Apple Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Unresponsive iPhone 6 Touchscreens

[scjr]

My friend has this problem with her iPhone 6 Plus.

I inserted double sided tape between the logic board and the rear case to push the Touch ICs up against the logic board.

The phone seems to be working for now.

She sold it on eBay and just shipped it.

Hopefully it last long enough to pass the 30 days return mark.

If the buyer paid with PayPal, they have 180 days of coverage for items that are not as described.

You should tell your friend to disclose the bandaid repair and allow the buyer the option to return the phone. That would be the honorable thing to do.

 

[Akitakoi]

I had this issue about a year ago, went to 2 different apple store they would not help. Finally got Sprint to replace it with a new one for free. It got so bad the phone was unusable, the phone was otherwise in pristine condition. I'll be following this through.

 

[rGiskard]

Say what? All substrates/PCBs flex. Your "Lesson #1" would eliminate all circuit boards currently in existence since they ALL flex.

The key question is whether they flex when installed in a product under normal use scenarios.

I'm very careful with my 6+ but even so there were two instances where I sat in my car with it still in my back pocket. Not "hard" sit down, but still, those things happen.

Contrast this with my previous iPhone, the 4S. I sat on soft seats with that one in my back pocket all the time. It was pristine when I traded it in for the 6+.

 

[Marlon177]

my first i6+ had this issue within the first year, Apple replaced it under warranty. The replacement started to have the same issue with only 9 months, Apple Store wont replace the phone, but fortunately Apple Care willing to replace it because it happened again within 1 year. Finger cross on my 3rd one.

 

[Glideslope]

....and it begins. This will go over well with the EU Ruling. I'd sell today if possible.

 

[tubeexperience]

If the buyer paid with PayPal, they have 180 days of coverage for items that are not as described.

You should tell your friend to disclose the bandaid repair and allow the buyer the option to return the phone. That would be the honorable thing to do.

Well, Apple might launch a repair program before then.

Anyway, it's not really any of my business.

I did what she wanted and that's it.

 

[rasputin1969]

Not defending Apple, but I am not sure what people are expecting on a failure that happens outside of Warranty.

Microsoft responded to the RRoD by announcing a three year warranty for that issue, they then set in place a program whereby customers could quickly return and receive a repair.

 

[marty1980]

6+ owner since launch. No screen issues that I know of yet with flickering. Coming up on the 2 year anniversary. Keeping my fingers crossed that Apple changes course and decides to cover this. That way I don't need to worry about if it happens between now and the 10th Anniversary iPhone next year. I'm not interested in IPhone 7 and this would be a terrible way to convince me otherwise. I'd just switch to Android for a year just because.

 

[Press22]

I've seen this issue on three different 6+ devices including my own.
We've all had the phone since early launch, mine being the worst of the three.

 

[jamesl2]

I would never want to invent a product in modern America. You'll get sued if it isn't perfect. Sued if it breaks in 4 years. Sued if it doesn't meet expectations. Sue this sue that. American lawsuits are out of control.

How about instead of a suit, Apple volunteers a recall to fix recent products with known defects if they are really that bad?

 

[Namjins]

I had this issue and asked a friend who does screen repairs to take a look; he opened it up to check for any issues and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Put it back together and now it's perfect again.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Actually if you go to the iFixit forums and read on the subject it's hundreds of phones per month, for several months, at multiple repair places.

No one has an accurate tally because every time anyone associated with iFixit provides a analysis of the failure with evidence, and explains what to do, Apple takes it off the forum. So thousands or even tens of thousands may be effected which is what percent of billions of devices?

But it's STILL a lot of failures recently, attributable to engineering.

Actually, that's pretty much useless information. Hundreds from multiple shops out of tens of millions of phones? These kind of anecdotes provide absolutely no way of determining the actual prevalence of these failures or, even more importantly, why some experience it and many other do not. Only Apple could possibly know for sure, and quite possibly they don't know themselves yet.

I have no doubt that a person can break their iPhone. Maybe this is even an easier way to break one than others, or easier than it "should" be. Again, only Apple really knows. Right now all we have is speculation, and speculation does not become a fact just by repetition.

 

[dampfnudel]

....and it begins. This will go over well with the EU Ruling. I'd sell today if possible.

Yeah, this could potentially be a trifecta from hell for Apple: EU tax ruling, major hardware defect with the iPhone 6/6+ and a meh iPhone 7 making the media as well as customers wonder if we've reached peak iPhone.

 

[charlituna]

I'm happy with this. Normally I think most class actions are money grabs, but this one is warranted. I certainly have this issue and would be happy to join the action.

But would you say the same if not for the fact that it benefits you.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

Yeah, this could potentially be a trifecta from hell for Apple: EU tax ruling, major hardware defect with the iPhone 6/6+ and a meh iPhone 7 making the media as well as customers wonder if we've reached peak iPhone.

I don't see how the hell Apple could let Cook stay on board any longer due to these events that could potentially be negative publicity. Seriously.

 

[charlituna]

Actually, that's pretty much useless information. Hundreds from multiple shops out of tens of millions of phones?

