Apple Says Air Exposure Is Causing iPhone 6s Battery Problems (arstechnica.com)

Last month, Apple announced a repair program for a "small number" of iPhone 6s phones that suffer from faulty batteries. The phones that were affected by this fault were manufactured between September and October 2015. Two weeks later, Apple now says the fault was caused by overexposure to "controlled ambient air." Ars Technica reports: The same press release -- issued only in China so far, but available in English if you scroll down -- says that some owners of later iPhone 6S models are also reporting problems with unexpected shutdowns. Apple isn't replacing those batteries just yet, but the company says that an iOS update "available next week" will add "additional diagnostic capability" that will allow Apple to better track down and diagnose the causes of these shutdowns. It "may potentially help [Apple] improve the algorithms used to manage battery performance and shutdown," as well. Those improvements will be included in future iOS updates. Apple says that the battery problem "is not a safety issue," an important thing to note given the way the Galaxy Note 7 blew up in Samsung's face. The software update that Apple mentions in the release is almost certainly iOS 10.2, which is currently in its sixth beta build. The update will be the first major bug-fix release since October's iOS 10.1, and it also includes a handful of other changes like new and redesigned emoji, the TV app that Apple demoed at its last product event, and other features.

Comments

So holding it in air...

[Anonymous Coward]

is wrong!

Re:So holding it in air...

[Anubis IV]

I know you're joking, but no, the actual problem is that they were exposed to air during manufacturing. It has nothing to do with the users using them a particular way. Apple is basically admitting to a manufacturing defect causing bad readings to occur, which is causing the battery to misreport its status and shutdown early. They think, however, that they can take all of that into account and rectify the problem via a software update.

Re:So holding it in air...

[kiviQr]

you need to cover those vents!

Re:So holding it in air...

[toonces33]

Just to be on the safe side, you should stick your phone in a bucket of water.

Adventurous and Bold

[Anonymous Coward]

Designing iphones for the vacuum of space! Did you want to use that in atmosphere?

low quality

[WindBourne]

Seriously, when are western companies going to quit trying to cut corners in China?

Re:low quality

[sims 2]

When it's cheaper to cut corners elsewhere and not one second sooner.

Re:low quality

[wonkey_monkey]

Round corners, not cut corners.

Re:low quality

[sit1963nz]

Ask yourself, if any American who is willing to work in that kind of environment will care any more... the answer is no, however because of Chinese culture , the large pool of people wanting jobs in those areas and the fact they are being paid above average wages, I suspect the Chinese worker will actually do a better job.

Re: low quality

[Anonymous Coward]

Heads have rolled. The engineers responsible are now developing umbrellas that use your phone to tell you that it's raining.

Soldering batteries

[Anonymous Coward]

I bet they're regretting soldering those batteries in now. And it'd really suck to have to mail in your phone just to get a new battery.

Re: Soldering batteries

[Ralgha]

I replaced the battery on every phone I had that allowed me to, because I didn't, and still don't, need to replace the phone every two years. I would replace the battery in my Nexus 6 right now if I could because it's lost a noticeable amount of battery life, and again, I don't need, nor want, a new phone. You letting a phone company sell you a new phone because you fell for their marketing is your problem, not a reason for anybody else to not want to replace their phone's battery.

Re: Soldering batteries

[AaronW]

I got a kit to replace the battery in my Motorola Nexus 6. It's as good as new, though you need to be careful who you buy batteries from. One battery I bought turned out to be old stock and was worse than the one I replaced. It's a pain but doable with the right tools.

"additional diagnostic capability"

[Bing Tsher E]

Surveillance? Now, when Microsoft does stuff like that, the shrieking commences.

What Apple doesn't say is more important

[fustakrakich]

What is causing this "exposure to air"? Can't they just spell out "manufacturing defect"?

Re:Not good

[AK Marc]

The phone "in the air" isn't the problem. The unassembled phone parts "exposed" prior to installation aged them before they were used. Poor QC and supply chain, not an inherent design flaw. They should be able to identify all affected phones by serial, as well as an iOS update that tests for the failures/signs known to the aged battery parts.

I have a revolutionary idea!

[dcavanaugh]

Field replaceable batteries!

Not even trying anymore

[rantrantrant]

So we've reached the point where the Apple-Samsung duopoly have given up on things like effective quality assurance and testing. If they can't offer premium reliability then we may as well buy cheaper generic phones and tablets.

Air Exposure

[PPH]

We never anticipated the users actually taking the phones out of the packaging. We figured they could just gaze lovingly at them through the plastic.

Re:Not good

[AK Marc]

A car engine piston, left unprotected on a shelf will rust and age, and would fail sooner when finally installed. Properly stored and installed in an engine and used regularly, it will last for decades. Being in the final installation position matters a great deal and premature failure from improper storage in no way implies abnormal delicacy in the constituent parts.