Repair experts globally have reported on a widespread display problem with iPhone 6 and Plus handsets – it is called the “Touch Disease.”
“This issue is widespread enough that I feel like almost every iPhone 6/6+ has a touch of it (no pun intended) and are like ticking bombs just waiting to act up,” says Jason Villmer, owner of STS Telecom—a board repair shop in Missouri. He sees this several times a week.
AppleInsider says Touch Disease accounts for about 11% of Apple Stores daily service volumes. It states that some units were affected by the degradation of solder joints connecting the touch controller chip to the logic board, while others saw the chip simply fail – #bendgate may be a contributing issue. If you own an iPhone 6 or Plus, read the AppleInsider article.
Apple say this is caused by repeated dropping of the phone. It will not cover the cost of a repair and instead has set a US$149 fee to have it fixed. Much to the chagrin of iPhone owners who filed class action lawsuits against Apple over the touch disease issue.
{loadposition ray}
In a notice posted today, Apple says it has determined that some iPhone 6 Plus devices may exhibit display flickering or Multi-Touch issues after being dropped multiple times on a hard surface and then incurring further stress on the device.
Apple also says it will be contacting customers who already paid for repairs to refund them the difference, and otherwise encourages customers who think their device might be affected to contact the company.
Comment
Too little too late. Until today Apple refused to acknowledge the existence of Touch Disease despite popular press and major third party repairers shouting that the issue stinks to high heaven. If it does account for 11% of phone repairs that cannot be treated as a statistical anomaly.