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The iPhone X Becomes Unresponsive When It Gets Cold (zdnet.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the cold-never-bothered-me-anyway dept.

sqorbit writes: Apple is working on a fix for the newly release iPhone X. It appears that the touch screen can become unresponsive when the iPhone is subjected to cold weather. Users are reporting that locking and unlocking the phone resolves the issue. Apple stated that it is aware of the issue and it will be addressed in a future update.

34 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by bogaboga · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let the war of words begin. I guess those in the Great White North (Canada) are out of luck!

    And BTW, is this the same company so many praise for its unparalleled attention to detail?

    1. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The guy who had unparalleled attention to detail quit the company a few years ago, because he died. The new guy in charge seems afraid to tell people that their ideas suck.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by dreamchaser · · Score: 4, Funny

      You mean the iQuija Board, now with SpritSense(tm) technology to authenticate the souls of those who respond. Available in classic white and graveyard black!

    3. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      To be fair, someone with unparalleled attention to detail would be able to spot the difference between effective cancer treatment and widely acknkowledged woo.

      Jobs paid unparalleled attention to hipster marketing.

    4. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by hey! · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Well, a lot of what you're talking about is neither here nor there with respect to this situation. It's a truism by this point that customers don't really know what you want until you show it to them -- although this doesn't mean that you as a product developer know any better.

      But one of the things that people forget that Jobs did when he came back is that he drastically simplified Apple's product line. Since a single product can't satisfy everyone, companies tend toward having many products through a kind of incrementalism, trying to capture as much of the market as possible. But there are downsides to having too many products and versions of products. Selling is harder, because you have to walk prospective customers through all the choices you offer, and they're often never quite satisfied that they made the right choice. Production, delivery and support become harder too; you can't hit one out of the park when you're trying to swing at as many balls as you physically can.

      Jobs also made a virtue of the drawbacks of a more limited product offering by turning the new product offerings into an event -- something much harder to do when sexy new features are spread across a large number of products. Putting all your eggs in fewer baskets turns a complicated basket selection decision into a simple go/no go for consumers.

      There are currently eight iPhone models in production, four introduced over an eighteen month period. I wonder whether this is a move back to the product-for-everyone incrementalism that Jobs product discipline replaced. Mobile phones are possibly the single most challenging consumer product to engineer and produce; it's quite possible we're looking at an Apple with too many balls in the air.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    5. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 4, Funny

      It is quite simple. First, make a phone that does not work below a certain temperature. Thus you force everyone into a smaller geographic region, say +/- 35 degrees off the equator. Next, make the display take on green lines, and you force people to avoid wilderness areas (since they may lose their now-green phone, because it is effectively camouflaged) so they all end up in urban areas. Once Apple has you constrained to those areas - control is greatly simplified!

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    6. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yes indeed, how does this fit into Apple's evil plan achieve world domination and enslave humanity?

      You're kidding, right? They can't even do a full environmental evaluation on a major product launch. Take over the world? That's preposterous.

      Environmental chambers are not a big expense, it's established testing protocol to do that sort of evaluation. What else have they skipped testing?

    7. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Then apple will build a walled garden and make android users pay for it.

    8. Re: So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by OrangeTide · · Score: 2

      There are billions of Apple customers in even colder climates.

      Really? Billions? Think about what you are saying. How many people do you think are in Outer Mongolia? You need several countries the size of Russia to make even one billion let alone billions, plural.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    9. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      It's obvious that some people are colding it wrong.

    10. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      The sad truth is, he's probably still doing his old job, which would explain why everything else sucks so bad.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    11. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by antdude · · Score: 2

      Yeah, need to resurrect that guy. :P Too bad Steve Woz won't do it.

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    12. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What kind of craptacular "rugged" laptops are you using? I've been using Thinkpads and Toughbooks in -18C conditions without issue. Well, my fingers not being able to type my password was an issue, but the keyboard was fine.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    13. Re:So much for Apple's [incredible] design... by adolf · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As much as I think I might like to own a Woz phone, I do not think that it would be a very practical device.

      Awesome, but not practical.

