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Class Action Lawsuit Grows Over iPhone 6 Plus 'Touch Disease' (vice.com)

Nearly 10,000 people have joined a class action lawsuit against Apple over the screen-freezing "touch disease" afflicting many iPhone Six Plus phones. An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes Motherboard: Lawyers who filed a class action lawsuit against the company in California earlier this fall have signed on three additional law firms to support their case, and an additional class action lawsuit related to the issue has been filed against Apple in Utah... Apple will not perform logic board-level repairs for consumers, which require soldering and reseating of millimeter-size components. This means the only Apple-sanctioned "fix" for a touch diseased phone is to buy a new one... Apple has been replacing touch diseased iPhone 6 Pluses with $329 refurbished ones, some of which are showing symptoms of touch disease within days or weeks of being replaced.
Despite contacting Apple five separate times, the reporter has yet to receive any official response, although "I have gotten hundreds of emails from consumers who have had to buy new phones to replace their broken iPhone 6 Pluses."

210 comments

  1. My Schadenfreude boner is hurting. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Need release. I'd say something about fucking them in their stupid faces but it probably requires an extra dongle.

    1. Re:My Schadenfreude boner is hurting. by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      "I have gotten hundreds of emails from consumers who have had to buy new phones to replace their broken iPhone 6 Pluses."

      "Had to buy"?

      Was somebody holding a gun to their heads and forcing them to go to the Apple store?

      --
      No sig today...
    2. Re:My Schadenfreude boner is hurting. by alex67500 · · Score: 1

      New phones, not new iPhones. Never owned an Apple device, but if any other manufacturer treated me like that, you can bet your backside that I would have switched to a competitor for my next phone!

    3. Re:My Schadenfreude boner is hurting. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You ain't good at the readin' thing are you?

  2. No touchscreen. Less flammable than a Note 7. Lame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Steve Jobs must be rolling over in his iGrave

  3. All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Samsung has courage to issue massive recall. Apple has courage to remove headphone jack.

    1. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      There are many other phone manufactures other than Samsung and Apple. They are both overpriced garbage.

    2. Re:All about Courage by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Samsung has courage to issue massive recall. Apple has courage to remove headphone jack.

      The market has courage to shave a few more points off iPhone market share.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    3. Re:All about Courage by lucm · · Score: 0

      Buying an iPhone in the first place is evidence of not making purchase decisions based on common sense, so Apple is making the right move by not doing a recall; that way they can pay more of those $0.57 dividends (per action worth $115) to the shareholders, and while they're steadily losing 15% of the market every quarter, hopefully the headphone DRM that's coming will help with the bottom line.

      Also it's important for iPhone users to stand united; that 5 billion dollars headquarter has to be paid by someone.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    4. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As opposed to underpriced total crap?

    5. Re:All about Courage by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2

      Buying an iPhone in the first place is evidence of not making purchase decisions based on common sense

      Well, purchased an iPhone 6+ SIM-free to be carrier-independent two years ago. And I don't plan on upgrading it until at least Sept 2017. Cost spread over 3 years. Have been using the iPhone since the "3" (no competition at the time), and it's convenient to keep using the same phone apps and tools. Tried a Samsung and clearly its ergonomics are off compared to the iPhone. This is maybe a matter of opinion but some people are more or less ergonomics-sensitive... I am. For me, it's common sense to purchase an iPhone ; until 2014 it was, at least.

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    6. Re:All about Courage by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Please do not compare burning phones and degrading-over-time phones. Samsung wouldn't have issued a recall would the Note have iPhone symptoms (given how reluctant they were to issue the recall, after a lot of time and bad PR...).

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    7. Re:All about Courage by frnic · · Score: 1

      Very courageous - oh, except the replacement phones are now exploding and they kind of forgot to mention that part...

    8. Re:All about Courage by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      There's that old meme again: Apple users are fanbois who are loyal to a fault, or fashionistas who only care about the appearance of the device, or worse: about the impression it makes on others.

      I own both Android and iOS devices, and personally I think that Android sucks, in terms of performance, ease of use, and software development. Sure, I can't manage my files on iOS like I can on Android, nor do a bunch of other clever stuff, but that's like saying I can't transport a sofa in my convertible: it's true but it's something I very rarely need to do. I can probably improve my experience on Android by removing some crapware and installing some 3rd party stuff, but I can't be arsed, and why should I? I do miss a few useful features that Apple can't offer or simply won't because they're dicks; I don't care much for Apple's business practises or fiscal policies, but their devices work very well for me. iOS may be a walled garden but it's a very pretty one, it had a competent gardener, and from where I am sitting I can't even see the walls. For my daily phone, Apple is the only choice that makes (common) sense.

      As for hardware issues, I have had 2 Apple phones fail on me and 2 Android devices (but I own twice the nr of Apple devices). And in none of those cases did I get a replacement or free repair out of warranty

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    9. Re:All about Courage by frnic · · Score: 1

      My story is pretty much like yours - one of the devices I had fail was my wife iPad 1 that was 5 years old and the battery stopped holding a charge.

      I called Apple, they paid overnight shipping BOTH WAYS and replaced it with a refurb for $99.

      It is hard to complain about that, but I am sure many here will find some way.

      Every time I have had to call Apple customer service the experience has been excellent - very excellent, beyond any other company I have ever dealt with.

      That is part of why they have such a loyal fan base. And I know this will shock many here, but MOST people in the world are not geeks, and don't care about being able to modify or enhance their phones. I happen to be a developer myself, and I don't even want to...

    10. Re:All about Courage by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Samsung issued the recall very early after the problems came to light. In comparison Apple usually waits a year or two before quietly issuing a replacement program, after many users threw their defective hardware away.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    11. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have seen no recall for the Sudden Death Syndrome with Samsung Note2 (and some 3) phones.

    12. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... but I can't be arsed, and why should I? I do miss a few useful features that Apple can't offer or simply won't because they're dicks

      So you're a dumbufck who spends a crapload of money on a device that won't meet his needs. Best definition of an Apple fanboi.

    13. Re:All about Courage by mysidia · · Score: 1

      Samsung issued the recall very early after the problems came to light. In comparison Apple usually waits a year or two before quietly issuing a replacement program,

      You're comparing Apples and Oranges: : "It explodes risking customer safety issue at launch" VS "Sometimes some units stop working after years" issue.

      I'll bet that in the first case Apple or Samsung would recall.

      In the second case.... it's just planned obsolescence, particularly if it tends to happen after warranty is up.

      No recall...... Maybe a replacement program, if its affecting many units still under warranty, or if they need that for PR purposes.

      Again... if it's affecting only units old enough to be out of warranty, then: Planned obsolescence.
      Customers should have read the number of years to expect the thing to last from their warranty paperwork.

    14. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course, would you would expect a company that refuses to pay taxes, to replace something obviously broken. when the no brainers will just keep on buying it anyway? You would have to be stupid to expect Apple to do anything to hurt next quarters profits. Even if it means the quarter after will suffer.
      Shortsighted anti-consumer is almost an Apple patent, lucky they have the media fawning all over them for a few freebies. Else they would be in big trouble,

    15. Re:All about Courage by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      Every phone is going to be a compromsie. But in this case it's a choice between missing a few useful but non-essential features, or having those features on a device that, given my requirements, sucks donkeyballs otherwise.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    16. Re: All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You might want to look up the definition of explode. There has been one unconfirmed case of one smoking and causing minor carpet damage. It didn't "explode". I believe there was an iPhone 7 that did the same thing. Are you spouting such nonsense about the iPhone 7 as well?

