Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Renho

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Sep 15, 2014
2,802
1,418
SR, CA
was wondering like out of a million devices being mass produced what percentage pass all tests but come out faulty in the users hands.

Seems I am seeing more than normal faulty devices then past launches...
 
There is a full pdf study linked in this article:

http://fortune.com/2018/07/19/smartphones-highest-failure-rates/

If the 44% in this forum's poll is accurate, it would be very high. But most people who are happy aren't going to come on here looking for a poll to express their displeasure. The real problem rate is likely some fraction of that. But it is nonetheless somewhat disconcerting.

It's also quite possible that even if the new XS antenna is not performing as well as older ones, people may not notice it in high signal areas.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cape Dave
You are not...

You are in an echo chamber on a medium where contributors are many times more likely to voice negative opinions than positive ones.

I come on here every launch for the past like 5 years. I have never read about this many problems at launch like this.
[doublepost=1538119849][/doublepost]
There is a full pdf study linked in this article:

http://fortune.com/2018/07/19/smartphones-highest-failure-rates/

If the 44% in this forum's poll is accurate, it would be very high. But most people who are happy aren't going to come on here looking for a poll to express their displeasure. The real problem rate is likely some fraction of that. But it is nonetheless somewhat disconcerting.

It's also quite possible that even if the new XS antenna is not performing as well as older ones, people may not notice it in high signal areas.

Mine isn’t bad but I do notice it drops the signal all together in places it use to be one bar. So it is definitely worse than previous phones.
 
I come on here every launch for the past like 5 years. I have never read about this many problems at launch like this.

It would be good to get some empirical data, I don’t feel there is more than last year at all.
People went crazy about their yellow screens, and their off-angle color shift, notch issues on un-updated apps.
This year it’s wifi, which is absolutely fine for most people and oddly slow for others
 
It would be good to get some empirical data, I don’t feel there is more than last year at all.
People went crazy about their yellow screens, and their off-angle color shift, notch issues on un-updated apps.
This year it’s wifi, which is absolutely fine for most people and oddly slow for others

Ya could be true, it was a year ago. But hearing about speaker crackles, dead pixels, off color screens, real big issue with the antenna. Maybe cause this is the first time actually having something wrong with mine (cell signal) that I am noticing more...
 
Ya could be true, it was a year ago. But hearing about speaker crackles, dead pixels, off color screens, real big issue with the antenna. Maybe cause this is the first time actually having something wrong with mine (cell signal) that I am noticing more...

You have to contemplate the millions of iPhones the Apple produces, and how many Members in comparison discuss on a tech forum and complain about issues they are experiencing. Anything that’s mass-produced will experience issues, especially tech and phones in general.
 
What you see reported in this forum does not represent the masses. More often than not, people are out their enjoying their new iPhone without any issues.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ucfgrad93
You have to contemplate the millions of iPhones the Apple produces, and how many Members in comparison discuss on a tech forum and complain about issues they are experiencing. Anything that’s mass-produced will experience issues, especially tech and phones in general.

Well Ya, that’s why I was interested in knowing what that percentage was of devices needing to be replaced.
[doublepost=1538145252][/doublepost]
What you see reported in this forum does not represent the masses. More often than not, people are out their enjoying their new iPhone without any issues.

But so many people having problems not reporting either.
 
keep in mind through out the product life cycle there will be small design TWERKS that may or may not work with success.
its your hard earned money so buy with caution
 
keep in mind through out the product life cycle there will be small design TWERKS that may or may not work with success.
its your hard earned money so buy with caution

A bunch of design engineers twerking. Now there is an image. :)
 
the :apple:spell check took the best try for tweak -> twerk and i left it.
 
It is somewhat industry dependent. I.E. automobiles and dishwashers and computers all have different "acceptable" failure rates.

In the computer hardware company I once worked for, single digit range 1-9% percentage was expected for a new product and .2 to .5% for established products (products that had been in production for a year to more)
 
  • Like
Reactions: PBz
was wondering like out of a million devices being mass produced what percentage pass all tests but come out faulty in the users hands.

