Sources: iPhone 6 series 'touch disease' now accounting for about 11% of Apple Store repairs

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Post-revelatory surge

Following the reports of the problem, the service departments of the Apple stores saw a surge in customers diagnosed with the problem.

Between Aug. 23 and 25, a total of 3,039 customers came in for assistance on an iPhone across the four locations, with 564 iPhone 6 customers and 1,094 iPhone 6 Plus owners amongst them.

Of the 563 iPhone 6 customers, 66 were diagnosed with "touch disease." At the same time, 409 of the iPhone 6 Plus population was found to be manifesting the problem by Apple technicians.

Again, examining percentages, 11.7 percent of iPhone 6 owners had the problem, and 37.4 percent of the iPhone 6 Plus traffic had the problem — both up since the media reports began.

Overall, across all four locations prior to the wide reveal of a potential issue, 11 percent of customers seeking help for an iPhone-related issue were ultimately found to have the "touch disease." After the reveal, 22 percent of all iPhone service traffic was related to the problem.

The surge in traffic for the problem after the reveal could be a temporary push of people who were just living with the issue in its earlier stages of only minor impact. Service personnel AppleInsider spoke with believe that the ratio will return to previous levels after the peak is over.

The iPhone 6s family does not appear to be affected by the problem at all, with zero incidences of the issue reported by the stores in either the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus.

In the trenches

AppleInsider has spoken to several Apple Genius staffers, as well as iPhone Specialists from the stores where we obtained the data.

"In our notes, we started calling it by a specific name we made up at our store because we all knew it," one specialist told us when asked how the problems were identified by staff. "Management said we had to refer to it as flickering."

The same specialist said it took about 6 months for Apple to issue formal guidance to staff on iPhone 6 Plus flickering displays. The employee expressed frustration with the length of time it took.

Guidance given to the stores was that a "modular replacement" would not fix the problem, and the only solution was to replace the unit.

"It's about time that the Apple press got a whiff of the problem," one Apple Genius said to us. "I'm getting tired of pulling service stock out of the box, and seeing the exact same problem that the customer has on the replacement before I leave backstage."

 

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http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/08/26/sources-iphone-6-series-touch-disease-now-accounting-for-about-11-of-apple-store-repairs