ios 6.1.3 WIFI problem

And the fact that Apple is discounting a replacement device by about 66% for out-of-warranty claims shows they're trying to do right by a customer as well.

The automakers discount the repair. Apple is discounting an entire replacement. Not bad in my opinion.

I don't think you understand the issue at all. The problem described by a lot of people here, including me, doesn't happen because of wear and tear like a car part. The problem is triggered by a legit firmware upgrade originated at Apple itself. It doesn't really matter if the problem has always been there or not, or if Apple knew about it or not. What matters is that perfectly good devices were damaged by an untested software release, and Apple does not seem to care.

For fans of analogies like you, here's one: if you take your perfectly fine car to the auto dealership to change oil (a periodic maintenance task) and they return it to you with a broken odometer (a non-essential but necessary feature), I bet you will not be OK with that. If the dealership then offers to fix the odometer for a fee, however reasonable, I bet you will not be OK with that either. If you are, then you probably love the car brand more than you love your money. I don't. I paid top-dollar for a device that is supposed to be of top quality, from a company that prizes itself for being top-quality and detail-oriented. The last thing I expected from a company like Apple was a laughable band-aid in the form of "bake your iPhone and see if it works; if it doesn't then try freezing it". It sounds like a bad joke, doesn't it?

If you look at this differently. We have a OS upgrade that has fried many boderline WIFI chips. Apple offers a $200 refurbished Iphone replacment for those out of warranty. Then of course I would assume refurbishes the one they took back in the exchange and then have that for sale...

I dont think I have to say anything else ...

with 115,000 views of this page alone I would have thought it **** obvious to Apple that there is a problem...

I have tried the reset procedure which worked the first time for few minutes but now the wifi will not turn on at all despite a full reset. ITunes backed up my 'phone automatically so a restore would be pointless.

Is it possible to downgrade to 6.1.2 or prior?

Assuming the electronics are fried by 6.1.3 it is pointless getting a replacement 'phone as it will presumably suffer the same problem

Samsung and Andriod are sudenly looking very, very tempting...

leskaye wrote:

with 115,000 views of this page alone I would have thought it **** obvious to Apple that there is a problem...

Well, not really. 115K views and 379 posts? Very minor. Compared to a REAL problem like

iPhone 4s Battery Life? with over 2 MILLION views and 13,000 posts before it was locked. And even that problem affected a relatively small number of users.

leskaye wrote:

Samsung and Andriod are sudenly looking very, very tempting...

Except they use the same chip, and if you read Android forums, the same problems are reported.

Same thing here :

Iphone 4S 16G updated to iOS 6, greyed wifi button, and battery problems.

I have reset my phone 5 or 6 times (complete reset), but nothing change.

I'm going to an apple store soon, but when i'm reading these messages, I think they are gonna replace it...

I'm very disapointed..

(Sorry if I made any mistakes in english, i'm french)

Hi Cyrielle,

You should really try the blow drier tip that has been posted on this thread. I figured I didn't have anything to loose and it tried it... I absolutely couldn't believe it worked! Just take your device out of its case, aim the blow drier at the headphone jack and start heating up the machine. Occasionally press the home button until the heat warning shows up. Shut down the device and allow it to cool. Turn it back on and reset the network. Your wifi will no longer be grayed out.

It's unbelievable that we have to resort to tactics like this to fix Apple's mistake.

Hello,

I have IPhone 4 and 4s both on 6.1.3, 4s is facing the problem with the wifi issue and 4 is working fine.

I didn't want to jinx it but this trick has worked for me. Its been 2 days and going strong.

Thank you.

What specifically is the issue you are having? This thread is so long that several different, unrelated problems have been described.

The software was tested. It was tested with devices that had properly working wi-fi chips, because that's what it was designed to work with. You're right, Apple didn't test it with defective hardware, because any defective hardware would be replaced by Apple.

Your analogy is ridiculous. The two systems you mention have nothing to do with one another. One is periodic maintenance. The other is an authorized upgrade. A better automobile analogy would be if Ford provided a FREE fuel-injector upgrade, that when put into a very, VERY small percentage of vehicles that had defective combustion systems, caused a noticeable dropoff in fuel effeciency. And if the vehicle was still within it's warranty period, Ford replaced the ENTIRE vehicle for free. If it was not, then Ford offered to repair the problem at a very low cost.

That's an apporpriate analogy.

And as far as Apple offering the solution of "bake your iPhone and see if it works; if it doesn't then try freezing it" ... Apple never said such a thing whatsoever. Apple has NEVER suggested end-users perform that kind of maintenance on their devices. You are obviously confused. You are assuming that the solutions offered her, by other customers just like yourselves, are in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM endorsed by Apple.

This just proves that you have no real understanding of the issue.

My 'bottle' analogy was perfect, actually. The wi-fi chip is rated to handle a certain amount of power. Non-defective chips have no problem with that much power, and so their Wi-Fi never gets greyed out by the new iOS. But the defective chips can't handle that much power (even though they are supposed to), and so overheat/burnout/etc.

The power is the water, the chip is the bottle. Simple analogy.

You're frustrated about the situation. I don't blame you. But demanding a recall over such as small, small percentage, when Apple is already replacing defective items within their warranty period for FREE...

Free. Read that again. No charge. Gratis. Complimentary.

Only if a device is outside of it's warranty (i.e., the time period in which the device was promised to work as advertised [written guarantee of the integrity of a product and of the maker's responsibility for the repair or replacement of defective parts]) does Apple charge a dime for any service for this issue. And instead of simply repairing the issue, the replace the ENTIRE device at a 66% discount.