Seems I am seeing more than normal faulty devices then past launches...
Just my $0.02 but I would guess under 3%. Could be in the 1% range. So even at a very low 1%, for every million iPhones sold there will be 10,000 defective... It’s like UPS. I worked there. We were 98% on-time Ground and 99% on-time Air.. but I almost stopped telling people I worked there because EVERYONE has had a package late or lost.. 1% of billions is a lot of packages.
 

That paper is an eye-opener. I can't believe how high the total failure rate is for Samsung phones. But if you look at Samsung by model, their flagship phones are only at about 2 or 3 percent.

On the other hand, the iPhone 6 has a failure rate of 26 percent! I had an iPhone 6 that experienced a hardware failure in its first year and Apple replaced it with a newly manufactured iPhone 6 -- not a refurbished one. I walked into an Apple store, showed that the phone wouldn't boot up, and got the replacement phone in 30 minutes.
 
Just my $0.02 but I would guess under 3%. Could be in the 1% range. So even at a very low 1%, for every million iPhones sold there will be 10,000 defective... It’s like UPS. I worked there. We were 98% on-time Ground and 99% on-time Air.. but I almost stopped telling people I worked there because EVERYONE has had a package late or lost.. 1% of billions is a lot of packages.

Now this was what I was looking for. But how can a defective device get passed testing or inspection. Or do they not even really test them before boxing.
[doublepost=1538151689][/doublepost]
I remember reading it was between 0.5% and 2%.

Can't remember where, though...
That paper is an eye-opener. I can't believe how high the total failure rate is for Samsung phones. But if you look at Samsung by model, their flagship phones are only at about 2 or 3 percent.

On the other hand, the iPhone 6 has a failure rate of 26 percent! I had an iPhone 6 that experienced a hardware failure in its first year and Apple replaced it with a newly manufactured iPhone 6 -- not a refurbished one. I walked into an Apple store, showed that the phone wouldn't boot up, and got the replacement phone in 30 minutes.

26%!! That can’t be right that’s way too high.
[doublepost=1538151955][/doublepost]
That paper is an eye-opener. I can't believe how high the total failure rate is for Samsung phones. But if you look at Samsung by model, their flagship phones are only at about 2 or 3 percent.

On the other hand, the iPhone 6 has a failure rate of 26 percent! I had an iPhone 6 that experienced a hardware failure in its first year and Apple replaced it with a newly manufactured iPhone 6 -- not a refurbished one. I walked into an Apple store, showed that the phone wouldn't boot up, and got the replacement phone in 30 minutes.

Jesus why does Europe have the most failure rate for both Android and iOS phones...
 
Now this was what I was looking for. But how can a defective device get passed testing or inspection. Or do they not even really test them before boxing.

I doubt that a manufacturer of consumer electronics can afford to test every function of every phone coming off the assembly line. The cost would be prohibitive. Even NASA, which manufactures equipment to stellar (pun intended) tolerances, has had some notable failures. Electronic components can fail over time, also. If you've ever seen an electron microscope image of a semiconductor device, they look like a layer cake with some voids and imperfections. Except the chocolate ones -- they're perfect.
 
I have a bit of industry experience in consumer electronics manufacturing, but not for Apple or any smartphone manufacturer.

Less than 1% of devices come off the line finished and defectively manufactured. Most defects are discovered earlier in the process. For example, screens and touch capacitance can be tested before they are assembled into the device. Complicated SoCs have a fairly low yield rate from the fab at first, but these are also usually identified before they ever make to the board. Memory and flash is tested before it is soldered to the board usually. Most of these tests can be totally automated, so they are inexpensive to do. In other words, most components are tested before they are assembled, and the device is tested during the assembly process as well such that it is a very very low percent of finally assembled devices are defective.
 
I bet over 95% of the iPhone users do not even know what McRumors is.

It is US that is not normal!

You can not use the complaints from here to judge the unhappy. Apple knows but that information would not be public for sure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ROLLTIDE1
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.