Not to mention that "multiple shops" could include ones using non Apple parts so if those fail it's moot to the situation.

Plus there is the fact that Apple has replaced tons of these phones over the months it's been out, many under warranty. They even alerted their staff of someone came in with a flicker or touch issue to not try to replace screen. And there is no way they refused to help anyone. Refused to cover it cause it's out of my warranty sure but not just told folks to F off like many statements try to imply. And let's face it, if you didn't consider the warranty period when you bought something and then had it work fine under three or four months after the end of that period, you will be hard pressed to prove its a design flaw. Particularly when the company probably has tons of examples of units that were bent etc and that could be a factor in the 'flaw'.

Given all of this I won't be shocked if this suit fails

 

[profmjh]

I bought my iPhone 6+ in February 2015. Earlier this month I encountered this problem. The phone became unusable. I eventually managed to do a full factory-settings restore on it, but the problem remained, confirming it wasn't a software issue. I reported it to Apple, who simply offered to fix it for a number of hundred pounds.

In the end I sold it (noting the flaw) on eBay for around £200 to someone who specialises in reconditioning and reselling iPhones. I then bought an iPhone 6S+ to replace it for £699.

I had no idea this was a widespread issue and I feel misled and let down by Apple.

English law says that expensive, luxury goods should last for many years, certainly well beyond the initial one year warranty period.

I have become increasingly disillusioned by Apple. I think they are behind the curve in a number of ways, and they are clearly not above knowingly ripping off customers. I will be interested to see what action, if any, is taken in the UK and whether I can join it.

I bought the 6S+ because I needed a phone and I'm deeply in the Apple ecosystem. But I really don't "need" any more Apple products and shouldn't need any for quite a few years. The temptation to mindlessly upgrade as I have in previous years has been quashed by this experience.

 

[wozmatic]

Always hated the iPhone 6 and vowed never to buy it based on the fact it had that UGLY rear protruding camera.

Glad I saved my money

 

[noslenam]

Apple just made a fix for this. Its called the iPhone 7, go buy it.

That's exactly what happened to me. I was having issues and was
Able to show the so called genius member. Phone would free and I was two weeks out of warranty. I ended up having to purchase a new 6S plus. Pure crap!!!.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Not to mention that "multiple shops" could include ones using non Apple parts so if those fail it's moot to the situation.

Plus there is the fact that Apple has replaced tons of these phones over the months it's been out, many under warranty. They even alerted their staff of someone came in with a flicker or touch issue to not try to replace screen. And there is no way they refused to help anyone. Refused to cover it cause it's out of my warranty sure but not just told folks to F off like many statements try to imply. And let's face it, if you didn't consider the warranty period when you bought something and then had it work fine under three or four months after the end of that period, you will be hard pressed to prove its a design flaw. Particularly when the company probably has tons of examples of units that were bent etc and that could be a factor in the 'flaw'.

Given all of this I won't be shocked if this suit fails

Class action suits are a major nuisance for a company because they generate bad publicity whether they have merit or not. For that reason alone I'd expect Apple to quietly issue an out-of-warranty repair/replacement policy directive. Maybe they need to understand what is going on better before they decide how to handle it.

One thing that causes me to suspect handling is an issue is the number of people who report having multiple similar failures, and of course lots of us have owned these phones for a couple of years now without ever seeing it.

 

[gnipgnop]

The program still doesn't "repair" the board, but replace it with another one that has the same defect. That means when (not if, but when) the replacement fails, it will be most likely be outside the program window (12/31/2016) and the customer will be stuck again.

So you're claiming that there was a 100% failure rate for the Macbook Pro models that had issues? First time I've ever heard that one. Apple themselves stated that it was a "small number".

 

[sracer]

So you're claiming that there was a 100% failure rate for the Macbook Pro models that had issues? First time I've ever heard that one. Apple themselves stated that it was a "small number".

I'm not the one claiming it. It has been proven that the problem is due to the lead-free solder used. That all of those motherboards are susceptible. You are free to not believe that and believe what Apple says.

 

[Press22]

They even alerted their staff of someone came in with a flicker or touch issue to not try to replace screen.

Really? When? I had this issue back September last year when my original warranty was running out. They replaced my screen. The issue came back couple weeks later so I went back in (now out of warranty) Guess what, they replaced the screen AGAIN.

I guess they didn't get the memo until us (mostly loyal) launch customers are screwed?

 

[C DM]

Always hated the iPhone 6 and vowed never to buy it based on the fact it had that UGLY rear protruding camera.

Glad I saved my money

To be fair, plenty of products of all kinds have all kinds of issues, and in many instances most people aren't affected by many of them.

 

[Chazani]

I have had this problem for a month or so with my iPhone 6plus. I have spoken to the Apple Store, all of them say they have never heard of this, and there's nothing they can do about it.. Figured it was just a glitch from a iOS, but I don't think it was.. Had to hit the power button to clear out the unresponsive screen. Have had my iPhone 6 Plus since Christmas Day 2014.