    17. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so *that's* the reason behind new iphones every year and forced obsolescence of the old ones. it's their 'replacement program' for problem models.

    18. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ouch. It must really hurt to keep all than angst stuffed up your ass.

    19. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's only one type of person that buys an iphone: those too stupid for root.

      sent from your mom's iphone

    20. Re: All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wanted a phone that's kept up to date and who's UI was comprehensible.

      My first smartphone was a HTC something. One of the first with 4g. Anyway, it had android 2.3 and no more updates for the previous couple years. Custom roms could get me another major version, but android 4 was already out. Then I built an iPhone 4 and it was so much better I never looked back. It was sad for me, because I liked using my HTC more at the time.

      That experience of switching to iOS was so stark, I still have a bad taste in my mouth from android. Android users deep down know their phone is junk. I repair laptops, android always reminds me of compromised designs like HP Envys, early Win7 Toshibas that have exploding hinges, and other stupid shit like that. Apple is apple, phone to laptop, and there is such a massive difference in quality, and at the same price as droid flagships, I honestly cannot comprehend why anyone would buy a droid. To me, they either like tinkering with the roms, they're straight up masochists, or they have just never used an iPhone. I was all three!

    21. Re:All about Courage by lucm · · Score: 1

      Here's the thing about Samsung: even compared to other Androids they suck. Maybe it's a cultural thing, maybe they're designed first for the Asian market, but they just don't feel right. Tablets, phones, music players, they're all clunky and counter-intuitive to use, terrible battery life, bloatware, etc. But that's Samsung, not Android.

      Try a Moto or a non-Samsung Nexus. And probably the new Pixel when it's released. It's a whole different story. It's like they kept moving ahead from where Apple stopped 3-4 years ago. Software is smooth, battery life is great (I often go for days on a single charge on my Moto G while I had to charge my Samsug every night), camera is high quality, wifi is rock-solid, gps is flawless.

      I remember not so long ago, I had to disable services, switch location off, switch wifi off whenever I didn't need it to save battery. Had to install battery saver apps, tweak settings to no end. Now I just use the phone as it came out of the box, all I had to do was login to my google account.

      Last year I bought an iPad mini for casual web browsing. A living room widget which I thought would sync my iTunes library (doesn't, only what I bought from Apple). Turns out I tend to grab my phone when I want to do casual stuff because it's more convenient than the iPad - which at $500 or something doesn't even come with a fucking calculator, had to install a "free" one that has friggin ads. And the iPad constantly nags me for updates, more than Windows, and whatever answer I give to the update request I end up having to reenter my pin. It reminds me of how Android tablets were 3 years ago. Lousy maps, low quality music player, terrible camera.

      If Apple had kept their edge I'd have no problem paying for it. But for some reason although they have endless billions they can't seem to do basic QA and they do at best minor improvements while competition is leap frogging them. I mean, it has come to a point where a cheap Huawei device is more sophisticated than an iPhone. How did that happen.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    22. Re:All about Courage by lucm · · Score: 1

      So you approve of Apple warranty and customer service. That's like saying you're loyal to McDonalds because every time hey get your order wrong at the drive-thru if you go inside they are friendly when they fix their mistake and one time they even offered you a second apple pie for $1.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    23. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you can't figure out how to put your own music on a fucking iPad, turn in your geek card immediately.

    24. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even after a month of recall, people were still using their phones.

      Out of the 4-5 million Note 7s moved, 100 of them blew up. Let's double it for fun.

      That's still less than 1%.

    25. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ouch. It must really hurt to keep all than angst stuffed up your ass.

      Not as much as it hurts Tim Cook when a 12" c0ck is shoved up HIS ass :-)

    26. Re:All about Courage by lucm · · Score: 1

      Yeah I guess I've become lazy since Google Play Music does sync things for me, including the iTunes library that I previously had to maintain just so I could copy music to retarded, overpriced iDevices. Another thing my $175 Android phone does better than my $500 iPad.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    27. Re: All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      iCloud music library is the Apple alternative to the automatic syncing.

    28. Re:All about Courage by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Out of the 4-5 million Note 7s moved, 100 of them blew up. Let's double it for fun.

      That's still less than 1%.

      True, and it's also less than .005%

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    29. Re:All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very early?
       
        They didn't issue a formal recall for months after the initial reports and widespread concern started.

    30. Re: All about Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I stand on the side of freedom and liberty. Headphone jack, your reign is over. I say off with your head, you 1985 arsehole of technology.

  4. Refurbished by Tough+Love · · Score: 2

    Apple has been replacing touch diseased iPhone 6 Pluses with $329 refurbished ones

    Stay classy, Apple

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    1. Re:Refurbished by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple has been replacing touch lair's iPhone 6 Pluses experiencing functional problems with $329 refurbished ones

      Stay classy, Steve Job's undead cock gobbler

      Fixed that for you.

      Fixed that for you.

    2. Re:Refurbished by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      What's the problem with that? Refurbished effectively is the same as repaired. Would people prefer to have their phones sent back to China for repair and wait 2 weeks? Or is this some sense of entitlement to a brand new phone I don't understand?

    3. Re:Refurbished by Tough+Love · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Apple first sells the customer an expensive phone with a serious engineering defect, then adds insult to injury by replacing it by one infused with somebody else's snot. Nothing is done about the customer's wasted time or poor user experience. Classy or not classy? I leave that determination to the interested reader. Keep in mind that a new unit costs Apple much less than it costs the user.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    4. Re:Refurbished by naughtynaughty · · Score: 1

      You would understand what the problem is with replacing with a refurbished phone is if you read the article. The refurbished phones can have the same defect.

      They are entitled to a phone that won't soon suffer the same problem, ie a phone that has had the defect corrected as opposed to someone else's problem phone that has been buffed, polished and repackaged.

    5. Re:Refurbished by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      one infused with somebody else's snot

      That's called second hand, not refurbished.
      Classy or not classy doesn't come into it. The sense of entitlement that people believe they should get a brand new phone is incredible. Maybe people should be forced to wait 3 weeks for a repair would that make you happier?

      Keep in mind that a new unit costs Apple much less than it costs the user.

      To say nothing of e-waste, inability to pass on a perfectly good device, and the idea that Apple should take a full 50% hit on margins everytime someone's device has a hiccup. Again not a single other company does this. Why do you expect it from Apple?

    6. Re:Refurbished by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      You would understand what the problem is with replacing with a refurbished phone is if you read the article. The refurbished phones can have the same defect.

      And if the refurbishment suffers the same defect there's no reason to believe the new ones are any better. This was after all a design flaw. If it's been fixed and they are knowingly selling refurbed units with the fault then that is a very specific bit of asshattery that should be dealt with, it in no way implies that ever little problem should result in a brand new phone.

    7. Re:Refurbished by citizenr · · Score: 1

      The problem is they are NOT repairing the DESIGN DEFECT (thin bendy non supported PCB results in cracked BGA joints under touch sensing chip).
      Previous models had metal can (rf shielding) over the BGA chips, this metal can offered reinforcement and provided stiffness. But it added 0.1mm thickness, cant have that, in Iphone 6 Apple replaced metal can with a STICKER.

