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From: "Flor Lynch" <florlync@xxxxxx>
Date: 25 August 2016 at 12:49:03 p.m. IST
To: <vip_students@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [vip_students] Touchscreen chip flaw renders some iPhone 6 and 6
Plus devices useless | Technology | The Guardian
Reply-To: vip_students@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/24/touchscreen-chip-flaw-iphone-6-plus-touch-disease?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term7460&subid063383&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
(Article below)
read flaw in touchscreen chips
Users and third-party repairers report a growing problem with Appleâs
iPhone 6 and 6 Plus that causes the touchscreen to fail and the screen to
display a flickering grey bar a the top. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the
Guardian
Samuel Gibbs
Wednesday 24 August 2016 11.51 BST Last modified on Wednesday 24 August 2016
11.56 BST
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Appleâs iPhone 6 and 6 Plus appear to be vulnerable to so-called âtouch
diseaseâ, a hardware problem that is crippling phones, according to reports
from users and third-party repairers.
The issue, which has been observed in iPhone 6s since the beginning of the
year, seems to affect the touchscreen controller chips, resulting in problems
for the high-end smartphones in responding to touch input.
Badly affected phones become next to useless. First the status bar becomes
grey and flickers and the touchscreen becomes unresponsive, with users unable
to control or use the smartphones without the touchscreen working.
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On the eve of Appleâs unveiling of its next version of the iPhone, an
extensive report by third-party repair resource iFixit has suggested the
issue is widespread.
iFixit repair advocate Julia Bluff said: âOf course, thereâs no way to
tell exactly how many phones are afflicted with what weâre calling Touch
Disease, but every repair tech we spoke to told us that the problem is
incredibly common.â
âThis issue is widespread enough that I feel like almost every iPhone 6 or
6 Plus has a touch of it (no pun intended) and are like ticking bombs just
waiting to act up,â Jason Villmer, owner of repair shop STS Telecom, told
iFixit.
A fix for the issue is possible, requiring the broken chips within the
iPhones to be carefully replaced by workshops capable of performing so-called
microsoldering â the use of microscopes and very fine soldering irons to
remove and replace tiny chips on the main boards of the iPhones.
The microsoldering repair specialist Jessa Jones puts the fault down to the
same reason the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus suffered from bending issues. Their thin,
wide bodies flex more than previous Apple smartphones and the flex point
appears to be around where the touchscreen controllers sit within the
smartphones. Apple has since strengthened the structure of its iPhones to
correct the issue with 2015âs iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.
Jones said: âOver time, normal daily use of the large, thin phone will
eventually create a small crack or separation in one of the balls that
underlie either of the [touchscreen control] chips on the board. At first,
there may be no defect at all. Later you might notice that the screen is
sometimes unresponsive, but it is quick to come back with a hard reset. As
the crack deepens into a full separation of the chip/board bond, the periods
of no touch function become more frequent. This is exacerbated by any drop.â
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Pressure on the screen or twisting of the phone can work as a temporary fix,
as can so-called reflowing of the chip, where it is heated up to try and
reform broken bonds, reconnecting the chip to the board beneath it. But the
problem will get worse over time, eventually rendering the touchscreen
unresponsive.
Jones explained that the only solution is to replace both touchscreen control
chip, cleaning the board underneath, which should cost about the same as a
screen replacement or a quarter of the cost of Appleâs out-of-warranty
refurbished phone replacement offer.
Appleâs in-store support are not capable of doing so, leaving those out of
warranty with little recourse but to buy a new or refurbished smartphone,
according to users of Appleâs support forums.
While Apple store staff have reportedly told users affected by the issue that
it is a known problem, the company has not officially acknowledged the issue.
Apple did not respond to request for comment.
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