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There absolutely is something wrong with the IC design. Is it hard to understand that putting >100 lbs (45 kg) on top of a thin glass covered sliver of hollow aluminum is a bad idea?

Is it hard to understand that Apple's half excuse is not the reason? (also, fixed it for you)

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Why the hell Apple is charging $149 for a fault that is one of their manufacturing issues!

Because they don't believe its a fault on their manufacturing issues?

This is only a design flaw if failure is occurring that shouldn't under normal operating conditions. Otherwise its simply a design limitation, and design limitations exist in every product created or that will be created.

If its a design limitation and not a design flaw, then its entirely possible Apple came up with a different/better design that was less susceptible to this in the later 6s line. That doesn't mean the previous design was a flaw.

Those who are lambasting Apple about charging for a design "flaw" are putting the cart ahead of the horse, first you have to prove the design WAS flawed, that failures are occurring within normal usage Apple clearly believes thats not true, they are, in fact, offering a discounted price for fixing something that, at least according to their announced position, is due to user caused abuse of the device. You can believe its a flaw, you can present an argument that its a flaw but its not factually certain that it is, and acting as if anyone who disagrees with you has ignored your argument/is being a blind fanboy, makes you look worse, not them.

Provide your evidence, plead your case, and if Apple continues behaving in a way you disapprove of take your business elsewhere.
 
Because they don't believe its a fault on their manufacturing issues?

This is only a design flaw if failure is occurring that shouldn't under normal operating conditions. Otherwise its simply a design limitation, and design limitations exist in every product created or that will be created.

If its a design limitation and not a design flaw, then its entirely possible Apple came up with a different/better design that was less susceptible to this in the later 6s line. That doesn't mean the previous design was a flaw.

Those who are lambasting Apple about charging for a design "flaw" are putting the cart ahead of the horse, first you have to prove the design WAS flawed, that failures are occurring within normal usage Apple clearly believes thats not true, they are, in fact, offering a discounted price for fixing something that, at least according to their announced position, is due to user caused abuse of the device. You can believe its a flaw, you can present an argument that its a flaw but its not factually certain that it is, and acting as if anyone who disagrees with you has ignored your argument/is being a blind fanboy, makes you look worse, not them.

Provide your evidence, plead your case, and if Apple continues behaving in a way you disapprove of take your business elsewhere.

I don't remember a disclaimer when purchasing an iPhone 6/6 Plus that the phone would stop working after regular uses.
 
Because they don't believe its a fault on their manufacturing issues?

This is only a design flaw if failure is occurring that shouldn't under normal operating conditions. Otherwise its simply a design limitation, and design limitations exist in every product created or that will be created.

If its a design limitation and not a design flaw, then its entirely possible Apple came up with a different/better design that was less susceptible to this in the later 6s line. That doesn't mean the previous design was a flaw.

Those who are lambasting Apple about charging for a design "flaw" are putting the cart ahead of the horse, first you have to prove the design WAS flawed, that failures are occurring within normal usage Apple clearly believes thats not true, they are, in fact, offering a discounted price for fixing something that, at least according to their announced position, is due to user caused abuse of the device. You can believe its a flaw, you can present an argument that its a flaw but its not factually certain that it is, and acting as if anyone who disagrees with you has ignored your argument/is being a blind fanboy, makes you look worse, not them.

Provide your evidence, plead your case, and if Apple continues behaving in a way you disapprove of take your business elsewhere.

1. There's plenty of proof going back since this first emerged.

2. Apple would never admit to a design "limitation" resulting in a net loss of millions in iPhone 6/6+ "repairs" unless there was ample evidence that a court case would cost much more.

3. The iPhone 4 antenna issues were admitted and resolved quickly in comparison by Steve Jobs who offered free cases to customers (and still the 4 and 4s models are considered the best iPhone models to date).

Working in this field, it has corporate "speak" all over it. Cook needs to take a few lessons from Jobs' playbook as he's thinking too much as a bean counter and 15+ years with Apple it pains me to state - the Cupertino spaceship is sinking before it's completion...
 
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Because they don't believe its a fault on their manufacturing issues?

This is only a design flaw if failure is occurring that shouldn't under normal operating conditions. Otherwise its simply a design limitation, and design limitations exist in every product created or that will be created.

If its a design limitation and not a design flaw, then its entirely possible Apple came up with a different/better design that was less susceptible to this in the later 6s line. That doesn't mean the previous design was a flaw.

Those who are lambasting Apple about charging for a design "flaw" are putting the cart ahead of the horse, first you have to prove the design WAS flawed, that failures are occurring within normal usage Apple clearly believes thats not true, they are, in fact, offering a discounted price for fixing something that, at least according to their announced position, is due to user caused abuse of the device. You can believe its a flaw, you can present an argument that its a flaw but its not factually certain that it is, and acting as if anyone who disagrees with you has ignored your argument/is being a blind fanboy, makes you look worse, not them.

