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The quality of the iPhone ... a myth?

dk001

dk001

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Original poster
Oct 3, 2014
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Sage, Lightning, and Mountains
Just exchanged my 6S+ when the volume buttons started clicking and sticking. Yup - broken. Went to the GB and have a new one up and running.

That got me started thinking and looking back at physical phone quality. I was kind of surprised.
  • iPhone 3 - no issue
  • iPhone 3GS - replaced due to failed home button
  • iPhone 4 - replaced due to failed home button.
  • iPhone 4 - replaced back glass - broken due to case design.
  • iPhone 5 - replaced due to black flaking off. Not a little, but quite a bit.
  • iPhone 5S - no issue
  • iPhone 6+ - no issue
  • iPhone 6S+ - replaced due to broken volume buttons
Over 50% of the iPhone's I have bought have had quality issues.
In contrast on the Android side out of 8 devices, I have had only two replaced and no repairs.

Despite the fact the seem to be built better, am I really getting better quality from Apple?
 
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What does it ultimately matter. They replace them under warranty if it's broken. Just like a car, you pay thousands more for a car, with much worse quality control, even when you buy lexus, and all the other luxury brands.

So ultimately, you probably aren't, but the end result is the same, why does it matter ?
 
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iPhone 3G- home button faulty
iPhone 4- no issues
iPhone 5S- no issues
iPhone 6 + -no issues
iPhone 6S + - no issues so far

Only 1 faulty phone out of 5 isn't bad.
 
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Your personal anecdote means nothing, we are talking about devices that sell in millions and millions in units. Also Android in not a phone manufacturer its an operating system, so its a flawed comparison from the start.
 
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Hard to interpolate of personal results to overall reliability, but the home button seemed to be a wide spread issue.
I had my home button fail on the original iPhone, iPhone 3gs, iPhone 4, and iPhone 5. Only for one of the phones i could get it repaired under warranty.
It's quite labor intensive/costly to repair the home button, so it's a shame that such a cheap part has been a weak point over many iPhone generations (at least for my devices)
 
3G: No issues
3GS: Returned due to yellow screen
3GS #2: No issues
4: No issues
4S: No issues
5S: No issues
6+: No issues
6S+: No issues

From the 4S on there were 2 of each with no issues.
 
iPhones seem to have many problems even its high quality. 3gs back could get cracks, mine did. and never dropped it. a 4s in our house needed to change home button, due to its bad response.
 
I had to replace my 6s+ several times. Volume button not clicky. Dust under the screen. Loose headphone jack. Uneven screen brightness.
 
jtwlbz said:
I had to replace my 6s+ several times. Volume button not clicky. Dust under the screen. Loose headphone jack. Uneven screen brightness.
Click to expand...

ipad also have problems :/ we have a ipad 3 and 4 in our house that have problems :/
 
3GS: No issues
3GS: No issues
4S: No issues
4S: No issues
5S: No issues
5S: No issues
6+: No issues
6+: No issues
6S+: No issues
6S+: No issues

I always buy two, one for myself and one for son. Based on my results Apple must be perfect and never makes a bad phone right? Love how people draw conclusions based on such small sample sizes.
 
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Rhonindk said:
Just exchanged my 6S+ when the volume buttons started clicking and sticking. Yup - broken. Went to the GB and have a new one up and running.

That got me started thinking and looking back at physical phone quality. I was kind of surprised.
  • iPhone 3 - no issue
  • iPhone 3GS - replaced due to failed home button
  • iPhone 4 - replaced due to failed home button.
  • iPhone 4 - replaced bacl glass - broken due to case design.
  • iPhone 5 - replaced due to black flaking off. Not a little, but quite a bit.
  • iPhone 5S - no issue
  • iPhone 6+ - no issue
  • iPhone 6S+ - replaced due to broken volume buttons
Over 50% of the iPhone's I have bought have had quality issues.
In contrast on the Android side out of 8 devices, I have had only two replaced and no repairs.

