is impossible. I am making a point that under the idea that this issue is indeed hardware, I don't see how it stands to say that Apple should be covering all instances when a customer is outside of their warranty. Apple is known to swing a month or so outside of the warranty as a one time courtesy even. You're quoting reports, and I am working with 30 iPhones with no reports of this issue as of yet. iPhone 6's. It's a small pool, but a pool all the same. Additionally, I have acquaintances who work at some of the Genius Bars around here that don't seem to back your reports of "long lines mostly with this issue". Oh and one more thing, if you are going to sit here and tell me that you've never heard of a device that bricks during an update or a restore, I will have to dismiss your commentary entirely. There have been many cases in the past that I have seen and worked on personally. I'm sure you could even do a search query in this very forum.

BBoiss wrote:

 

SNIP

 

ChitlinsCC, I am not stating that because it didn't happen to me under the same conditions that it is impossible. I am making a point that under the idea that this issue is indeed hardware, I don't see how it stands to say that Apple should be covering all instances when a customer is outside of their warranty. Apple is known to swing a month or so outside of the warranty as a one time courtesy even. You're quoting reports, and I am working with 30 iPhones with no reports of this issue as of yet. iPhone 6's. It's a small pool, but a pool all the same. Additionally, I have acquaintances who work at some of the Genius Bars around here that don't seem to back your reports of "long lines mostly with this issue". Oh and one more thing, if you are going to sit here and tell me that you've never heard of a device that bricks during an update or a restore, I will have to dismiss your commentary entirely. There have been many cases in the past that I have seen and worked on personally. I'm sure you could even do a search query in this very forum.

I am not gonna do the diligence... read it all and you will find reports of "discretion" affording 6 months out of warranty replacement while "days" out of warranty getting stuck with "no discretion afforded" in this very thread (I think, there are two threads going).

Again, you cannot prove a negative with a your positive - although 30 fones seems a fair anecdotal sample.

Geniuses are bound by a non-disclosure. If they are discussing anything at all about their job they are breaking it. Furthermore, if indeed my hypothesis about a "batch" is true, they may not be in the geographical distribution area of that batch, so their "anecdotes" about their top issues may not be relevant.

Most iPads of certain generations (iPad 2s if I recall) bricked with the iOS 9.3 update - iOS 9.3.1 was released to fix that very problem, which is when the iPhone issue here cropped its ugly head. I have an archived folder of 19 bookmarks about the fiasco, so please don't dismiss my comments - I care about folks with problems and strive to help them get them solved, which IS my dog in this fight.

I suggest that you do the Google search I suggested a little earlier and read about the issue from the perspective of (IMHO) a reputable repairer (some smart people can come across a little abrasive sometimes) [I cannot post a direct link or it will go POOF!]

At bottom, something out of the ordinary is going on - otherwise these folks would not be here at all.

I'll go ahead and give the google search a go.  I'm still a little bit fuzzy on which point you are leaning towards though. In one instance you reference the OS update attributing to this, but then you are also making reference to a "batch". So for my full understanding, are you not saying this was a hardware batch?

Oh and it seems we missed each other on my explanation.

Get help with iOS update and restore errors - Apple Support

Scroll to the bottom and you will see some of the various hardware error codes you can find yourself staring at if after an update, restore, or recovery the checklist finds something amiss that it deems can not be utilized.

Oh and these. These are always my favorites.

If you see error 9, 4005, 4013, or 4014 when you restore your iOS device - Apple Support

BBoiss wrote:

 

I'll go ahead and give the google search a go.  I'm still a little bit fuzzy on which point you are leaning towards though. In one instance you reference the OS update attributing to this, but then you are also making reference to a "batch". So for my full understanding, are you not saying this was a hardware batch?

 

Oh and it seems we missed each other on my explanation.

 

Get help with iOS update and restore errors - Apple Support

 

Scroll to the bottom and you will see some of the various hardware error codes you can find yourself staring at if after an update, restore, or recovery the checklist finds something amiss that it deems can not be utilized.

 

Oh and these. These are always my favorites.

If you see error 9, 4005, 4013, or 4014 when you restore your iOS device - Apple Support

I am reserving judgement. As I am not privy to all the data, and never will be as on Apple can collect it and will never reveal it, I can only go by the apparent numbers indicated by how many folks may have found their way to my eyeballs in these two threads - as I said before, I have no dog in it so I am just curious and playing a bit of "gatekeeper" in trying to keep folks focuesed on what will get their issue solved, not cast blame. My best estimation based on the anecdotal data seems to point toward a goodly number, but not statistically relevant, of iPhones affected - both previously held and provided as replacements, paid or free, that develop this issue when iOS 9.3.1 is applied.

2 + 2 = 4 ---  hardware unique + software unique = problem === it does not make sense that a StuxNet-like event could occur on a machine with no significant moving parts, but if it walks like a duck...

So yes, a batch of devices are affected by a software update to produce a particular failure is the only logical conclusion. The batch is statistically small when compared to the installed base of 60 million, but large enough to draw attention here. One must extrapolate that there are 1000s in reality as this forum is also not a statistically significant sample. Here is a sample of a sample of a sample - a stretch, but all we have to go on.

I have also said that with samples this "small", Apple deals with them "quietly" on a case-by-case basis. Good business public relations is not always all that "public"

regarding your fine articles - there are many reports of Apple article steps having  no effect (not sure that error codes even play into a screen being unresponsive)

another big "tell" is shaking, flexing temporarily fixes it. There is a standing joke that there is a magic machine in the tech bench area that precisely applies pressure or whacks devices and fixes problems - the bench techs claimed it exists (tongue firmly in cheek?) to a fellow member here (he believes what I do... they merely whack it gently until it works then hand it back - which is exactly what users here report as effective temporarily!