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    8. Re:Refurbished by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      The sense of entitlement that people believe they should get a brand new phone is incredible.

      They expected to get a properly engineered device when it was new. They never did, instead Apple sold them Bendgate 2[tm].

      To say nothing of e-waste, inability to pass on a perfectly good device...

      Apple is free to sell the refurbished phone as a refurbished phone to somebody who doesn't mind sacrificing the shiny new experience to save a few bucks. To their poor abused Bendgate 2 customer, Apple ought to provide a shiny new phone (which doesn't cost them a whole lot) in an attempt restore their battered image. But whatever. It's no skin off my nose if Apple abuses its customers thus contributing to its market slide, quite the contrary.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    9. Re:Refurbished by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      You don't know what "refurbished" means in Applespeak.

  5. You're touching it wrong by Lisandro · · Score: 2

    Seriously, how can you fuck up the touch experience on a touchscreen device?

    1. Re:You're touching it wrong by Lisandro · · Score: 4, Informative

      You can't because this "problem" is completely fictional.

      Funny, i had a chance to play with a iPhone 6 which was experiencing this same issue just this weekend. Must be seeing things.

    2. Re:You're touching it wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem doesn't effect iPhone 6, only the plus so you were seeing things.

    3. Re:You're touching it wrong by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      Easy. Bend it.

      Your iPhone is a very expensive piece of precision computing technology. Put it in a hard case, and DON'T put it in your back pocket!

    4. Re:You're touching it wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously, how can you fuck up the touch experience on a touchscreen device?

      You can't because this "problem" is completely fictional.

      Rightly so, you just have to learn to touch it correctly.

    5. Re:You're touching it wrong by Zxern · · Score: 3, Informative

      Weak solder and no support backing. Between heat cycling and flexing the FPGA solder weakens till it quits working.

    6. Re:You're touching it wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > You can't because this "problem" is completely fictional.

      well, then, Apple has nothing to worry about and those lawyers will slink away with their tails between their legs.

      > no, they won't

    7. Re:You're touching it wrong by naughtynaughty · · Score: 1

      It's fictional in the same sense that the earth being a sphere is fictional to flat earthers.

    8. Re:You're touching it wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Affects iPhone 6 models as well. It's why there are instructions on fixing both models.

    9. Re:You're touching it wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can't because this "problem" is completely fictional.

      Funny, i had a chance to lie about a iPhone 6 which was experiencing this same issue just this weekend. I am making things up.

      Fixed that for you.

    10. Re:You're touching it wrong by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Your iPhone is a very expensive piece of precision computing technology. Put it in a hard case, and DON'T put it in your back pocket!

      Better yet, always leave your iPhone at home on your bedside table. That way it will never bend. As a bonus it won't run out of power in less than a day.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  6. Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My wife and I both bought the 6+ when it came out.

    I'm on my 9th replacement unit. She's on her 7th.

    Every time we need to get our phones replaced, it takes about 1-2 days of messing around at the Apple store to make it happen. We've tried to get new phones (like, boxed units), but they won't do it. We always have to wait for a refurbished replacement. This is somewhat strange because I had a lemon MBP several years ago and after the third repair they just gave me a brand new machine. I know others who have had similar experiences with other Apple equipment- but not on the 6+. They simply flat out refuse to give us new phones.

    Furthermore, the quality of the refurbished units is below average to say the least. Some of mine have had scratches/dings/dents on the chassis (I take good care of my equipment, when I had to give them my original 6+ it was literally in NIB condition, so I think it's fair for me to expect a replacement device in equivalent condition). Others have had marks across the LCD screen. One had an intermittent headphones connector (good thing that's no longer a problem on the iPhone 7), one had an intermittent lightning connector, and yet another had a touch ID sensor that wouldn't work 100% of the time. Every time I get a new device, there appears to be more things wrong with it and the quality of the device OOTB seems to be lower than the one before it.

    It's pretty much a cluster fuck, and I'm wondering why we dropped over $1K/pop on a "premium" device only to be treated this way.

    We're both at the point where we just want reliable working hardware. We no longer care what that is, our brand loyalty towards Apple has been eroded over the years and the iPhone 6+ issues are just the icing on the cake.

    My current iPhone 6+ is already flaking out again (WiFi is intermittent, it keeps acting like airplane mode is enabled but it's not), I don't doubt it'll be long before I have to take it in again. Her iPhone is already showing signs of display corruption. We've both agreed that the next time we get them replaced, they're both going on Craigslist and we'll be switching to Android or some other hardware that we can at least depend on for 2-3 years of reliable service.

    Neither of us care about slimmer phones. We'd both happily pay upwards of $2K for a device that lasts a good 4-5 years with a battery that lasts more than a day of hard use. It's sad that Apple doesn't seem interested in taking our money, but there's not much we can do about that except to vote with our wallets, which is precisely what we'll be doing from now on.

    1. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      My fictional wife and I both bought pretend 6+'s when it came out. We proceeded to lie about having fictional problems with it.

      Fixed that for you.

    2. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We've both agreed that the next time we get them replaced, they're both going on Craigslist

      You're selling broken phones to people on Craigslist, but how dare someone sell a broken phone to you? You're part of the problem.

    3. Re: Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Get Galaxy S7... I switched to it from iPhone and it has been fantastic. Everything from build quality to the operating system to being able to just copy mp3s around without a bunch of bullshit has been revolutionary.

    4. Re:Never again. by Princeofcups · · Score: 3, Insightful

      My wife and I both bought the 6+ when it came out.

      I'm on my 9th replacement unit. She's on her 7th.

      Assuming that this story is correct, and the fact that most with the phone never experience the described problem, it is quite obvious that you are doing something destructive with your phones to get that many to fail.

      --
      The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
    5. Re:Never again. by lucm · · Score: 4, Informative

      So it took 3 replacements of your Macbook and 16 replacements of your iPhones to erode your brand loyalty towards Apple?

      Maybe you need to join Al-Anon because you sir are an enabler.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    6. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We've both agreed that the next time we get them replaced, they're both going on Craigslist and we'll be switching to Android or some other hardware that we can at least depend on for 2-3 years of reliable service.

      Good god-damned luck with that.

      The reason Apple gets away with treating people like they treat you is that Android OEMs tend to be just as freaking bad. We can only hope that Google will pick up the slack with Pixel phones - but they basically claimed a two year lifespan on a Pixel phone by only promising updates for 24 months. Android phones tend to stop being really supported the instant the next version is out, so what you're left with is ... I don't know.

      Good god-damned luck. Hopefully the Pixel will deliver on years of reliable, supported service. But it's Google. So who knows.

      If you find someone, let me know. iPhones are out because Apple has demonstrated that they don't give a shit about hardware quality and they definitely don't give a shit about software quality. Android is a crap-shoot where companies frequently stop supporting models after a year or even less. Windows Phones might as well not exist. What does that even leave?

      I really hate that it seems like the majority of smartphone buyers are willing to put with continuously upgrading their smartphones. This problem is one "we" created by not punishing companies for having shitty technical support.