Despite the fact the seem to be built better, am I really getting better quality from Apple?
Click to expand...
My experience with each iPhone model since the beginning in 2007, is that Apple delivers a good phone that could be better if we apply Apple's very own standards.
 
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It's the luck of the draw frankly.

iPhone 3gS - no issues
iPhone 4gS - fell in snow / got wet
iPhone 5 - no issues
iPhone 6 - broken sim card holder / speaker issues (speaker issues after 6 months, broken sim card holder 11 months)
iPhone 6s+ - freeze lag / speaker issues
iPhone 5s - freeze lag and other issues back it goes (not sure if I'll replace with a 6 or 6s because I may have to return the iPad Mini 4 too - no issues there, just need $ for another Mac.)

I'm fine with hardware problems, because that happens. Accidents happen. Crappy software, that's been my major problem with Apple since November 2013.
 
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kazmac said:
It's the luck of the draw frankly.

iPhone 3gS - no issues
iPhone 4gS - fell in snow / got wet
iPhone 5 - no issues
iPhone 6 - broken sim card holder / speaker issues (speaker issues after 6 months, broken sim card holder 11 months)
iPhone 6s+ - freeze lag / speaker issues
iPhone 5s - freeze lag and other issues back it goes (not sure if I'll replace with a 6 or 6s because I may have to return the iPad Mini 4 too - no issues there, just need $ for another Mac.)

I'm fine with hardware problems, because that happens. Accidents happen. Crappy software, that's been my major problem with Apple since November 2013.
Click to expand...
Same. I love all my Apple products. It's just I hate so much iOS 7 and the ones that follow. I have 3 Apple devices: iPhone 5s (no issue, iOS 8), iPad 4 (Had a few not so important bugs that came with iOS 7 that I couldn't fix with a restore, so I gave up. iOS 7), iPod Touch 5G ( iOS 6, no issue, the one who makes me wish all my devices were on iOS 6.)
 
I guess I'm just lucky! Over the years the iPhone 5 and 6+ have been rock solid with no issues. Didn't have any earlier models. My iPads have all been flawless going back to the original one my son still uses that I got the week they shipped them, the Air 2 worked fine until I sold it, the Mini still works fine and the Pro is just superb.

Actually the only gear I've had failures with at all from Apple has been Airport products. They seem to last about 3 years and crap out, that includes Time Capsules too.
 
4s no issues
5 no issues
5s no issues until I sent it thru a wash cycle- replaced by Apple
6 no issues until I traded it for a 6 plus
6 plus no issues until I traded for a 6s plus
6s plus no issues at all - I love it
 
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3G - No issues
3GS - No Issues
4 - 11 issues and too many to name.
4S - Replaced once due to yellow banding issue on screen (return/exchange)
6+ - Multiple Issues and too many to name but bend is one of them
6S + -Dead/Stuck Pixels so far.
 
3GS : no issues
5 #1 : battery issues + random reboots, got a replacement from Apple
5 #2 : battery issues + loose lock button, got a replacement from Apple
5 #3 : no issues
6S : Dust under the screen, returned and went back to my 5 for the moment
 
Original iPhone - No issues
3GS - No issues
4S - No issues
5S - No issues
6S - No issues

100%, with no issues

As you can see, i do the two year change and I get the new "S" phone the day it comes out or within a day or two. Some may say the first batch of phones may have issues, but not my experience. Had there been ANYTHING wrong, I would have returned it immediately. I'm not one to "live" with a product that does not work.
 
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Skika said:
Your personal anecdote means nothing, we are talking about devices that sell in millions and millions in units. Also Android in not a phone manufacturer its an operating system, so its a flawed comparison from the start.
Click to expand...

True however felt it was easier and less intrusive than to denote the different brands of smartphones running Android I have owned.

For me it does have meaning. No other line of devices I have owned in my decades has had a worse quality history. Any other line I would have stopped buying from that OEM. Now I am asking myself why I haven't stopped buying iPhones.


HEK said:
3GS: No issues
3GS: No issues
4S: No issues
4S: No issues
5S: No issues
5S: No issues
6+: No issues
6+: No issues
6S+: No issues
6S+: No issues

I always buy two, one for myself and one for son. Based on my results Apple must be perfect and never makes a bad phone right? Love how people draw conclusions based on such small sample sizes.
Click to expand...