      --
      Kid-proof tablet..
  2. So by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    At this point, I really have no sympathy for those who rushed out and paid $1000 to be a glorified beta tester.

  3. Shouldn't be a problem if by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apple users kept their phones up their ass

  4. Electronic penis extension gets shrinkage by nospam007 · · Score: 2

    George Costanza would have had one.

  5. Early adopters by zifn4b · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple is working on a fix for the newly release iPhone X. It appears that the touch screen can become unresponsive when the iPhone is subjected to cold weather.

    Thank you to everyone who paid $1,000 to get the new iPhone X. What you don't know is you joined an exclusive club. You joined Apple's Early Adopter Quality Assurance Team. Thank you for helping discover all the problems their QA couldn't so that if the rest of us ever decide to upgrade we will get a better product.

    --
    We'll make great pets
    1. Re:Early adopters by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yeah, it especially sucks given this product that’s just getting into people’s hands in late autumn. And of course their in-house early adopters won’t catch this because they live in Cupertino and think 55F is “chilly”.

      I learned the downside of being an early adopter of Apple kit back in 2003, when I bought the brand new FW 800 Aluminum G4 PowerBook. I loved that computer... but didn’t love the fact that Apple had to replace the display three different times due to the “white spot” issue. Apple has always been great for me with regards to service... but I don’t personally want a great warranty that I have to use repeatedly.

      So thank you, beta testers for giving Apple your $1200 so the rest of us can have a better product in 2020!

      --
      #DeleteChrome
  6. Only affects those living in the wrong climate by Coisiche · · Score: 4, Funny

    Much like some were apparently wrongly holding an earlier version of the iPhone, clearly some customers of the latest version are living in the wrong climate and they should relocate in order to get a better Apple experience.

  7. Re: Looking forward to the next OS patch by fj3k · · Score: 2

    They plan on fixing the cold weather problem by mining bitcoins to heat the phone.

    --
    Two men claimed to have walked into a bar. Only one had the bruises to prove it.
  8. No "your mom" jokes? by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

    No "your mom" jokes? This place isn't what it used to be.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  9. Re:Late Nerd News by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2

    This is on apple.slashdot.org, not the main site. Anything on the Apple subdomain has to go through focus groups in Cupertino first. They're pretty busy there at the moment.

  10. The fix by ledow · · Score: 3, Funny

    if(temperature 10)
          run_background_task(bitcoin_miner);

    1. Re:The fix by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      That's a different problem than UTF-8, though. The character probably got removed by an HTML filter.

      For future reference, you need to write &lt; to get <

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  11. Fix is already on the way. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apple just announced, it has fixed the problem. It is a sleek white heater case, iMitten sold separately for 79$. It will keep the phone at the recommended operating temperature. After market replacement heater jackets are not recommended, it would void the warranty.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  12. Real amateur hour stuff here by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 2

    Right up there with an antenna that short-circuited when held wrong (remember that?).

    I remember when the extra 50% plus you paid for an Apple device over anyone else bought you quality of construction and good design. That was over a decade ago. These days? Keyboards on laptops with missing keys, phone screens that break or just plain don't work. But the fanboys will keep on fanboying, that I'm sure of.

  13. older iPhones useless below -30F by creschke · · Score: 5, Informative

    I used to ski with an iPhone 6s in my the breast pocket of a synthetic puffy jacket worn under a GoreTex shell and over at least two other layers. When temps dropped below -30F, I regularly experienced problems with the phone claiming to me overheating before shutting itself down when I pulled it out for a photo. No good idea of the temp inside that pocket, but it seems likely it was well above -30F. Expose to the ambient air was 1 minute before the "overheating" message appeared. Take home? Don't rely on an iPhone for back country navigation in the winter!

  14. Re:Should Apple find another CEO? by TimHunter · · Score: 4, Insightful

    AAPL closed at $54.04 on Oct 5, 2011, the day Steve Jobs died. On June 9, 2014 it closed at $645.57, up 1095%. That day it split 7 for 1. This past Friday AAPL closed at $174.67. If the stock had not split the share price today would be $1222.69. So, if you had bought a share of stock in Apple on 10/5/2011 then you would've made 2162% on your investment.

