Bent phones: Apple may be working on silent fix right now

[mailboxbetacoin]

We have had some debates here as to whether or not Apple would be working on a fix for the 6+ and limit supply in the meantime.

There may be some indication of that happening right now.

Although we've read plenty of reports that the demand for 6+ was underestimated, and that production lines were reorganized to produce more 6+, the usage statistics indicate than usage of 6+ over the last week is pretty flat (while the usage statistics for the 6 keep steadily rising).

Although there could be a few things to explain this constrained supply, tweaking the manufacturing process is certainly one of them

https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/iphone_6/from_date:-29,report_unit:day,to_date:0

Last 8 days, iPhone6+ usage went from 1.45% to 1.61% (+11%)
The 8 days before that, iPhone 6+ usage went from 0.80% to 1.45% (+81%)

Although it is normal for the curve to flatten over time, the flattening of the 6 is much less brutal:

During the same periods iPhone6 usage increased by 13%
the 8 days before that iPhone6 usage had increased by 29%

 

[mikethebigo]

The lack of available 6 Plus units is easily attributable to the 20 million preorders due in China on Friday.

 

[mailboxbetacoin]

The lack of available 6 Plus units is easily attributable to the 20 million preorders due in China on Friday.

might be some truth to that, but might not be enough to explain the lack of new 6+ in use over the entire past week. we'll know soon enough

 

[Atomic Walrus]

I don't know why people don't get this, but let's go over it again:

There CANNOT be a "silent" update to the design. This is Apple, they move tens of millions of units, and it's going to take a maximum of one week after this supposed "silent" change for the whole thing to go fully public and turn into the worst PR disaster the company's ever seen.

The media will lose it, people will start class-action suits, and everyone who already owns a unit will be at the Apple store demanding a replacement with a "fixed" unit. This will never, ever happen.

If we're saying that some units are coming bent from the factory.. that will get resolved, as it's simply a manufacturing tolerance issue and Apple will already replace a device that comes damaged from the factory (though considering the publicity around all this you might have to open it in-store for them to believe you).

 

[analogika]

might be some truth to that, but might not be enough to explain the lack of new 6+ in use over the entire past week. we'll know soon enough

How many do you think they're selling a week, how many do you think they're making a week, and how long do you think it would take them to stockpile twelve million of them to throw at the Chinese market in a single weekend starting the day after tomorrow?

 

[aliensporebomb]

Thinking.....

Anecdotally:

I've had my iPhone 6+ since the 26th of last month.

Checking:

Nope, it's not bent yet.

I guess there's no problem.

 

[ToddH]

I don't know why people don't get this, but let's go over it again:

There CANNOT be a "silent" update to the design. This is Apple, they move tens of millions of units, and it's going to take a maximum of one week after this supposed "silent" change for the whole thing to go fully public and turn into the worst PR disaster the company's ever seen.

The media will lose it, people will start class-action suits, and everyone who already owns a unit will be at the Apple store demanding a replacement with a "fixed" unit. This will never, ever happen.

If we're saying that some units are coming bent from the factory.. that will get resolved, as it's simply a manufacturing tolerance issue and Apple will already replace a device that comes damaged from the factory (though considering the publicity around all this you might have to open it in-store for them to believe you).

Well said!

 

[Apple_Robert]

What does the OP link have to do with the assertion that Apple may be working on a structural fix?

Dumb excuse for a thread.

 

[deaglecat]

Anecdotally:

I've had my iPhone 6+ since the 26th of last month.

Checking:

Nope, it's not bent yet.

I guess there's no problem for me.

There, fixed.

 

[mailboxbetacoin]

How many do you think they're selling a week, how many do you think they're making a week, and how long do you think it would take them to stockpile twelve million of them to throw at the Chinese market in a single weekend starting the day after tomorrow?

Apple is known to not stockpile millions of iPhones. If the supply chain works as it should, there should still be plenty of people around the world receiving their 6+ this week, but it doesn't seem to be the case

 

[noobinator]

Yes, let's change production on 540k iPhones per day because 9 out of the first 20 million produced had production flaws.

 

[KdParker]

Ok.

Looks like this thread has already run its course. Nothing new to report here.

Op: How many angles are you going to go after this bend thing before you give it up? If it is an issue then time will tell, but so far it looks like a big non issue.

 

[mailboxbetacoin]

What does the OP link have to do with the assertion that Apple may be working on a structural fix?

Dumb excuse for a thread.

you can't read? it's explained in my original post.

reports:
- demand for 6+ is higher than expected
- supply chain updated to increase supply of 6+ for the rest of the year

facts (the link):
- supply of 6+ (usage statistics being used as a proxy for supply in this case) completely flat the past week

hypothesis:
- some phones set aside for the chinese launch (although Apple supply chain should be able to handle that without pausing the rest of the world supply)
- slowdown of manufacturing while working on improving the 6+ manufacturing process / quality control

 

[analogika]

Apple is known to not stockpile millions of iPhones. If the supply chain works as it should, there should still be plenty of people around the world receiving their 6+ this week, but it doesn't seem to be the case

You're right. Apple has been known to launch iPhones in new countries to no available stock.

