Apple Launches Official Repair Program for iPhone 7 Models Affected by 'No Service' Issue

[Derived]

it's a X you've had it less than a year. you don't need a program.

Never has an avatar been so suitable to a quote & a response.
[doublepost=1517770892][/doublepost]Almost all noise & no signal in this thread - does anyone have any insight into why this is happening?

My brother's 1660 just started doing this, he was in a low/no-service area, and it never was able to re-establish a connection when coming back to civilization, despite throwing everything at it short of a restore (which it sounds like isn't a fix) - seems like a modem hardware failure.

Btw, not at all sure what Apple is supposed to do about Qualcomm building a crap cell modem...people blaming this on Apple are either willfully ignorant or perhaps should reconsider smartphone ownership.

Even if this is some sort of strange firmware/software issue, they're obviously taking care of it...want to know how many Android phones were having severe software/firmware issues out of the box on the first boot I saw when I worked for a cell carrier? Too many to count. Stop whining. This is how the universe goes. Nothing is perfect. Go take your free replacement and get on with it.

 

[newellj]

Never has an avatar been so suitable to a quote & a response.
[doublepost=1517770892][/doublepost]Almost all noise & no signal in this thread - does anyone have any insight into why this is happening?

My brother's 1660 just started doing this, he was in a low/no-service area, and it never was able to re-establish a connection when coming back to civilization, despite throwing everything at it short of a restore (which it sounds like isn't a fix) - seems like a modem hardware failure.

Btw, not at all sure what Apple is supposed to do about Qualcomm building a crap cell modem...people blaming this on Apple are either willfully ignorant or perhaps should reconsider smartphone ownership.

Even if this is some sort of strange firmware/software issue, they're obviously taking care of it...want to know how many Android phones were having severe software/firmware issues out of the box on the first boot I saw when I worked for a cell carrier? Too many to count. Stop whining. This is how the universe goes. Nothing is perfect. Go take your free replacement and get on with it.

When I've experienced LTE problems with my 7, a two-button reset has restored connectivity. If your brother's phone didn't come back to life, it does sound like a hardware problem.

As far as what to do about Qualcomm, there's another story today in which a well-regarded (everywhere but in these forums, anyway...) analyst forecasts that Apple will ditch Qualcomm entirely as a modem supplier for the next cycle of iPhones, sourcing 100% of modems from Intel.

 

[brop52]

This happens much more on my X than my 6s did

 

[saveaplfromaplretail]

Something no one is talking about (or cares about maybe and that's fair) is the Apple Retail technical support folks along with the customers are getting the short end of the stick. With this new iPhone 7 no service issue, what Apple calls a "Quality Program", comes more customer anger and frustration dumped on 'the face of Apple'. True they get paid for it but what once was a happy, positive environment has turned into a lot of frowns and yelling and I need to talk to a manger. The front of the store is tense and resentful (employees and customers) and the back where they can have hundreds of batteries and screens to repair in conditions that look NOTHING like or are anywhere near as spacious as what the front of the store looks like there is bitterness and even anger. Depot iPhone repairs take twice as long as an exchange or in store repair just to take in with most customers very unhappy to be sent away with a low-end iPhone loaner knowing they have to come back into a noise-filled stressful environment. Not one iota of encouragement or acknowledgement has come from corporate. Some wonder if working in an Apple Store will EVER be the same.

 

[Mascots]

Im sure they being someone at the store. How would anyone at a store know this? A secret memo?

When you’ve brought a phone in for the same issue, going through their process of appointment and waiting, three times within a year for them to not do anything while blaming the carrier, get back to me.

Otherwise, the company’s inability to even acknowledge anything in the chain from technical staff to consumers for such a long time sours me. I traded in a wonderful phone (6s) for a year of nightmares that had me heavily doubting the reliability of any device from them for awhile.

 

[bruinsrme]

If this effects me, and I lose my jailbreak because of this, I never will be buying an apple product again.

That’s funny.

When you’ve brought a phone in for the same issue, going through their process of appointment and waiting, three times within a year for them to not do anything while blaming the carrier, get back to me.

I’m pretty sour about this one, sorry you can’t see my perspective!

Do you think the people checking you in or at the Genius Bar would know if an intermittent issue was a problem with the actual phone if it can’t be reproduced at the time of service?

