Apple Inc. iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users are facing a manufacturing defect as a result of which a gray flickering bar appears at the top of the screen and the touch-screen is either unresponsive or less responsive. The firm appears fully aware of this problem – popularly called ‘touch disease,’ but it is not doing anything to address it.
Is bendgate responsible for ‘Touch Disease’
When the phone was first released, the users were facing the problem of bending screens – named the ‘bendgate,’ and as per the rumors, the same design flaw could be causing this problem. The gray bar disappears temporarily when a user gently twists or applies pressure to the device, but it comes back eventually. The problem grows worse until the touch functionality stops working altogether.
In a iFixit report, a tech repair firm iPad Rehab shows how a rigid metal shield is used to protect the relevant parts in the iPhone 5s, and this is missing in the iPhone 6 Plus. The iPhone 6 Plus has a thin flimsy film that doesn’t appear to be capable of protecting either the parts or the metal shielding, says a report from BI.
If the phone is flexed or bent over time, then the relevant parts could be damaged, says iPad Rehab. Whether the issue arises only when the iPhone 6 is visibly bent or even due to the normal flexing and bending that a phone has to go through during its lifetime is not known for now.
It must be noted that there was not a post on the forum complaining of the bending issue in the iPhone 6s Plus. It seems as Apple Inc. has dealt with the bending issue in the iPhone 6s Plus quite well
No fix from Apple yet
A handful of third-party repair specialists such as iFixit have detailed the problem and dozens of complaints are there on its own support forum, but the problem still persists. It is believed that the flawed controller chip is the root of the problem, says a report from the Next Web.
Some of the affected customers approached the Apple Store for help, but in vain. Instead, they were told that Apple does not recognize this as an issue, and if their devices had run out of warranty then they were out of luck. So, the only recourse is to seek help at a third-party repair facility (if the warranty is over).
iFixit suggests the only way to address the problem is to replace either the phone or its logic board or the Touch ICs on it. None of those is a good option particularly, the report notes. Recognizing the issue in its forums, Apple Inc. has recommended the affected users to check out a support page relating to unresponsive touch-screens.
