iPhone 6(S)/Plus Disgruntled iPhone6 - Touch Disease

[MarlinsFan]

I'm very frustrated with my iPhone 6 and with Apple in general. I have all kinds Apple products, as I'm sure many of us here do. In my home/family, we have 4 ipads (2 pros, 2 minis), 2 iphones, 1 apple watch.

This is besides the point, but contributes to my frustration, last year my Apple watch had a problem where the screen popped out of the body. Apple wanted to charge me to replace it with a refurbished watch, but after some research online I learned that if I used the magic words of 'front face separation' Apple would replace the watch for free, because they new they had a problem with the batteries swelling up and pushing the face off the body.

I'm not a heavy iphone user. My phone to me is a way to keep connected with my wife, my personal email, and my work email. It's my GPS (waze), my weather tool, my audible companion on my commute to work, and the way to keep up with the scores on the italian soccer league. That's about it. I dont' take pictures, film, go on social media, browse the internet. I had an iphone 4 for about 5 years, then finally bought an iphone6 about a year after it came out. I paid $199 when AT&T used to subsidize them.

The phone's GPS stopped working about a year and a half in, that was about 2 years ago. Luckily I had apple care (since expired), and apple gave me a new (refurbished) replacement phone. Now less than 2 years later, that replacement phone has almost entirely stopped working. It is suffering from Touch Disease, which seems to be an epidemic with the 6 and 6s models. As many diseases go, some days are worse than others. The last 2 days the phone has been all but useless, but today it seems like it works at times. In addition, the lightning jack does not seem to hold the cable, so if I'm not careful when I plug it in, it won't charge.

I contacted Apple and their 'solution' is for me to give them $299 for them to give me another refurbished phone. Or to buy a new phone. I frankly don't want to pay $1000 for an Iphone X, or ~$700 for an iphone 8, or any multiple hundreds of dollars for a 7 or a 6s.

As I see it I have 2 options:
1. Cave and give them $299 for another refurbished phone, or
2. Pay $350 for an SE. Problem with this is that I'm 50+ years old, and i will have a hard time reading the screen without my reading glasses, which I don't carry with me everywhere I go. I also heard the SE is being discontinued in September, so I'm plunking down good money for old tech.

Are there any tips for getting Apple to replace my already replaced phone without me spending a ton of money?

Thanks!

 

[d5aqoëp]

You can get a used iPhone 7 from eBay/Craiglist with Apple Care remaining for $350. You should ve good for another 3 years. iPhone 7 does not suffer from any known severe issues.

 

[JPack]

I would focus on trying to get credit for a replacement iPhone 6s as those are not affected by Touch Disease.

It's unlikely they'll waive the $299 replacement fee as it's the first Touch Disease service for you. Other customers have had multiple replacement iPhone 6 units affected by Touch Disease. This is because Apple salvages logic boards from old devices for replacement units and the root cause of the issue still remains.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I'm very frustrated with my iPhone 6 and with Apple in general. I have all kinds Apple products, as I'm sure many of us here do. In my home/family, we have 4 ipads (2 pros, 2 minis), 2 iphones, 1 apple watch.

This is besides the point, but contributes to my frustration, last year my Apple watch had a problem where the screen popped out of the body. Apple wanted to charge me to replace it with a refurbished watch, but after some research online I learned that if I used the magic words of 'front face separation' Apple would replace the watch for free, because they new they had a problem with the batteries swelling up and pushing the face off the body.

I'm not a heavy iphone user. My phone to me is a way to keep connected with my wife, my personal email, and my work email. It's my GPS (waze), my weather tool, my audible companion on my commute to work, and the way to keep up with the scores on the italian soccer league. That's about it. I dont' take pictures, film, go on social media, browse the internet. I had an iphone 4 for about 5 years, then finally bought an iphone6 about a year after it came out. I paid $199 when AT&T used to subsidize them.

The phone's GPS stopped working about a year and a half in, that was about 2 years ago. Luckily I had apple care (since expired), and apple gave me a new (refurbished) replacement phone. Now less than 2 years later, that replacement phone has almost entirely stopped working. It is suffering from Touch Disease, which seems to be an epidemic with the 6 and 6s models. As many diseases go, some days are worse than others. The last 2 days the phone has been all but useless, but today it seems like it works at times. In addition, the lightning jack does not seem to hold the cable, so if I'm not careful when I plug it in, it won't charge.

I contacted Apple and their 'solution' is for me to give them $299 for them to give me another refurbished phone. Or to buy a new phone. I frankly don't want to pay $1000 for an Iphone X, or ~$700 for an iphone 8, or any multiple hundreds of dollars for a 7 or a 6s.

As I see it I have 2 options:
1. Cave and give them $299 for another refurbished phone, or
2. Pay $350 for an SE. Problem with this is that I'm 50+ years old, and i will have a hard time reading the screen without my reading glasses, which I don't carry with me everywhere I go. I also heard the SE is being discontinued in September, so I'm plunking down good money for old tech.

Are there any tips for getting Apple to replace my already replaced phone without me spending a ton of money?

Thanks!

6S wasn’t affected by touch disease only the 6. I’d get a 6s or 7 from Swappa and forget about the 6. You possibly could find a 3rd party repair shop that can reflow the cracked solder points on the logic board that are causing the touch disease but, not sure you want to go through all that

 

[FFR]

I'm very frustrated with my iPhone 6 and with Apple in general. I have all kinds Apple products, as I'm sure many of us here do. In my home/family, we have 4 ipads (2 pros, 2 minis), 2 iphones, 1 apple watch.