      So: best of luck to you. I hope you can find what you're looking for because I sure goddamned haven't.

    7. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly what I came here to say.

    8. Re:Never again. by Gaygirlie · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not necessarily. On the PCB there is a controller whose contacts eventually come loose and that is the fault here. The OP says he and his wife are both heavy users of their respective phones, which could indicate that the phones go through a lot of contraction - and expansion - cycles due to heating up and cooling down, thus likely hastening the process of those contacts coming loose. A user who doesn't use their phone that much also won't see the issue that quickly.

      I've experienced similar issues myself several times, like e.g. the tablet I have got replaced by the manufacturer after its WiFi-chipset lost contacts due to the tablet heating; the tablet had worked great for half a year or so, but I got the Android-version of X-Com and played it quite a lot, then during the middle of one play-session the tablet lost WiFi-connection. After rebooting the tablet WiFi was gone, the system couldn't find WiFi-hardware at all. And these old laptops I have: one of them had a loose connection to the display and one of them had the connections from the GPU to the PCB loose -- both fixed with a bit of a heat-gun applied at the right spot to reflow the solder.

    9. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's pretty much a cluster fuck, and I'm wondering why we dropped over $1K/pop on a "premium" device only to be treated this way.

      No offense, I mean this in the nicest way possible: You were a sucker, and Apple is Apple.

    10. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so what you're saying is, Apple probably adjusted their design so that "average" users only encounter the problem closer to "post warranty" than "around the time you'd switch to a new phone anyways"

    11. Re:Never again. by DraconPern · · Score: 2

      If you are having that many problems with that many devices, it's probably you and not the devices.

    12. Re:Never again. by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      They simply flat out refuse to give us new phones.

      And what would a new one give you? As far as anyone can tell it's a design issue. Do you think they just crank new ones out and throw the old ones away everytime someone reports a problem with the device? Be happy you get an on the spot swap and don't need to send it off for repair like nearly every other piece of electronics that suffers failure.

    13. Re:Never again. by Gaygirlie · · Score: 1

      Don't be a fucking moron, I'm not saying anything of the sort. I explained the issue and I am saying manufacturing-defects do happen. That's all.

    14. Re:Never again. by willy_me · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Hell no. We are not talking about a 100W CPU/GPU, we are talking about a touch controller IC that uses almost no power. Thermal cycling due to regular use is not an issue. I am not saying that the solder connection is not to blame, just that the cause of the problem is not thermal cycling. If one is having repeated failures then they are obviously carrying the phone in such a way that it bends. The back pocket is the worst place to carry a phone, but the front pocket can also be bad. Some people do not even realize they are doing it. But one thing is certain, if you have 9 successive failures, it's you. Better odds of winning a lottery then having 9 successive failures -- or at least it is close.

      I noticed that the iPhone 7 is not any thinner then the 6+. A tiny bit thicker even. This bodes well for the durability of the 7 so it is possible Apple learned from their mistake. Not that the 6+ is defective, but it could definitely be stronger.

    15. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is something wrong with you if instead of going for a new model phone, you decide to get the same lousy hardware fault "fixed" 9 times - no one has any sympathy for you.

    16. Re:Never again. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I'm kinda surprised that Apple didn't stop replacing their phones. The only explanation is that Apple figured it wasn't the user's fault, and to be fair touch issues and WiFi being unreliable are known common faults in the 6+.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    17. Re: Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Copy mp3's, you could always do that on iphone idiot!

      Just dont take those galaxy phones on a plane, smoking hot...

    18. Re: Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try Sony. They were still releasing updates for the original z phone, until the most recent cycle when the hardware stopped being supported by the Android 7 base.

    19. Re:Never again. by GNious · · Score: 1

      As long as "carrying phone in back/front pocket" is standard procedure, phones should probably be designed to handle it, outside of people sitting down with their phone in the back pocket.

    20. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What part of the 1-2 days did you assume to mean an instant swap?

      Still Apple fanbois like this is the reason Apple just doesn't give a fuck. 10+ replacements and you still buy Apple...
      Fool me once etc...

    21. Re:Never again. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The iPhone 6 requires about half the amount of force to bend as a comparable Samsung. Not sure about the 6+. You may recall there was a bit of a scandal at the time, the so called bendgate.

      It looks like that flexing is finally having an effect on the solder joints. People who wear tight clothing and keep the phone in their pockets are more likely to be affected.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    22. Re:Never again. by Imrik · · Score: 1

      To be fair, all but one of each of their phones were previously destroyed by someone else and sent back.

    23. Re:Never again. by Imrik · · Score: 1

      Successive failures in new phones would be rare, successive failures in phones that already failed once and got sent back are probably considerably more common.

    24. Re:Never again. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Many manufacturers do continuous improvement of their products during their lifetimes. Cars are well known for outwardly identical looking models being different under the bonnet, but actually most consumer goods are made that way.

      Additionally, quality control improves as issues are identified and tests for them developed.

      Unfortunately Apple don't seem to do this.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    25. Re:Never again. by mysidia · · Score: 1

      Furthermore, the quality of the refurbished units is below average to say the least. Some of mine have had scratches/dings/dents on the chassis (I take good care of my equipment, when I had to give them my original 6+ it was literally in NIB condition, so I think it's fair for me to expect a replacement device in equivalent condition)

      Yes. If their "solution" to your problem is to replace your phone, then the replacement must not only have defects under warranty repaired;
      it also must not have any new damage or defects that your original phone did not.... that would mean they are introducing damage by swapping your phone, which would be extremely uncool if you take care of your equipment, and its condition such as scratches/etc affects your personal enjoyment of the use of that equipment.

      Scratches/dings/dents are definitely damage. That refurbished phone should not have been provided to a customer, unless that was disclosed, and the customer specifically purchased or approved to receive a phone with this damage.

    26. Re:Never again. by mysidia · · Score: 1

      You're selling broken phones to people on Craigslist, but how dare someone sell a broken phone to you? You're part of the problem.

      Not if he tells the people on Craigslist that the item they are purchasing will be a broken phone.

    27. Re: Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can copy music files on an iPhone without the use of iTunes? Then slide them over to another file folder or an SD card?

    28. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're selling broken phones to people on Craigslist, but how dare someone sell a broken phone to you? You're part of the problem.

      Not if he tells the people on Craigslist that the item they are purchasing will be a broken phone.

      The buyer will flip it to the next sucker, and tell them to take it up with Apple when problems materialize.

    29. Re: Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      iTunes is the root of all evil.

    30. Re: Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With even some small percentage or fraction of a percentage chance of failure, with a large enough sample size then there is a good chance someone will experience multiple failures.

    31. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If I were you (and if you were real), I would stay away from Apple products. Especially iPhones. You see, for some imaginary people, the Reality Distortion Field tends to work rather differently than usual. This can be a serious disease. It is rarely fatal but often embarrassing and can be somewhat ameliorated by voting for Donald Trump.

    32. Re:Never again. by Khyber · · Score: 1

      "Hell no. We are not talking about a 100W CPU/GPU, we are talking about a touch controller IC that uses almost no power. Thermal cycling due to regular use is not an issue"

      Thermal cycling is an issue for ANY electronic component; even quarter-watt LEDs get hot enough to melt themselves if not given proper thermal dissipation.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    33. Re: Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With even some small percentage or fraction of a percentage chance of failure, with a large enough sample size then there is a good chance someone will experience multiple failures.

