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Bendgate-Feature

Last calendar week, we covered reports of the so-called 'affect disease' that appears to exist affecting Apple tree's iPhone six and 6 Plus. This problem, which killed Jamie's phone as well, is acquired by the method Apple tree uses to attach touchscreen control chips to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus motherboard. These fries lack an underfill — a critical layer of material meant to strengthen and stabilize the touchscreen ICs (integrated circuits).

When nosotros covered the topic last calendar week nosotros could only report on acedotal show from third party shops that the touch disease problem was significant and increasing. New inquiry from Apple Insider put some formal numbers on the problem — and it'southward not skilful news for Apple. Apple Insider obtained information from iv high-traffic Apple Stores over a period of half-dozen days — three days before the problem was reported in the general media and three days afterward.

Prior to any media reports on the issue, 4 stores with a total of 2,804 appointments fielded 1,512 appointments related to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (547 and 965 devices respectively). 47 of the iPhone 6's and 265 of the iPhone six Plus devices had a trouble, constituting 8.5% and 27.5% of these devices, respectively.

In one case media reports began to cover the issue, the number of diagnoses surged. In the side by side few days, 3039 customers came in for help, including one,659 customers with either an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus (564 and 1094 devices respectively). 66 of the iPhones and 409 of the iPhone Plus' were found to have 'touch on affliction,' representing 11.7% and 37.4% of the devices presented for examination.

iPhone6-TouchIC

The touchscreen ICs. Photo by iFixit

Now, this initial surge in traffic following media coverage is expected. It doesn't mean device failure rates have suddenly surged, it means more customers became aware of the problem and took their hardware in. Only the charge per unit of failure is troubling, and outpaces all other known issues for the devices (iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are unaffected, though it's not clear if this is because not enough time has passed since launch).

Apple tree isn't just aware of the trouble, they've been aware of it for months — and they couldn't care less. It took Apple tree six months to issue formal guidance on how to solve the problem and Apple tree's solution is that customers should purchase a new iPhone or exchange their own devices. Since the devices Apple offers on exchange are actually refurbs, the problem has been cropping up again for some customers.

"Information technology's nearly time that the Apple tree printing got a whiff of the problem," ane Apple Genius said to Apple Insider. "I'm getting tired of pulling service stock out of the box, and seeing the exact same problem that the customer has on the replacement earlier I exit backstage."

If your device is still in-warranty, Apple will requite you a refurbished replacement, which may or may not have the aforementioned problem. If the device is out of warranty, the repair fee is reportedly between $85 and $249, though Apple may be pushing consumers towards device replacement. Apple Insider notes that the Cupertino company may exist prepping a more than ambitious response but none has been announced to date. While xi% may not seem like a high number, it'due south far higher than groundwork boilerplate and patently the largest single failure mode.