Provide your evidence, plead your case, and if Apple continues behaving in a way you disapprove of take your business elsewhere.
Many posters have asserted that they have the problem without abusing their phone or has occurred out of the box. So are you calling them liars? This isn't a court of law in case you hadn't noticed. In any case, your argument cuts both ways - if Apple assert it's our fault let them publish the engineering proof, there are plenty of posters here who have the technical knowledge to assess such information.
 
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So basically a 50% discount of the replacementment cost, as its users fault...

Arrogant .

How many years was Steve ballmer with Microsoft? Need an idea how much longer Tim has to set record profits while destroying the company .
 
I solved my issue ( on the iPhone 6, because the issue is not exclusive to the plus ) with 150 bucks, I moved to a RedMi Note 4.

Not only they lost my 149 bucks, but they lost me as a customer for the next iPhone, their greed is what will destroy them.

It's a phone defect, not a dropping issue, and if they cannot admit it and pay for it, it just doesn't make it right.

By the way, I live this Xiaomi ( never thought I would say that of an Android phone) and Miui is great!
 
What heights of arrogance.

Blame the user for something that may not be true and which can't be proven and charge them anyway.
 
I'm grateful for these repair programs that Apple offers for defects.... HOWEVER... it would be nice to have these programs offered sooner rather than later (like offered in the same year while it is occurring). By the time they even offer it, people would have paid for the fix, moved on to a new device, or upgraded since it's out-of-date.
 
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Not apologizing for Apple (take a look at my posts... I'm not fanboi). Bending is even worse for a board than a drop. While appreciated, your car suspension analogy fails because a vehicle's suspension system is intended to absorb shock. I don't think it unreasonable to expect people not to sit on a thin mobile device. You don't sit on a notebook computer either. Is it not common knowledge that flexing electronics is bad?
No it doesn't.
Suspension is to absorb shocks of x magnitude that the manufacturer thinks you'll encounter in using the vehicle. The phone should be designed to withstand the shock of at least the odd drop which is something you'd expect in using the device.
 
Is it hard to understand that Apple's half excuse is not the reason? (also, fixed it for you)

View attachment 673128

Electronic circuits in the phone aren't burning out. The IC isn't what is directly causing the problem. It is the solder that attaches the chip to the board. That is why, for example, experienced repair people don't replace the IC for this issue; they re-ball the solder (as discussed in the ifixit video) and reattach the EXISTING IC. The reason for this is clear, the board got flexed once too many times. The solder popped. I've done some SMC reworking. This is not because of bad chips or solder whiskers. It is down to flexing of the board.

I'm not arguing whether Apple should/not have released a device that flexes at 100 lbs. The cause of the problem is not dodgy ICs, poorly designed circuits, or cheap parts. It isn't even caused only by drops. It is mostly caused by pops/cracks in solder balls holding the IC to the board due to repeated board flexing. There may not even be obvious physical damage but those tiny little beads of solder are brittle and do not hold up to repeated flexing. End of story.

Moral of the story is don't sit on fragile devices then act outraged when it breaks.
 
Tim Cook has no qualms with giving customers the middle finger.
He's doesn't seem to value the very people that made both him and Apple rich.
The customer loyalty Apple built up over the years is being squandered by this greedy, greedy bastard.
 
No it doesn't.
Suspension is to absorb shocks of x magnitude that the manufacturer thinks you'll encounter in using the vehicle. The phone should be designed to withstand the shock of at least the odd drop which is something you'd expect in using the device.
I don't think the odd drop here or there causes the problem. It is caused by repeatedly flexing the board. I am not saying Apple was wise to release a phone that can be easily flexed. If memory serves, the iPhone 6+ started flexing at around 100 lbs of pressure applied across the middle of the screen. Was Apple wrong to assume their product should not need to withstand more pressure? Should Toyota assume I will drive 100 mph (161 kph) over craters? I guess the question really is what are reasonable expectations for a thin glass covered hollow aluminum device.
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Tim Cook has no qualms with giving customers the middle finger.
He's doesn't seem to value the very people that made both him and Apple rich.
The customer loyalty Apple built up over the years is being squandered by this greedy, greedy bastard.
I think it is pretty generous to offer repairs at (possibly) reduced prices for damage not caused by an engineering fault. Sitting on a fragile electronic and flexing it will break it eventually. Don't act outraged when it does.
 
Samsung messes up, they admit it , pull the product and take a massive $$$ hit.

Apple knowing how many units they sold know it's their fault and repair cost will be in excess of note 4 $$ loses , blame the customer . And.......still try to profit from their fault...