      Perhaps. If they were using the phones as flip flops. Otherwise, not so much.

    34. Re:Never again. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I noticed that the iPhone 7 is not any thinner then the 6+. A tiny bit thicker even.

      No way. I was told without any uncertainty that the reason the headphone connector was removed was to make the device thinner! Are you telling me the iFans lied?

    35. Re:Never again. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Thermal cycling is an issue for ANY electronic component; even quarter-watt LEDs get hot enough to melt themselves if not given proper thermal dissipation.

      Erm no, electronics don't magically burn up. They can only use the power provided and for the vast majority of small signal devices thermal cycling is such a non-issue that many of the parts won't show up at all on a thermal camera. Claiming that all devices exhibit this problem is just plain wrong.

    36. Re:Never again. by edxwelch · · Score: 1

      Well, this is how the French react to bad service from Apple:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    37. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We all know he won't be doing that. As an aside, anyone who hasn't figured out by now that you always buy the "S" model of iPhone deserves what they get.

    38. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      File a lawsuit in small claims.

    39. Re:Never again. by citizenr · · Score: 1

      Assuming that this story is correct, and the fact that most with the phone never experience the described problem

      what do you think 'class action' means? most users DO experience this problem just like most macbooks with defective nvidia chips died. Those are design defects.

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    40. Re: Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps. If they were using the phones as flip flops. Otherwise, not so much.

      Something something bistable multivibrator app something Steve Jobs joke.

    41. Re: Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have problems with every refurb'ed item I've ever had (never had an apple refurb as I've never had one break) it seems they go through basic testing but always miss intermittent problems which were probably why they were returned in the firstplace.

    42. Re: Never again. by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      That's the Galaxy Tab, different device.

    43. Re: Never again. by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      i mean Galaxy Note.

    44. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's going to be selling the replacements, which will be new/refurb phones. It will be as the manufacturer has sold it to him, not damaged by them in some way.

    45. Re:Never again. by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Are you telling me the iFans lied?

      Not possible, the iPhone is fanless.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    46. Re:Never again. by Agripa · · Score: 1

      Erm no, electronics don't magically burn up. They can only use the power provided and for the vast majority of small signal devices thermal cycling is such a non-issue that many of the parts won't show up at all on a thermal camera. Claiming that all devices exhibit this problem is just plain wrong.

      If the design is fragile enough, then ambient temperature changes can be enough over time to cause problems and even with low power dissipation, heat from neighboring devices will increase the temperature change.

    47. Re:Never again. by Khyber · · Score: 1

      "Erm no, electronics don't magically burn up."

      Uh, yea, they usually do. I can tell you've never released the magic smoke from a capacitor or resistor, or blown up a transformer, let alone done any EE design.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    48. Re:Never again. by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      There are other explanations. The 6 came out about two years ago, and they may still be on warranty or Applecare or something. Also, Apple is known for great and often generous customer service. Of course, the question I want to ask is exactly what that guy and his wife do with their phones, since they're statistical outliers big-time.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    49. Re:Never again. by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      "Class action" doesn't mean most people had a problem. It means that a reasonably large number had a problem.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    50. Re:Never again. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      If the design is fragile enough, then ambient temperature changes can be enough over time to cause problems and even with low power dissipation

      Nope still going with no. A device design may be fragile by design, but individual general purpose components used in consumer devices are entirely unphased through standard ambient temperature changes, especially given we're talking about non-high power devices here. Also if you're picking up heat from neighbouring devices then that's part of the general check and the reason you IR scan devices in the first place.

      So no under any normal and a myriad of abnormal cases "ANY" component is not affected.

    51. Re:Never again. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Actually I am an EE, and I've released plenty of magic smoke. Parts don't release magic smoke unprovoked. That's the reason datasheets publish things like absolute maximum ratings.

      And this is entirely beside the point since the direct response was to someone who said "Thermal cycling is an issue for ANY electronic component". What you're describing is not at all considered thermal cycling.

    52. Re:Never again. by Khyber · · Score: 1

      If you were an EE you'd know thermal cycling is an issue for any component from resistors to simple low-power LEDs. NOTHING IS IMMUNE TO THE LAWS OF PHYSICS.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    53. Re:Never again. by thegarbz · · Score: 0

      I am an EE and I know that thermal cycling is not an issue until the power levels are beyond what we are talking about here. And much like myself on this lovely cold day indoors I'm not too worried about the subtle changes in room temperature and if you're putting small signal devices into an application where battery life is most critical yet some how managing to draw enough power where thermal cycling becomes an issue even for something as simple as a low-power LED, incidentally a device that is so damn resistant to damage due to thermal cycling in normal operating conditions that it has been used for decades as a data transmission device often pulsed at an order of magnitude or two higher than its continuous rated power output continuously at high speed, then you should really quit your day job.

      This message brought to you by the inspiration of that LED I see out my window exploiting persistence of vision to thermally cycle hundreds of times per second continuously for the past 20 years come rain snow or heatwave, all run by that microcontroller behind it which doesn't thermally cycle at all.

      Incidentally gravity can kill you if you jump out of a plane, but yet I'm still alive. You're right, nothing is immune to the laws of physics, but that is not at all what we're talking about here. Maybe you should jump up about 4 or 5 posts and start again with with the bit about the small signal device that uses almost no power which, if it experiences thermal cycling at all would need some very frigging expensive lab equipment to register the oh so physically stressing temperature change.

    54. Re:Never again. by Agripa · · Score: 1

      If the design is fragile enough, then ambient temperature changes can be enough over time to cause problems and even with low power dissipation

      Nope still going with no. A device design may be fragile by design, but individual general purpose components used in consumer devices are entirely unphased through standard ambient temperature changes, especially given we're talking about non-high power devices here. Also if you're picking up heat from neighbouring devices then that's part of the general check and the reason you IR scan devices in the first place.

      So no under any normal and a myriad of abnormal cases "ANY" component is not affected.

      The reason I do not agree with you is because of my personal experience in designing circuits and laying out circuit boards. Even ignoring the occasional screwup by a parts manufacturer resulting in solder terminations failing or bond wires falling off after a few months, flexing of a circuit board or a mismatch in thermal expansion coefficient can cause all kinds of reliability issues. I hate to imagine what can go wrong with the denser BGA packages and there have been a number of reliability issues with them over a past few years.

    55. Re:Never again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bought my 6+ in January 2015. I still have it, it works great. No problems at all. My niece bought the 6 at the same time, her phone is still working with no problems. I can't say that about my niece that turned against iPhone and got the Samsung Note 4. Her phone has been giving her problems for months. I will stick to my iPhone. Heck, I can turn my 4s on and it would function perfectly!

    56. Re:Never again. by phorm · · Score: 1

      "it is quite obvious that you are doing something destructive with your phones to get that many to fail"

      Or it's just environmental. A lot of products are adversely affected by climate conditions etc that may lead to more issues in a given region. Cars in areas with high humidity may have more rust issues, especially if it's humid with high salinity. Some products don't like more arid areas as the "dry out"

    57. Re:Never again. by cwsumner · · Score: 1

      Anyone who buys the thinnest device they can find, and then leaves it in their back pocket when they sit down, deserves what they get! 8-P

    58. Re:Never again. by cwsumner · · Score: 1

      They might have had temperature swings imposed from outside. Could these phones have been regularly left in the windshield of a car in the summer sun? That might do it. But only if the solder joints were weaker than the ones I have worked with...