    Apple sold 78.29 million iPhones in 1Q17.

    It seems to me that this is evidence that Tim Cook is able to lead Apple.

  15. Re:Misleading headline by mvdwege · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The headline is completely fine. The phone does become unresponsive. That there is a workaround that keeps you fanbois from admitting there is a problem does not change the actual, you know, facts.

    --
    "I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
  16. More about recent management of Apple by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good point. This is an example of a common problem of understanding management. Who is responsible for Apple's success? What part of Apple's success is due to Tim Cook being CEO?

    An extremely important contribution of Steve Jobs was making sure nothing flawed was released. The iPhone 4 was released with antenna problems on June 24, 2010. It was a mistake someone with experience with radio frequency transmission would easily have understood. Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011, and was not managing long before that. Tim Cook officially became CEO of Apple on August 24, 2011.

    Since then, management of Apple has apparently become far more sloppy, For example: iPhone X Is Everything Wrong With Tim Cook's Apple

    Here are problems mentioned in that article:

    1) Announced before being ready.

    2) "Stop and ask what real world problems the iPhone X answers. There are a lot of cute answers but on a practical sense the iPhone X offers very little on top of the iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus, which in turn are only incremental bumps over last year's models."

    3) Product confusion: "Now it takes a ridiculous amount of research and comparison to find the iPhone that may suit your needs, and there is not a single device that offers all of features in a single package - every iPhone has some form of limitation and restriction designed into it."

    To me, that looks like poor overall management. There is sloppiness that didn't exist when Steve Jobs was in control. Steve Jobs was far from perfect; he had wacky ideas about health care, for example: Steve Jobs 'regretted trying to beat cancer with alternative medicine for so long'.

    Jobs was known for delivering an excellent customer experience. That's what made Apple different from competitors.

    1. Re:More about recent management of Apple by TimHunter · · Score: 2

      Thanks for the link to the Forbes article. Let's talk about those problems you mention:

      1) Announced before being ready. This is SOP in the business. It's called "marketing." The Essential Phone was announced in May, missed its June ship date, missed its July ship date, and finally became available in late August. The Galaxy S8 was announced on March 29 with availability almost a month later, April 21. When other folks do it, it's okay, but when Apple does it, it's bad?

      2) What real world problems does the iPhone X answer? Strawman argument. Why does an iPhone have to answer "real world" problems? What "real world" problems does the Galaxy S8 answer? What about the Pixel 2? Do Apple products have to answer "real world" problems when other smartphones just have to, you know, be smartphones? In any case, it seems to me that one "real world" problem it answers is that Apple wants a new product to sell. Selling phones is how they make money. And a really important measure of a successful CEO (we're talking about CEOs, remember?) is when the company they lead makes a profit.

      3) Product confusion. Puh-lease. Let's see, right now Apple is selling the SE, 6S, 7, 8, and X. The 6S, 7, and 8 also come in a Plus model. I don't even know how to begin comparing its competitors. I don't even know the names of all the competitors. Samsung, LG, Essential, who else?

      And before we go too far down the road toward a Steve Jobs hagiography, let's take a minute to think about the G3 Cube, the Apple III, the ROKR, MobileMe, etc. Nobody argues that Jobs was perfect. Let's not argue that Cook must be perfect in order to be successful.

  17. Re:Should Apple find another CEO? by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Your argument includes no null hypothesis. What would the stock price have been of Jobs was still around?

    While we're at it a CEO change takes real time to materialise. A good portion of that meteoric rise in stocks between 2011 and 2014 were due to both market forces and the recent legacy and momentum of what Jobs had built.

    It's quite telling that pussy Jobs the stock price seems to either say "meh" or spike down every time Tim Cook gets on a stage. The only time that happened to Jobs in modern Apple was when he got on stage looking thin and frail.

    Driving a great company into the ground take time. Let's see how Apple is doing in another 10 years.

    By the way other stocks at record highs include MS and also Yahoo. Remember them?

  18. 24 hours by sad_ · · Score: 2

    none of the 24 hour reviewers noticed this problem? how is this possible?! They had their hands on the phone for a full 24 hours!

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.