And I'm sure they'll take the Chinese opening weekend with expected initial sales of about 2/3 the entire total QUARTERLY sales of iPhones in fiscal quarter 3/2014 (20 million pre-orders vs. 34 million sold in THREE MONTHS, April-June) in stride, at normal production and distribution, with zero initial stock.



----------

hypothesis:
- some phones set aside for the chinese launch (although Apple supply chain should be able to handle that without pausing the rest of the world supply)

Just pondering the available numbers for about three seconds reveals the weakest point of your fantasy.

 

[mailboxbetacoin]

You're right. Apple has been known to launch iPhones in new countries to no available stock.

And I'm sure they'll take the Chinese opening weekend with expected initial sales of about 2/3 the entire total QUARTERLY sales of iPhones in fiscal quarter 3/2014 (20 million pre-orders vs. 34 million sold in THREE MONTHS, April-June) in stride, at normal production and distribution, with zero initial stock.

You're misunderstanding my comment.
Those phones that are sold at launch are not stockpiled in the stores for a week prior.
Apple's strength is precisely that the phones are never 'stockpiled', they keep moving from the factory, to the transporter, to the store, then to the customer's hand without staying in inventory for days. Some of the phones that will be sold in 3 days are just done building right now.

 

[wxman2003]

There is no "silent" update. iFixit would expose it in one day. The minute they did that, someone would file a class action lawsuit for current iPhone 6 Plus owners demanding a remedy from Apple. They don't want to go through antennagate again. Will Apple reinforce the 6S? Probably. The reason why the 6 Plus is in such short supply is because the rejection rate of the screen in the factory is still close to 50%.

 

[mailboxbetacoin]

There is no "silent" update. iFixit would expose it in one day. The minute they did that, someone would file a class action lawsuit for current iPhone 6 Plus owners demanding a remedy from Apple. They don't want to go through antennagate again. Will Apple reinforce the 6S? Probably.

Silent as in no PR associated with the change.

 

[Apple_Robert]

you can't read? it's explained in my original post.

reports:
- demand for 6+ is higher than expected
- supply chain updated to increase supply of 6+ for the rest of the year

facts (the link):
- supply of 6+ (usage statistics being used as a proxy for supply in this case) completely flat the past week

hypothesis:
- some phones set aside for the chinese launch (although Apple supply chain should be able to handle that without pausing the rest of the world supply)
- slowdown of manufacturing while working on improving the 6+ manufacturing process / quality control

I read. The assertion is limited to inside your head. It wasn't backed up by the article linked to. That was the point. You were grasping at proverbial straws in creating a thread.

If you are going to cling to some kind of silent conspiracy, at least offer some semi-plausible proof.

 

[analogika]

You're misunderstanding my comment.
Those phones that are sold at launch are not stockpiled in the stores for a week prior.
Apple's strength is precisely that the phones are never 'stockpiled', they keep moving from the factory, to the transporter, to the store, then to the customer's hand without staying in inventory for days. Some of the phones that will be sold in 3 days are just done building right now.

So none of these phones are hoarded and held back; they all just magically appear — all twenty million of them — overnight in various store backrooms and warehouses?

So what of all these weird rumours prior to the initial release that the iPhone had been going into full production as early as July?

This is ridiculous.

 

[wxman2003]

Silent as in no PR associated with the change.

Doesn't matter. The minute they change the design of the current 6 plus at the so called weak point, there will be class action lawsuits. Could you imagine how Apple would handle the millions of current Plus users who would demand a replacement or for Apple to apply the fix to their phones? Reinforcing the weak point silently is the same as admitting publicly that the current phone is flawed.

 

[mailboxbetacoin]

I read. The assertion is limited to inside your head. It wasn't backed up by the article linked to. That was the point. You were grasping at proverbial straws in creating a thread.

If you are going to cling to some kind of silent conspiracy, at least offer some semi-plausible proof.

Where did I claim that I was relaying somebody else's ideas?

If I write an article about it, does that count then?

 

[Surf Monkey]

I read. The assertion is limited to inside your head. It wasn't backed up by the article linked to. That was the point. You were grasping at proverbial straws in creating a thread.

If you are going to cling to some kind of silent conspiracy, at least offer some semi-plausible proof.

This. The thread appears to be intended to keep "bendgate" alive and little more.

 

[Macshroomer]

i like tootsie rolls

To build on this:

If you put a Cheerio in yer' bunghole to stop the gas from coming out, all you have done is ruined a perfectly good Cheerio......

 

[heisenberg123]

Lol parts were leaked weeks before launch but your secret silent update is the best kept secret!

 

[iososx]

Apple does a vast amount of work in secret, that's quite an advantage for a litany of reasons. If they are working on a way to strengthen the phone, those of us who have held back before purchasing will be the benefactors.

Conversely, if they fail to do anything except give reasons and a warm fuzzy story designed to put it away, that's fine too. Especially since a large number of us know for a fact, the next version will have lots of improvements and be better in all ways, just like in the past.

With Apple you must know the right time to buy and the models to avoid.