  7. Don't get the known faulty device, mkay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Why would you replace a defective device with one that you know will probably develop the same problem? Oh right, vendor lock-in. Told you so.

    1. Re:Don't get the known faulty device, mkay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because when you buy a defective Huawei device, the replace it with a Samsung, right?

      Because when you buy a defective Samsung device, the replace it with an LG, right?

    2. Re:Don't get the known faulty device, mkay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple has charged hundreds of dollars to replace a broken phone with a refurbished one

      Anyone who pays hundreds of dollars for a refurbished phone of the same make and model that has failed before gets what they pay for.

    3. Re:Don't get the known faulty device, mkay? by Lisandro · · Score: 2

      No. The point the GP is making is that you get to replace it with a different Android phone, with dozens of vendors offering very competitive models.

    4. Re:Don't get the known faulty device, mkay? by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      The poster's story might have been made up, but he never claimed to have paid anything for refurbished phones. You aren't any more intelligent than he.

    5. Re:Don't get the known faulty device, mkay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All they have to do is get a different model, not the 6 plus one, simple....

    6. Re:Don't get the known faulty device, mkay? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      That costs money. AC didn't mention having to pay for anything.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  8. Geez, Upgrade Already. by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    The new shiney is out. Tradition at Apple is to tell people "you aren't still using that old junk, are you?"

  9. Maine Implied Warranty by pgn674 · · Score: 5, Informative
    Sounds like a violation of the Maine implied warranty law. I don't know what the state can do to Apple, but there is an Apple store in the state's largest mall.

    The Maine Implied Warranty is the little known law that protects Maine consumers from being sold seriously defective items. It can be an Unfair Trade Practice to refuse to honor the Maine Implied Warranty Law within four years of sale. The basic test for possible implied warranty violations is as follows: The item is seriously defective, The consumer did not damage the item, The item is still within its useful life and is not simply worn out.

    No class action needed.

    1. Re:Maine Implied Warranty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > No class action needed.

      For Mainers, sure. But there's a lot more affected by this.

    2. Re:Maine Implied Warranty by lucm · · Score: 1

      No class action needed. Because there's zero people affected by this fictional problem.

      Fixes that for you.

      You've basically replied the same kind of lame thing about 10 times iso far. I'm starting to wonder if you're not, in fact, a double agent secretly working for Samsung by pretending to defend Apple badly.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    3. Re:Maine Implied Warranty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or is he still secretly working for Apple by making Samsung seem nefarious by defending Apple badly?

      Yeah, you see where this is going...

    4. Re:Maine Implied Warranty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Could be a paid shill getting money from both and laughing all the way to a small bank.

    5. Re:Maine Implied Warranty by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      No class action needed.

      That depends on the specifics. Just because someone is replacing something for free doesn't mean it isn't a burden. Look up at the post that someone is on their 9th device and each time has to spend 1-2 days talking to apple, driving to the store, etc to get it replaced. Even with warranty replacement, being given a device as a result that is still defective is grounds for some kind of complaint as the point of warranty was to replace a defective device with a non-defective one. It doesn't sound like this is happening.

    6. Re:Maine Implied Warranty by DraconPern · · Score: 1

      But that law only applies in Maine, plus, you have to detail the design flaw, not just, 'It doesn't do what it was designed to do'.  I imagine the cost to get an engineer to essentially, reverse engineer the design, and to come up with a new design to show that the old design was flawed is going to be a bit expensive.

    7. Re:Maine Implied Warranty by lucm · · Score: 1

      Could be a paid shill getting money from both and laughing all the way to a small bank.

      OR Microsoft is about to announce a new phone and they're spreading mistrust and suspicion about their competition.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    8. Re:Maine Implied Warranty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      detailing specifics really isn't necessary when the issue basically turns it into a brick... if they keep turning into bricks then after the 2nd or 3rd attempt at replacing your device you should be entitled to money back so you can buy a competing product that doesn't waste your time continually bricking itself.

    9. Re:Maine Implied Warranty by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      The AC is either fictionalizing or doing something strange to his and his wife's phones. This is way beyond the point of statistical believability. Warranties generally exclude abuse.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    10. Re:Maine Implied Warranty by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Abuse needs to be proven, this is difficult without evidence of damage.

    11. Re:Maine Implied Warranty by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Yes, but it seems obvious to me that AC and wife have to be doing something unusual to their phones. Not knowing what it is, I can't speculate further, and it's likely that Apple can't prove abuse.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  10. Lemon law.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... [should apply to not only cars]

  11. To paraphrase a classic movie quote... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "You lost me at iTunes"

  12. Seems familier... by NormAtHome · · Score: 1

    I vaguely remember Dell going through something like this except is was bad capacitors that leaked and affected systems blue screen and Dell told the phone support people to "Do everything you can to blame it on the customer" and not to do any warranty replacements.

    1. Re:Seems familier... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Dell mainly uses the same Chinese production facilities that Apple uses.

      Of course, Dell didn't design said motherboards in a flexible case such that the capacitors were likely to become detached during ordinary use. Electrolytic Capacitors have always been one of the primary 'problem component' in electronic circuitry. For decades cutting cost corners on electrolytics has caused problems. Tantalum is damned expensive.

    2. Re:Seems familier... by NormAtHome · · Score: 1

      I was more comparing the company's strategies i.e. deny that a problem exists, do their best to do as few warranty replacements as possible and blame the customer when possible.

    3. Re:Seems familier... by lucm · · Score: 1

      If you can find a link for that I'd be curious to see it.

      Would it be possible that the story you recall involves HP instead of Dell? While HP will gladly sell garbage to anyone with a credit card, in my experience Dell is usually very customer-oriented. There's even a famous story of Dell chartering a jet to ship a replacement part to an important enterprise customer because the fastest Fedex wasn't fast enough.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    4. Re:Seems familier... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Informative

      GX270/280-era 'capacitor plague'. I forget the exciting story of industrial espionage and vendor shoddiness; but for some reason a lot of substandard electrolytic capacitors made it into the supply chain. They had a tendency to swell, leak; or just derate far faster than expected. When the capacitors are supposed to be part of the circuit that supplies the CPU with appropriately regulated power, this does wonders for reliability.

      It wasn't exclusive to dell, pretty much all desktop motherboards of the period used electrolytics, and the flawed capacitors were widespread; but they had a massive number of affected units and did their best to be total scum about honoring warranties, so they came off looking pretty bad.

    5. Re:Seems familier... by SuricouRaven · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Luminous Town Electric, a capacitor manufacturer, hired a scientist who worked for Rubycon Corporation, another and rather more up-market capacitor manufacturer. As part of the 'unwritten' terms of employment, he was supposed to steal Rubycon's far superior electrolyte formulation, a trade secret mix of chemicals that make Rubycon's capacitors so good. But he screwed up - accounts differ as to if he made an error, or if Rubycon management found out about the industrial espionage and swapped the formula on file for a deliberately defective one. Either way, Luminous got hold of a dud - and, thinking they now had Rubycon's famous electrolyte formula, went straight into production without testing it. They made and sold a lot of capacitors before customers realised that the new Luminous capacitors were prone to explode after a while.