I understand but I also understand the people trying to help, want to help but when they can’t it bothers them as well.
They’re using the tools they have been given. They’re not the design engineers.
I’ve had very good luck reaching a resolution with Apple Support when resolutions can’t be met at the bar.

I can surely appreciate your position as well and the frustration. We pay a hefty amount of money for these devices and deserve performance and reliability.

 

[Marekul]

C'mon, stop being ridiculous. Here is an example: https://android.gadgethacks.com/news/nexus-6p-battery-randomly-dying-its-not-just-you-0175625/



It happens because technology is complciated and chips in phones are more powerful, with higher potential draws power, than ever.
This problem has existed since I've owned cellphones, owned iPods, and owned cars. Adding to the difference today is the amount of wear put on those batteries - it's beyond what any consumer device has ever had to endure.

Apple did wrong by not saying anything but those implying there's some grand planned obsolescence scheme or think there's some massive slew of bad batteries in use that Apple is attempting to hide, need a rebase.

Ok sorry for being unclear, let me rephrase:
Checked the internet and no couldn't find other products that are expected to randomly shut down because of batteries that are a little old, batteries that are not fully charged, or just because of cold weather (without aggressive down clocking.) Writing this on my MBP with 3 year old battery on 400 cycles and 4% charge and still 100% of performance available.

You are a liar, but it goes with the times, lie some more buddy if it makes you feel good.

You have anything to say besides ad hominem attack? You hardcore apple fans sure become more and more aggressive lately. Like with the X where everyone who criticise it must be broke and jelly...

 

[Keirasplace]

Ok sorry for being unclear, let me rephrase:
Checked the internet and no couldn't find other products that are expected to randomly shut down because of batteries that are a little old, batteries that are not fully charged, or just because of cold weather (without aggressive down clocking.) Writing this on my MBP with 3 year old battery on 400 cycles and 4% charge and still 100% of performance available.



You have anything to say besides ad hominem attack? You hardcore apple fans sure become more and more aggressive lately. Like with the X where everyone who criticise it must be broke and jelly...

You just lied. WTF are you talking about.

 

[onclepixel]

The No service issue affected my iphone 6S when I was in France and I am running the last version of the ios. (I use a French SIM card)

 

[Marekul]

You just lied. WTF are you talking about.

And you are a thieve. Just admit it, it's obvious and everyone knows it!

See, isn't that fun and productive?

 

[macrumored719]

Ugh this has been an issue on my AT&T 6S for almost a year, AT&T replaced the SIM and it still happens, Apple said I would need a new phone. Guess not enough 6S owners were impacted.

 

[newellj]

Ugh this has been an issue on my AT&T 6S for almost a year, AT&T replaced the SIM and it still happens, Apple said I would need a new phone. Guess not enough 6S owners were impacted.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I don't remember this being an issue that got discussed much when the 6S rolled out. I do remember a lot of discussion about the 7 after it hit the market.

If my memory is correct, I returned or exchanged four 7s before I got one that worked often enough that I decided to give up and keep it. (There was and still is the issue with the noisy chips when recording video - unfixed.)

As some people have said above, it is a little tiring to see phone after phone turn up with problems that don't necessarily ever get resolved. The same thing is true with the annual version increments for iOS (and OS X/MacOS). Plenty of repetitive issues on the notebook side, too.

Because of all the returns I had with the 7, two years will take me out past the iPhone 9/iPhone XI introductions. Assuming this iPhone 7 doesn't croak before then, I will take a look and probably ask for a replacement for this phone at that time if Apple doesn't introduce a phone that looks like a decent replacement for me.

 

[TC_GoldRush]

lol Apple!

 

[Septembersrain]

Not surprised. They modified the Qualcomm modem to match the Intel modem. So maybe, just maybe, those antennas were needed for the Qualcomm to function properly.

Edit: Looks like I'm not the only one with the Intel who experienced this. They really did cripple the Qualcomm to match Intel in the 7/7+. Both can have horrible reception, dropped calls, no service, etc. How frustrating. Oh well, I'm using a V30+ as my daily driver.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

EU tries to save health of soldering workers and try to save biology and environment of the globe in many small steps by preventing pollution by electronic scrap with guidelines of RoHS and other countries take actions in the same direction - maybe you've got too big shoes?!

