back to article Apple blames air for iPhone 6S's narcolepsy

Apple says a defect caused during manufacturing is to blame for some iPhones randomly shutting themselves down. The Cupertino giant said in a support article that some iPhone 6S handsets have batteries that degrade much faster than expected and tend to shut themselves off when the batt is at 30 per cent charge. "We found that …

  1. Dieter Haussmann

    Why would they be designed to shutdown at very cold temperatures? I can understand hot, but not cold - unless it's just Tim-Cuck--speak for the batteries stop working at very cold temperatures.

    1. Stuart Halliday

      Because chemical reactions are a heck of slower at low temperatures?

    2. NoneSuch Silver badge
      Thumb Down

      "We also want our customers to know that an iPhone is actually designed to shut down automatically under certain conditions, such as extremely cold temperature," said the Silicon Valley titan that once blamed its hardware failures on grip placement.

      Nuts to that. I've been using my phone in dry ice for years.

      1. macjules

        Great, that wipes out Russian, Alaskan and many Canadian iPhone users then.Thank God it never gets cold in Northern Scotland ...

  2. Stuart Halliday

    Could explain why Samsung Note 4 batteries start shutting down at 30% after a year of use?

    1. Adam 1

      Tbh, it's not the premature shutdown on a galaxy note that would worry me about their batteries.

      1. jgarbo

        You're thinking Note 7, a few battery problems. My (old) Note 4 & wife's Note 5 have no problems and she runs hers down to 5% (business use).

  3. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Something to buy for

    Apple has been a questionable technological innovator for years but they could still stand out from the crowd by honoring warranties and providing customer support. Most phones are a $400 gamble because the manufacturer will blame everything on abuse, normal product wear, or forever claim that a fix is coming soon.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Down

      Re: Something to buy for

      You mean by getting people to pay them $149 bucks to fix an issue with the Iphone 6 touch-IC of which THEY KNOW it's a factory defect but won't acknowledge it ?

  4. fidodogbreath

    The battery drain problem emerges on some iPhones only after iOS 10.1.x is installed, and it is not limited to the 6s.

    Some 6s batteries might well be defective, but there's also a software problem that has not been acknowledged or addressed.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Maybe the software enabled some check that wasn't previously being done? If it was a software bug, they wouldn't be offering to replace people's batteries for free, they'd be rushing 10.1.2 out the door.

    2. DML71

      The battery shut down has happened to me 3/4 times over the last year before the 10.1 release.

      Put it down to a software glitch and didn't inconvenience me too much. But the last time it happened was middle of November (phone on at least 40%) when I was using googlemaps on the phone so had to rely on common sense to get back to the car.

      Got my battery replaced at the weekend and there was a steady stream of 6s owners queuing to either collect their phones or drop them in.

      No problems so far but it's only been a couple of days.

    3. D@v3

      @ fidodogbreath

      Problem with the 6s isn't battery drain as such, it's that the battery suddenly decides it has no power, despite the battery meter showing around 30%, and shutting down. When you plug it in to charge, once it has enough power to switch on, it will show 30%+.

      I find that between 100-30% the battery (on mine) is fine, its just that my battery is only 70% the size it should be (some of the time).

  5. Alan Denman

    Not a safety issue

    So was no need to deflate the ego of superior ownership by telling them this while the phone was the latest and greatest under warranty.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "It's important to note, this is not a safety issue."

    Hello...911...hello...HELP!

  7. JJKing
    Unhappy

    Surely putting a Band-Aid on the side would fix it. Where's Steve Jobs when you need a solution? Oh, err, that's right.......................

  8. Mage Silver badge

    Admissions

    All the big vendors and retailers try to ignore the SOGA. Two years MINIMUM for defects.

    Apple only admits issues on a phone after a replacement comes out and hopes people buy a new one or pay for repairs, assuming that most in Europe (not limited to EU) will not know their SOGA rights. Signed into law in many countries and all EU countries.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Admissions

      Oh they will fix it. Unless there's a scratch on the screen or something which means they simply must fix that as well, and they'll charge you for it.