    6. Re:Seems familier... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's even a famous story of Dell chartering a jet to ship a replacement part to an important enterprise customer because the fastest Fedex wasn't fast enough.

      Enterprise. That's the magic word. Sheep don't matter, they are beta testers (Microsoft), mindless drones (Apple), first adopters (all other).

    7. Re:Seems familier... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wikipedia as well as other sources from Google claim that the formula Luminous got was fine (as the scientist seems to have had to re-develop the formula first rather than taking the finished result outright). But some of his staff defected to Taiwan later, with an incomplete formula that was sold as finished, causing the issue.

    8. Re:Seems familier... by Agripa · · Score: 1

      Colorado Memory Systems added a further refinement to this; delay accepting the diagnosis of a problem covered under warranty until the warranty period runs out.

  13. This Is What You Want.... by zenlessyank · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is what you get. It repeats over & over. We all know the difference between ignorant and stupid. Keep buying Apple so I can keep laughing at you and pre-judging you. When I see that logo I know I am dealing with an idiot. /discuss

    1. Re:This Is What You Want.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That's a little bit intense of a reaction when it comes to someone's telephone brand selection, isn't it?

    2. Re:This Is What You Want.... by lucm · · Score: 1

      I don't understand why nobody yet has made a spoof of the 1984 Apple commercial, but this time instead of the obedient masses it would show Apple customers waiting in line for the new iPhone.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    3. Re:This Is What You Want.... by Zumbs · · Score: 2

      Futurama did something like that. Try to search for furturama eye phone. You are welcome.

      --
      The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head
    4. Re:This Is What You Want.... by thegarbz · · Score: 0

      /discuss

      No. Go back to 4chan.

    5. Re:This Is What You Want.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According to the internet, you were raised in Alabama. No one is going to take shit from an Alabama native. Your attempts to get the world to stop laughing at and pre-judging you and yours are in vain.

    6. Re:This Is What You Want.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Discuss what? That you're a fucking asshole and you have no friends? That your family hates you? That you're a perfect example of internet rage consuming the public? That you're continuing an old argument started before you were born about a corporation? That you've taken sides in choosing one corporation over another? That you prefer open source, yet have never once looked at the source code?

    7. Re:This Is What You Want.... by zenlessyank · · Score: 1

      Never been to 4chan. Enlighten me.

    8. Re: This Is What You Want.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'd fit in

    9. Re:This Is What You Want.... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Your language and an attitude would fit in nicely.

    10. Re:This Is What You Want.... by zenlessyank · · Score: 1

      Not familiar with the concept of fitting in. Cults give me a rash.

  14. No surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is what happens when you buy crapple.

  15. Justice by frovingslosh · · Score: 2

    Apple thought that they could just screw their loyal customers. But now with a class action suit the class action lawyers will make millions and the consumers will get $100 coupons that they can only use towards future Apple purchases (and then the cycle will repeat).

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
  16. EULA by the_Bionic_lemming · · Score: 1

    Pert damn near every EULA I've read bans the right to sue - and forces people to go to arbitration.

    So I'm sorta confused on how a class action law suit is happening.

    --
    _ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
    1. Re:EULA by Lisandro · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Has that ever been enforced? Just because it is plastered on a EULA doesn't make it legal.

    2. Re:EULA by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      There is no EULA for hardware. Yet.

    3. Re:EULA by mhotchin · · Score: 1

      How could you put a EULA on hardware? Nobody is claiming the apple software is defective (at least, not in this case).

      I buy a piece of hardware, it's mine. Done. There's no 'Licencing agreement'.

    4. Re: EULA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Class restricted Eula clauses are regularly voided and basically unenforceable.

    5. Re:EULA by the_Bionic_lemming · · Score: 1

      Try buying a new car and sign "decline to sign" on the EULA banning you from even complaining without arbitration.

      A car is hardware, and jeep-chrysler did stop a sale of a 2015 jeep Cherokee latitude until my mother signed to accept the EULA.

      --
      _ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
    6. Re: EULA by the_Bionic_lemming · · Score: 1

      Ciations?

      --
      _ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
    7. Re:EULA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      EULA on a fucking car?!

    8. Re:EULA by Lisandro · · Score: 1

      What? Since when cars sell with an EULA attached?

    9. Re:EULA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds like a scummy dealer, none of that bullshit buying mah Dodge last year... unless she's leasing it? Big difference there...

    10. Re:EULA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      EULA are generally illegal and unenforceable. They often contain terms such as "The customer shall not disclose the results of any benchmark test to any third party without Network Associates' prior written approval", or flatly "remove" Fair Use. Others still ban the use of certain third-party tools to ensure complete removal of various trackers (which are not the software you paid for but are mysteriously included "for free" and 'protected' in the EULA) or the such; remember the sony rootkit?

      However, these clauses run contrary to the law in most countries as well as the US constitution, which wrecks the whole agreement. Even when the EULA IS low enough on insane restrictions that it doesn't actually have any illegal voids in it, any sort of automatic update can change the advertised functions of the software without your agreement, which can also help protect you in a court of law.

      Unfortunately, all this requires either some pro-bono help or a lot of personal resources, as the process of getting anything like this to court if you call their threats tends to be devastatingly full of fees, delays, and last moment pulling ("without prejudice") out to make all your expenses pointless should it go far enough.

    11. Re:EULA by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Try buying a new car and sign "decline to sign" on the EULA

      Sure gladly. But first you need to give me a EULA next time I try to buy a car. This is something I've never seen and I'm on my 3rd new car.

  17. ipod touch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is any ipod touch model affected by this "touch disease?"

  18. This just happened to my iPhone 6 Plus! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is so bizarre! I just started getting these issues on my iPhone 6 Plus and thought mine must be possessed (/jk) but seems this is actually a manufacturing issue after all.

    1. Re:This just happened to my iPhone 6 Plus! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is so bizarre! I just started getting these issues on my iPhone 6 Plus and thought mine must be possessed (/jk) but seems this is actually a manufacturing issue after all.

      See what happens to you when you read Slashdot.

      And you thought the hairy palms were bad ....

  19. Ban all sales, demand mass-recall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's what the U.S. does when it's Volkswagen, or Samsung. Play their own game, and you'll see results.

  20. Apple image tarnished a while ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Apple never used to be like this, they used to over engineer and produce rock solid products with top end hardware. But if you still believe that you've been drinking too much Apple juice. Apple today is sort of dying the same fate as Sony. Trying to cut corners to make a buck but living off it's past elitist moniker to keep margins up above others. You basically buying a Chevy that is priced like a Cadillac. Even Apple Care is less of a warranty then what it once was. Until some of these class action suits hit home and Apple product sales start to really falter. Apple will just continue its marketing behavior and ignore its customers. Actually the one thing that has saved Apple has been its forgiving customers, but even that is showing cracks.

    1. Re:Apple image tarnished a while ago by swb · · Score: 1

      When was this ever true? Apple ][+?

      I worked in advertising in the 1990s and we replaced Apple parts constantly. Even the Apple replacement parts were duds, our vendor got into the habit of sending two motherboards because about 1/10 would be literally missing components -- bare spots on the board.