Of course technical faults are caused by engineers of Apple and the factories abroad - because many other electronics work without any faults.

Oh how WRONG you are!
[doublepost=1517861726][/doublepost]

Checked the internet and no couldn't find other products that randomly shut down because of a year old battery (or batteries that are "a little old" to say in your terms). And then this throttling does not only happen with "chemically aged" (rofl) batteries, but according to apples official statement also for iPhones with low battery charge and in "colder temperatures"...
Of course to see this you would have to very carefully read that purposefully misleading marketing drivel Appel is putting out in their official statements, and have some understanding of the technology.
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT208387

It's called "Willful Blindness" on your part. Here's some examples:

Samsung:

https://www.google.com/search?q=samsung+randomly+shutting+off&oq=samsung+randomly+shutting+off

HTC:

https://www.google.com/search?q=htc+randomly+shutting+off

LG:

https://www.google.com/search?q=LG+randomly+shutting+off&oq=LG+randomly+shutting+off

Even Older iPhones (that the meme says "Never used to shut off!") :

https://www.google.com/search?q=iphone+4s+randomly+shutting+off&oq=iphone+4s+randomly+shutting+off

Get the Picture?

I had another, more refined list; but I can't find it right now, sorry.
[doublepost=1517861877][/doublepost]

And your point, with respect to my post, is?

You were implying that Apple should have caught this in QA.

And I replied that, without a time machine, that would be impossible, given the way BGA packages are soldered by EVERYONE (which is why EVERYONE has these SAME PROBLEMS now and again).

 

[newellj]

Oh how WRONG you are!
[doublepost=1517861726][/doublepost]
It's called "Willful Blindness" on your part. Here's some examples:

Samsung:

https://www.google.com/search?q=samsung+randomly+shutting+off&oq=samsung+randomly+shutting+off

HTC:

https://www.google.com/search?q=htc+randomly+shutting+off

LG:

https://www.google.com/search?q=LG+randomly+shutting+off&oq=LG+randomly+shutting+off

Even Older iPhones (that the meme says "Never used to shut off!") :

https://www.google.com/search?q=iphone+4s+randomly+shutting+off&oq=iphone+4s+randomly+shutting+off

Get the Picture?

I had another, more refined list; but I can't find it right now, sorry.
[doublepost=1517861877][/doublepost]
You were implying that Apple should have caught this in QA.

And I replied that, without a time machine, that would be impossible, given the way BGA packages are soldered by EVERYONE (which is why EVERYONE has these SAME PROBLEMS now and again).

The Google searches on similar battery problems are great. TBH, although anyone who thinks about this for 0.7 seconds should realize that there's no chance that other manufacturers aren't having the same problem, I hadn't bothered to confirm.

On RoHS requirements and various failures, without doing teardown on flakey or failed devices it would be hard to really know. Are there physical studies that establish the failure modes and connect the dots?

 

[USF813]

Weird. Today since about 1pm I am only getting 2G speeds, not LTE. I’m on an unlimited plan and have only used about 17 gigs this cycle.

 

[charlituna]

Is this really limited to the iPhone 7? I often have no service on my X when I know I am in a service area.

yes. because the iPhone 7 has units that are out of warranty. the X does not so you can go into the store and get service and not have to worry about Apple telling you that you are OOW, pay $500 or GTFO
[doublepost=1517880900][/doublepost]

And batteries. When will the batteries be ready.?

i wouldn't expect the batteries to be ready all that quickly with the way that Apple screwed the pooch. they set themselves up for a huge fail by allowing anyone to come in for a cheap battery repair even if the phone passed diagnostics. hundreds of folks are getting their batteries swapped that probably don't need it. and it screws with their PR. they claim that this is all because of a power management feature in iOS that they added last year. a feature that doesn't kick in until the battery is below a certain level of charge or general life. or so they say. but if they just replace any old battery it implies that they are lying about this being a specific feature. and it implies that even if they are telling the truth, they are looking to make money off suckers. plus it seems they did it with little preparation over battery stock. none of which are good looks for the company

 

[BaracksPhallusPalace]

Assuming this is an issue with the cellular radios used in the 7/7+, how do they go about fixing it? I always thought those components were soldered into the logicboard. We know it's not a software issue if the devices are sent off to be repaired, and it's not exactly something you can get replaced without the whole logicboard going with it... if that happened you would have a different serial #, which essentially means you would end up with a different phone by the time it's returned to you. Why is this not a scenario where you would just get a on-the-spot replacement, white box iphone 7?