Yes get the difference in the severity between the two , though the principle is key here . Apple will not put the customer before the $$$ under cook.

So still confident apple products are better value? One of the key value propositions was support , this is the first time I have seen a blatant defect get charged under a repair program ... can't wait for my glued MacBook Pro... what could possible go wrong? Maybe a £1000 repair program when I break it due to apples error :)
 
Samsung messes up, they admit it , pull the product and take a massive $$$ hit.

Apple knowing how many units they sold know it's their fault and repair cost will be in excess of note 4 $$ loses , blame the customer . And.......still try to profit from their fault...

Yes get the difference in the severity between the two , though the principle is key here . Apple will not put the customer before the $$$ under cook.

So still confident apple products are better value? One of the key value propositions was support , this is the first time I have seen a blatant defect get charged under a repair program ... can't wait for my glued MacBook Pro... what could possible go wrong? Maybe a £1000 repair program when I break it due to apples error :)
There isn't a blatant design flaw. There is nothing wrong with the IC chip or the solder used to hold it to the board. One could argue Apple should have made the device more rigid, used underfill (basically logic board glue), warned customers not to sit on their fragile thin glass covered hollow aluminum touch screen phone. But there is no way this is anywhere near the same design flaw that forced Samsung to recall their exploding Note 7.

I'm not pleased with the direction of Apple under Cook's leadership either but it is unfair to expect Apple to entirely assume responsibility for "touch disease".
 
I bet all they'll do is replace the screen with another screen that has the same design problem, and it'll develop the same problem after a year again. The same thing happened with their 2011 Macbook Pro GPU replacement program.
 
There isn't a blatant design flaw. There is nothing wrong with the IC chip or the solder used to hold it to the board. One could argue Apple should have made the device more rigid, used underfill (basically logic board glue), warned customers not to sit on their fragile thin glass covered hollow aluminum touch screen phone. But there is no way this is anywhere near the same design flaw that forced Samsung to recall their exploding Note 7.

I'm not pleased with the direction of Apple under Cook's leadership either but it is unfair to expect Apple to entirely assume responsibility for "touch disease".

in my opinion they have to, there are many cases reported of units straight out of a box exhibiting these symptoms .

When designing a device you have to factor in durability and not just a passion for thinness. Moving from a 6 to 6S I noticed a substance improvement .....

I already acknowledged these two are no way similar in severity (note 4), though apple accepting responsibility would result in similar $$$ values due to amount of units sold.

While apple will repair devices under its repair program, they will do everything in their power to avoid any financial responsibility with their iPhones, cause the $$$$ are so huge, as we can see here . Had this been a mac, it would be repaired free.

What disappoints me is that I believe apple is profiting from this at $149.
 
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I call ********. You've never once dropped an iPhone. How long have you had iPhones?

I've had a cell phone of some sort since 1992 and I've yet to drop one..

===

Isn't there a current class action going about this issue? If so it seems like a bad call on Apples side to put out a statement like this.
 
Sure, front pocket makes sense (maybe 30 lbs of "force"). Certain lack of wisdom says not to sit on a cell phone (excess of 100 lbs of "force")
I have a long list of Nokia & SonyEricsson phones from the 90s and 2000s. Over 20. With the exception of 1, *all* of them still work. Some even with their original batteries. I've sat on them (200lbs) occasionally dropped them and did heavy duty testing with them (I worked in provisioning Telco services back then).

I'm certainly not careless with my mobile devices, but by the very nature of being mobile, resilience should be part of the design decisions. Too much form over function, like what resulted in bendgate with the iPhone 6+, can cause this resilience to fail for a large number of users. Obviously, these problems were solved in the 6s. By that fact, if no design flaw existed, why would Apple address it in its next gen?

Sure, intentional or unintentional physical abuse (obvious bending, cracked screen, chafed/dinged sides) on these fragile devices today could be excluded from a free repair, but I find Apple is dishonest by claiming (and blaming) that only user fault is the cause here, when there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.
 
There isn't a blatant design flaw. There is nothing wrong with the IC chip or the solder used to hold it to the board. One could argue Apple should have made the device more rigid, used underfill (basically logic board glue), warned customers not to sit on their fragile thin glass covered hollow aluminum touch screen phone. But there is no way this is anywhere near the same design flaw that forced Samsung to recall their exploding Note 7.

I'm not pleased with the direction of Apple under Cook's leadership either but it is unfair to expect Apple to entirely assume responsibility for "touch disease".
On what basis do you assert that there is nothing wrong with the ic chip/solder? Have you run accelerated ageing tests, work for Apple, work for the contract manufacturer, stripped down a statistically significant number of units, read it somewhere? I think for such an expensive product I have every right to expect it to be robust against realistic and reasonable use cases.
 
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