      IMHO, the legend of Apple reliability is just a legend. The Scully era Macs were awful and prone to freezing -- whether that was hardware or software didn't really matter, but we always suspected hardware because it would happen on absolutely clean installs.

      The return-of-Jobs-era G3s & G4s were probably an improvement, but I'm sure that was about changes in management as much as some magical engineering prowess.

  21. Count me in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just ordered my iphone 7 plus 128 gb to replace my iphone 6 plus that has had touch disease since feb 2016. Took it to apple store and they can replace for refurbished for a price. Sad.

  22. On another note. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We do not have enough software in our cars!

  23. Take it to Apple, they will exchange for a new pho by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I had the same problem, they gave me a new phone.

  24. Not built well by DaMattster · · Score: 1

    These days electronics, along with just about everything else, are not made to last. This is precisely why I buy cheap, easily replaceable Android smartphones. There is no point in spending 800 some dollars on an iPhone 6 Plus when you could just buy a laptop. I'm laughing at the sheep that buy the iPhone because it is perceived as a status symbol.

  25. LOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You must be thinking of one of them anti-freedom countries.
    Most sane places treat EULA as about as useful as used toilet paper. Try having some consumer rights, you just might like it.

    1. Re:LOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Name ONE country. and it ain't the US.

  26. Let's check the scenario by stevez67 · · Score: 2, Informative

    A person buys a $700 smart phone phablet that is ~7 mm thick. There are postings on the internet of the phablets bending under stress.They don't protect it with a case or they buy a flexible case for it. They know the phone is not unbreakable, not water-proof, fragile when dropped from height. They do something to bend the phone over and over and over for months. They're surprised when the phone begins to fail. They insist that they're "entitled" to have the phone they broke replaced with a new, or upgraded model, for free. Internet rage ensues. Brand warfare postings abound and flame-wars erupt. Hilarious.

    1. Re:Let's check the scenario by stevez67 · · Score: 1

      I forgot to mention the benevolent legal warriors who have stepped in, out of the goodness of their hearts, to lead a crusade against the vile manufacturer who dared to make a phablet that would fail under repeated abuse.

    2. Re:Let's check the scenario by RatPh!nk · · Score: 2

      Pretty much sums up this case. Please don't put long, thin phones in your (back, especially) pocket.

      --
      Argh. The laws of science be a harsh mistress.
    3. Re:Let's check the scenario by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hahaha, the skinny phone needs to fit nicely in those skinny jeans worn by the skinny hipster who loves them skinny lattes...who cares about a solid product with skinny solder points when it's all about skinny style...they be skylen.

    4. Re:Let's check the scenario by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More like the manufacturer makes and sells an expensive cellphone that bends under stress. It is made so thin that it requires a case to survive normal use. The manufacturer is surprised when large numbers of phones begin to fail. They insist that the phones are okay and that people should not treat the phones as durable items. The manufacturer feels that they should not have to fix the phones or take any responsibility for the problem.

      I can write slanted opinion pieces, too!

    5. Re:Let's check the scenario by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      A person buys a $700 smart phone phablet that is ~7 mm thick. There are postings on the internet of the phablets bending under stress.They don't protect it with a case or they buy a flexible case for it.

      Are you saying the iPhone 7 is a defective device not suitable for general use unless a certain accessory is added? This is worthy of another lawsuit.

    6. Re:Let's check the scenario by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This article is about the iPhone 6. Please try and keep up.

    7. Re: Let's check the scenario by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In other news, a neckbeard is mocking skinny people.

      Did you know that your penis loses one inch for every extra 40 pounds you carry? Join the skinnies, my friend.

    8. Re:Let's check the scenario by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am a company that makes push bikes. My customers like thinner, lighter bikes, so I keep making them thinner and lighter. I could use exotic materials or expensive manufacturing processes to achieve this, but I basically just use less material and work on the design to remove components I think aren't important. My customers start complaining that every time they hit a pothole, the frame snaps. I tell them they're riding it wrong; potholes aren't my problem - they should go around the potholes or use larger, bouncier tires.

      I bring out a new bike that is the thinnest and lightest yet, but I remove the saddle. What serious rider uses a saddle anyway? They should be up and peddling to get the most out of the device! Saddles have been around essentially unchanged for decades, and removing them is an innovation! I'll also sell you special gel-cushioned padded pants that cushion your rear if you do decide to sit on the frame, but really in this day and age if you wanted to sit, you should be in a car. Lots of my customers complain, saying that they don't want an even thinner bike with fewer features. They want to ride all day and not get a sore arse, and have a bike that won't crumple every time they hit a pothole. But enough people keep buying my bikes, so I must be doing something right, right?

      Finally, my bikes get so thin that even small, everyday wear and tear like riding over textured paving begins to start causing the bikes to flip over. Of course, this isn't my fault: I don't make roads and cycleways. Just buy after-market stabilizers and jumbo pneumatic tyers for a smooth ride. Seriously, some people.

    9. Re:Let's check the scenario by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Anyone remember the overblown antenna issue with the 4S? I was going to buy a case for it, but Apple sent me one I liked for free.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    10. Re:Let's check the scenario by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      The not so overblown issue that Apple acknowledged was a problem enough to make a custom device to resolve it? Yeah I remember that. Now where's my hardened titanium strengthening case to protect my bendy phone! The precedence is set! Sue away!

    11. Re:Let's check the scenario by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      It was overblown, in that people seemed to assume it was a major problem for all iPhones. I had to lick my finger and deliberately short the antennas to notice any loss of signal. One of the original reports was from someone who reported it was a serious problem in one of the three phones they'd tested. It also depended on how the user held the phone, which is, unfortunately, not unusual. It appears to me to be a bonehead design decision (not that I'm an expert), and it affected some phones seriously when held in the way some users held them, but that's as far as it went.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    12. Re:Let's check the scenario by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're forgetting one thing: that other phones made by Samsung, with the same dimensions, as well as Apple's own phone 6S, do NOT have this problem, under the same type of use.

      Well, maybe two things - the 6 plus has been disassembled and the problem area was identified and it is clearly a board design issue, which was mitigated in the later models in various ways.

      Frankly I have no idea what you have to gain by trying to belittle people who spent 800-1000 bucks on a device only to have it last a year. If your phone is not yet having the issue, be thankful, but try to empathize with the other people. Next time might be you.

      Apple is clearly in the wrong here, but they're too busy pushing the new models to care that they are losing the user base because they no longer stand by their products and no longer make quality products, some of the few things they had going for them.

  27. Apple's $5 billion campus by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1

    Apple is building a new campus with Norman Foster that is estimated to cost $5 billion.

    It seems to me that Apple is degrading rapidly. It is apparently very difficult to get manager like Steve Jobs.

    1. Re:Apple's $5 billion campus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fall of an Empire is often signaled by huge constructions.

    2. Re:Apple's $5 billion campus by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      One of my former coworkers used to call it "building a monument to yourself".

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    3. Re:Apple's $5 billion campus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple started to build that thing before Steve's death. In fact he was the one who proposed the building to the city council.

  28. iPod Touch by ISoldat53 · · Score: 1

    I'm noticing the same symptoms on my iPod Touch. (I know, but I don't need a cell phone.)