What is your conclusion? I have a personal one based on my purchase history. I started this thread to see if I my purchasing "luck" is outside the quality curve.
 
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Rhonindk said:
What is your conclusion? I have a personal one based on my purchase history. I started this thread to see if I my purchasing "luck" is outside the quality curve.
Click to expand...
My conclusion is as follows. No amount of anecdotal one person experience is actually relevant to the question of product quality for any product. Without the overall data, no VALID conclusion can be made. Nor can a valid comparison be made between competing products with such limited data.

With that stated, I do realize that people base their perception on a given product's quality on their own experience with that product. That's human nature, we go by feelings, perceptions, not facts, generally speaking. As you can readily see from the few responses received in this thread the answer you are seeking has already been polluted with things not related to quality. Namely dropped phones, phones in water, snow, in washing machine and physically breaking from case.

Human nature being what it is, I suspect that these non quality failures will also influence the perceived happiness with the phone. There is also the tendency for any decision a person makes to be self validating. We like to think we make correct decisions. We tend to more readily accept "so called evidence" supporting our point of view. Even when we consciously attempt to not be biased. That is why good scientific experiments are done as double blind scenarios. Where the subject and the tester don't know what is being tested before hand.

While I applaud your attempt at gathering information, as a recent poll I attempted to take on here has shown me. Opinions are rampant, facts are few, and neither tends to influence the other in any appreciable way. In the end the gross sales and profits a company makes over time are the best indicators of a successful product offering. Real world tends to flush out all the variables and any outliers are squashed by the massive amount of data. How are the millions of users responding? A failing product will quickly be crushed by lack of sales.

All the rest are entertaining stories that from my poll say change perhaps 2 to 3 minds out of 1000.
 
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Anecdotally:
iPhone 3GS: 7 genius bar replacements (various issues -- wifi stopped working on one, camera was pink on two of them, mute switch stopped working, etc.)
iPhone 4: Antenna gate
iPhone 4S: Wifi stopped working - genius bar replacement
iPhone 5S: No issues
iPhone 6: They missed a spot with the oleophobic coating - genius bar replacement.
iPhone 6 plus: Dust under screen twice - genius bar replacements
iPhone 6s plus: Dust under screen - genius bar replacement. Current one also had some dust appear in the top left corner. Might get it replaced at some point.

And if you count the macs:
2008 revB MacBook Air: Fan stopped working out of warranty.
2012 MacBook Pro retina: Screen had image retention, battery failed, and logic board had bad ram modules. All fixed by genius bar.
 
Rhonindk said:
Just exchanged my 6S+ when the volume buttons started clicking and sticking. Yup - broken. Went to the GB and have a new one up and running.

That got me started thinking and looking back at physical phone quality. I was kind of surprised.
  • iPhone 3 - no issue
  • iPhone 3GS - replaced due to failed home button
  • iPhone 4 - replaced due to failed home button.
  • iPhone 4 - replaced bacl glass - broken due to case design.
  • iPhone 5 - replaced due to black flaking off. Not a little, but quite a bit.
  • iPhone 5S - no issue
  • iPhone 6+ - no issue
  • iPhone 6S+ - replaced due to broken volume buttons
Over 50% of the iPhone's I have bought have had quality issues.
In contrast on the Android side out of 8 devices, I have had only two replaced and no repairs.

Despite the fact the seem to be built better, am I really getting better quality from Apple?
Click to expand...

You are either really unlucky or abusing your buttons. I've bought approximately 15 iPhones over the years for me and my family members and never had a defective one.
 
The factor here is the customer and how they treat their device. A plastic housing phone is going to be a lot more resistant to a harder life.

I've only had an iPhone 4 home button fail. Other than that, the batteries go.
 
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Has one issue with iPhone 5

But look on the bright side if your iPhone does go wrong at least you can get it fixed

Who do you go to if your android goes wrong if it's sim free?
 
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