Name a company that offers to replace the entire product, at such a discount, even after the warranty has expired? They even offer that for situations that are inarguably customer-caused damage, like salt-water.

You claim Apple is recommending 'bake & freeze' fixes? Prove it.

rayfromtorontosaid: "If you look at this differently. We have a OS upgrade that has fried many boderline WIFI chips. Apple offers a $200 refurbished Iphone replacment for those out of warranty. Then of course I would assume refurbishes the one they took back in the exchange and then have that for sale...

I dont think I have to say anything else ..."

Apple provides remanufactured phones as replacements. Everything, other than the processor and the camera, is new on the device. Those are the only two things that they keep from a phone that comes into the repair depot. Everything else is brand new. And the camera & processor are inspected to a much higher degree than when mass-produced. Even the new components are inspected, individually, to a much higher degree.

Why?

Because Apple knows that these devices, as replacement devices, are going into the hands of customers that have already had one problem with a device. Therefore, they take every possible step to make sure the remanufactured devices have a higher standard of quality than the mass-produced ones. The odds of a second problem with with the remanufactured devices are INCREDIBLY low.

Hand inspected instead of mass produced. Apple puts a lot more time and effort into remanufactured phones than the mass produced ones.

Your love for this company is really unmatched. Congratulations. I wish I could have a sip of that Kool-Aid so I wouldn't be so unhappy with the situation...

The software obviously wasn't tested. I prefer to believe Apple wouldn't release software that it knew could damage a number of devices. It is naive to think that they did this knowing that "any defective hardware would be replaced".

Also, my analogy was indeed better than the two you offered. The issue is not in any way similar to "a dropoff in fuel efficiency". A major function of the device stopped working and it's not a mere nuisance like you implied. If the free Ford injector of your second bad analogy caused one wheel to fall off, for example, *that* would be a more apt analogy. Would you be so nice to Ford then? (Well, you would apparently...)

Bad chip or not, I still don't understand why you keep implying that a bad part somewhat frees Apple from its responsibility to customers? As if poor Apple didn't choose the chip and therefore didn't know it was faulty?

By the way, I never demanded a recall. I just think Apple has more responsibility over this issue than you and other fanboys think they have. I took good care of my iPhone and I kept up with *official* releases of the OS--one of which broke it. Should I *not* trust Apple's upgrades anymore? Is that the message?

Now, I know Apple is legally covered from all angles and does not have to fix any devices that are out-of-warranty, even if they caused the damage. But that does not mean customers can't complain when something doesn't feel right. Maybe with enough people voicing their lack of satisfaction, Apple will listen and do something. After all, they have a reputation to keep. When customers aren't happy, it's never good for a company.

It's not 'love'. It's logic. And research.

Prove your claim that the software was not tested.

My anaolgy was awesome. The primary function of an iPhone is to make phone calls. The Wi-Fi problem doesn't prevent that. However, it does mean that customers may have to use their carrier data plan more than expected. Which costs more money. Which is also what happens when fuel effenciency drops on a vehicle.

In other words, to use the device in the same manner as you want to use it, you have to pay more money... perfect analogy.

The Wi-Fi issue does NOT prevent you from accessing the internet. It simply means you use your carrier data plan to do so. So, comparing it to a wheel falling off a vehicle, which renders it virtually USELESS, is a very poor analogy. You keep trying to force an analogy to work that comes across as catastrophic.

I never said Apple had no responsibility. If the defect appears within the warranty period, it's fixed for free. If it appears after the warranty period, it's fixed at a 66% discount.

Name a company that gives an out-of-warranty replacement for a 66% discount.

Oh, you never demanded a recall? That's RIGHT! Just like Apple never said to use a hairdryer, a freezer or an oven to fix your phone.

The iOS upgrade did not break the phone, any more than the water 'damaged' the bottle. Your phone was already defective from DAY ONE. It just didn't display this problem until later.

Answer these two questions, Marcio: How long after your date of purchase did your iPhone Wi-Fi function fail, and did you have the extended or regular warranty?

I use both iOS devices and Android devices. I'm not a fanboy. I just understand how this technological issue works, and how Apple is honoring their warranties.

I see a pattern here: you keep trying to minimize the problem so it doesn't look like a big deal. Wi-fi, who needs wi-fi? People buy iPhones to talk... blah blah blah. Either that, or you really believe people spend a boatload of money on iPhones so they can make phone calls. That's hilarious!

Add this to your "research":

http://www.experian.com/blogs/marketing-forward/2013/05/28/americans-spend-58-mi nutes-a-day-on-their-smartphones

The vast majority of smartphone users spend just a quarter of their time-on-device talking. The main use of an iPhone for most users is obviously Internet-based communication, and the lack of wi-fi is *extremely* crippling for a regular user. For a teenager who may not have enough money to pay AT&T for more data, for example, it *is* indeed catastrophic as you put it.

Besides, even for people who can afford a better data plan, the connection will never be as fast as wi-fi (remember, in this particular case the affected phones are 4S which do not support the faster LTE). Do you believe for a second that Apple would be able to compete in the smartphone market without a wi-fi feature?

And... again, I never demanded a recall. I tried (unsuccessfully so far) to demand a solution from Apple--my original thought was to downgrade back to a previous version of iOS that worked, and it didn't even cross my mind getting a replacement device until I started reading these posts.

Last, you seem to know *for sure* what the problem is and what it is not. However, the posts in this forum seem to contradict your hypothesis that everyone's phones "were broken since day one". Mine certainly wasn't. It was fully functional and was damaged by the iOS update like so many others. You can say whatever you want to defend your beloved Apple, but that will not change the reality of the users who were affected by this update.

By the way, your "perfect analogy" is still as flawed as your plastic bottles. :-)