 

[charlituna]

assuming this is an issue with the cellular radios used in the 7/7+, how do they go about fixing it? I always thought those components were soldered into the logicboard... not exactly something you can get replaced without the whole logicboard going with it, and if that happened you would have a different serial #, which essentially means you would end up with a different phone altogether.

perhaps that's why they said it has to go to a repair center. there perhaps the board can be replaced.
and changing the serial number doesn't really change the board. if that even happens. when they change the logic board in a computer they code it with the existing serial, perhaps the phone can be the same

 

[Yebubbleman]

I have read the original post, read other articles covering the program, read through Apple's official text for the program, and read this thread. After doing all of that, I have come to the following conclusions (as I'm sure most of you have as well):

1. Considering this was posted February 2nd, 2018, and considering the iPhone 7 was introduced in September 2016, AND considering the program claims that non-Plus iPhone 7 units (bearing A1660, A1779, and A1780 model numbers) manufactured between September 2016 and February 2018; it's safe to assume that unless something drastic happened in the last three days, all iPhone 7 units (bearing A1660, A1779, and A1780) are at risk for the issue (if not already subject to it).

2. The "small percentage" must be a large number of affected 4.7" iPhone 7 units (bearing those model numbers) for the range of time for production for the iPhones; otherwise Apple wouldn't have made a program, nor specified the entire production/sale period for the 4.7" iPhone 7.

3. Apple has not issued any statement to indicate that, going forward, revised versions of the affected iPhone 7 models won't be sold in lieu of the affected ones.

4. In the US, affected 4.7" iPhones are either the Verizon-locked models, the Sprint-locked models, or the SIM-free models

5. Apple seems deliberate in only covering the 4.7" version of the affected iPhone 7 units and not the 5.5" plus versions. No other 5.5" or 4.7" iPhones seem to be included either.

6. As many of you have pointed out, the modem seems to be the most likely culprit component on the logic board to cause this issue.

Given these conclusions, I have the following questions for Apple (if anyone here has insight, obviously, it would be appreciated):

1. Will Apple put out fixed or revised versions of 4.7" iPhone 7 units (bearing A1660, A1779, and A1780)? Or will this just be one of those buy-at-your-own-risk type of situations until the phone is finally phased out of the lineup?

2. Are ANY of the recently made-available Refurbished 4.7" iPhone 7 phones potentially affected by this issue (and therefore covered by the program)? Which is to say, is this much like the 2008 and 2011 MacBook Pro repair programs where they'd basically replace the phone or the phone's logic board with another phone that will likely have the same issue down the road?

3. Will we likely see a similar program for the iPhone 7 Plus or any other currently-sold iPhone?

 

[charlituna]

1. Will Apple put out fixed or revised versions of 4.7" iPhone 7 units (bearing A1660, A1779, and A1780)?

they typically do. they don't want to continue having a problem they have to continue to fix.
and its probably not as many units as you might think since many of them could have failed already while under limited warranty or apple care and been fixed or replaced. no service is a big issue for a phone.

 

[ref26]

I started having this issue really badly on my 7 (one of the affected models listed) a little over a month ago (just over a month after my warranty expired). Initially toggling airplane mode or a reboot would fix it but eventually even that stopped working and it was just straight No Service. After a few different Apple Store appointments they basically told me my only option was the $319 replacement. I grudgingly took it as I needed a phone that would work as such. After reading about this program it seems like I should be eligible for a refund for the replacement fee I paid. I spoke with a representative this morning but they said I should wait for the emails that will be sent by end of March. Anyone else in this boat?

 

[b0fh]

The problem affects "a small percentage" of iPhone 7 devices, causing them to display a "No Service" message instead of properly connecting to an available cellular network.

This has been happening on my 7+ as well. Model A1661.

 

[oghowie]

Has anyone actually had theirs repaired or replaced? Mine is a A1660 model... If they make you send it in it would be a real PITA.