      1. Steve K

        Re: Admissions

        That might be because they do an automatic swap-out in-store and want to be able to resell the defective one once the batter is swapped back at the workshop?

        If there are other defects then they will want to fix those so the phone can be sold on.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Admissions

      >All the big vendors and retailers try to ignore the SOGA. Two years MINIMUM for defects.

      In the UK it's six years and Apple honour it too - outside 2 years you'll need to write a letter or get your solicitor to. It's SOGA for stuff you bought prior to October 2015 - Apple purchases (major hardware only - iPods, iPhones, iPads, Computers etc) are now covered under CRA for 6 years.

      ...also if you bought Apple Care and weren't asked if you already had accidental insurance via home etc (and if you actually did) you can get that refunded in full too.

      I've no idea how much this would actually cost Apple if everyone in the UK actually asserted their rights, but it would keep me awake at night if I worked in Apple Legal.

    3. An nonymous Cowerd

      Re: Apple obeying now in some of the EU. . .

      I've had a two-year old iPad Air recently repaired under the italian SOGA, iOS10 completely trashed it, revealing some underlying glitches that had been present in iOS9 - but not terminal until the '10.

      (there was a bug in the initial iOS10 OTA rollout, according to the 'Genius,' that required a special type of reset), but combined with a background component fault - earned me a complete replacement.

      Fruity were fined €0.9M in 2011 and threatened with a further €0.3M in 2012 if they didn't start respecting the SOGA. http://www.reuters.com/article/apple-italy-antitrust-idUSL6E8I2FRD20120702

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Insensitive Title

    Narcolepsy is a serious and debilitating medical disorder. I'm not sure what it has to do with malfunctioning technology. If the phone shook uncontrollably, I doubt you would have titled your article "Apple blames air for iPhone 6S's Parkinson's." People with Narcolepsy often feel misunderstood and like they are the butt of everyone's joke because the media doesn't portray the disorder accurately. You need to educate yourself instead of using the term so flippantly.

    1. MrDamage Silver badge

      Re: Insensitive Title

      Jokes about narcolepsy are like sleep.

      Not everyone gets it.

      Now here's an icecream. Use it to soothe thine butthurt.

    2. willywonka

      Re: Insensitive Title

      As someone who suffers from narcolepsy let me say - it absolutely is debilitating. There is also nothing wrong with joking about it. More people that know about narcolepsy the better off I am - even if they hear about it via humor.

    3. Phil.T.Tipp

      Re: Insensitive Title

      Yawn!

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If only they made batteries removable...

    ... you know, rather than being pricks and gluing it in.

    1. An nonymous Cowerd

      Re: If only they made batteries removable...

      but then your phone couldn't simulate being off (in certain circumstances). . .

      many German companies use biscuit-tins as phone homes for confidential meetings

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's not just iPhone 6s - it's iPhone 6 as well

    My iPhone 6 had exactly the same problem - with repeated random shut downs when the battery level got to 1/3 full.

    After hours on the phone to apple customer support, multiple time-wasting wipes / restores Apple eventually replaced it.

    Or rather they replaced it with an iPhone 6 that had a sim error right out of the box and then supplied another one that had a charging problem and wouldn't recognise genuine apple charging accessories.

    Apple's quality control is dreadful - but I've not idea if it's better or worse than other premium smartphone manufacturers.

  12. Mike Shepherd
    Meh

    What exactly is the problem?

    "...a battery component that was exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have been before being assembled into battery packs".

    This is half an explanation, padded with the word "controlled" to play down their not following the proper procedure. The best guess is that surface-mount parts were left unused too long after the package was opened, so they absorbed too much water from the air meanwhile. The water turns rapidly to steam in the soldering machine, so parts can crack. But why not just make that clear?

    1. kain preacher

      Re: What exactly is the problem?

      And ruin an imagine never. Just stick your head in the sand and give a half ass answer.

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