This is besides the point, but contributes to my frustration, last year my Apple watch had a problem where the screen popped out of the body. Apple wanted to charge me to replace it with a refurbished watch, but after some research online I learned that if I used the magic words of 'front face separation' Apple would replace the watch for free, because they new they had a problem with the batteries swelling up and pushing the face off the body.

I'm not a heavy iphone user. My phone to me is a way to keep connected with my wife, my personal email, and my work email. It's my GPS (waze), my weather tool, my audible companion on my commute to work, and the way to keep up with the scores on the italian soccer league. That's about it. I dont' take pictures, film, go on social media, browse the internet. I had an iphone 4 for about 5 years, then finally bought an iphone6 about a year after it came out. I paid $199 when AT&T used to subsidize them.

The phone's GPS stopped working about a year and a half in, that was about 2 years ago. Luckily I had apple care (since expired), and apple gave me a new (refurbished) replacement phone. Now less than 2 years later, that replacement phone has almost entirely stopped working. It is suffering from Touch Disease, which seems to be an epidemic with the 6 and 6s models. As many diseases go, some days are worse than others. The last 2 days the phone has been all but useless, but today it seems like it works at times. In addition, the lightning jack does not seem to hold the cable, so if I'm not careful when I plug it in, it won't charge.

I contacted Apple and their 'solution' is for me to give them $299 for them to give me another refurbished phone. Or to buy a new phone. I frankly don't want to pay $1000 for an Iphone X, or ~$700 for an iphone 8, or any multiple hundreds of dollars for a 7 or a 6s.

As I see it I have 2 options:
1. Cave and give them $299 for another refurbished phone, or
2. Pay $350 for an SE. Problem with this is that I'm 50+ years old, and i will have a hard time reading the screen without my reading glasses, which I don't carry with me everywhere I go. I also heard the SE is being discontinued in September, so I'm plunking down good money for old tech.

Are there any tips for getting Apple to replace my already replaced phone without me spending a ton of money?

Thanks!

I would choose neither.
I’m sorry but both options aren’t very appealing.

Paying 50 dollars more for the se isn’t very smart, neither is paying 299 for another 6 that might end up with touch disease.

I would pay extra for a refurbished 7 or 8 with AppleCare and not worry for the next three to 4 years.

 

[MarlinsFan]

Thanks for your suggestions. I agree that neither of my 2 options is a good one, and I appreciate the alternative options surfaced here. Will look into a 6s/7/8 used/refurbished, and maybe stick this diseased 6 in the glove box and use it as an ipod that is connected to my car stereo.

 

[MarlinsFan]

Is a 64 GB 6s in what looks like mint condition worth it for $200?

 

[FFR]

Is a 64 GB 6s in what looks like mint condition worth it for $200?

Does it have Apple care

 

[MarlinsFan]

Does it have Apple care

No, no apple care. It's my friend's old phone, and it's a 6s Plus, not a 6s. She let me have it for a few days to give it a test drive. Is it worth $200? I don't love the size of it.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I’d say yes. The rear camera has OIS which the 6S does not and a larger battery. If it needs a new battery you can have Apple replace it for $29 and the phone will be set for a couple years. I’m not a plus size fan but, that’s a good deal.

 

[JPack]

No, no apple care. It's my friend's old phone, and it's a 6s Plus, not a 6s. She let me have it for a few days to give it a test drive. Is it worth $200? I don't love the size of it.

That’s a great deal for $200. If you spend $29 for a replacement battery at Apple, the phone will last at least another 3 years.

 

[MarlinsFan]

Turns out the phone does not work properly. Can’t hear a thing when you are on it. Only can hear thru speaker phone. Gave it back to my friend so back to square one.

 

[mostlynameless]

Have you actually taken it into a store and had it diagnosed?

My best friend had her 6 replaced a couple of months ago because the battery expanded. At the time, she got the last replacement 6 that store had. Maybe they would offer an upgrade to a 6s or a 7.

Be friendly, look sad and ask them nicely if they can help you. Sometimes you get a better answer in person.

 

[MarlinsFan]

Have you actually taken it into a store and had it diagnosed?

My best friend had her 6 replaced a couple of months ago because the battery expanded. At the time, she got the last replacement 6 that store had. Maybe they would offer an upgrade to a 6s or a 7.

Be friendly, look sad and ask them nicely if they can help you. Sometimes you get a better answer in person.

LOL on the last paragraph! I have not brought it in. The phone has its good days and bad days. When it’s having a bad day I can’t seem to get an appointment at the Genius Bar. But will keep that in mind.

 

[MarlinsFan]

So now I'm not entirely convinced the phone has touch disease. We just went on a 12 day vacation in europe, and during the entire 12 days, the phone did not experience any touch issues at all. When we came back to the US yesterday evening, the phone again stopped reacting to my touch. Again today it happened multiple times.

Could it be something with the AT&T network, the wifi or something else?

 

[JPack]

So now I'm not entirely convinced the phone has touch disease. We just went on a 12 day vacation in europe, and during the entire 12 days, the phone did not experience any touch issues at all. When we came back to the US yesterday evening, the phone again stopped reacting to my touch. Again today it happened multiple times.

Could it be something with the AT&T network, the wifi or something else?

No. Touch Disease isn't something that happens consistently, so you'll find good days and bad. If you experience it, video record the malfunction using another phone so you can show Apple.