It had to happen. In the face of overwhelming pressure from users and a stark warning from China’s Consumer Association government watchdog,
Pointedly choosing to post once again to its China website both in Chinese and English, Apple has released an article entitled ‘A Message from Apple about iPhone and Unexpected Shutdowns’ and confirmed:
“We take every customer concern very seriously, including the limited number of reports of unexpected shutdown with iPhones. We also want to thank the agencies for forwarding concerns to us and their engagement with us...When we find something, we work to quickly provide our customers with a solution.”
The iPhone is set for a massive redesign in 2017 (concept pictured), but first Apple has problems to... [+]
What the company says its further investigations found was “a small number of customers” that are also suffering from what I dubbed the ‘30% Bug’ - where their devices randomly shut off with around 30% of their battery life remaining. I exclusively broke this story last month after contact with disaffected customers writing on Apple’s official Support Communities website.
The main forum thread on this topic has now reached a remarkable 33 pages long.
But the twist is Apple has still not fully fronted up to the situation. Its statement does nothing to specifically state the problems extend beyond the iPhone 6S (the only model it has named to date), when multiple sources in the thread above as well as social media and even a tweet from Apple executive and ‘father of the iPod’ Tony Fadell have confirmed cases involving different models:
Fadell confirms his iPhone battery problem is with a model Apple currently denies is affected. Image... [+]
In fact reports of the 30% bug involve most iPhones released in the last 4 years - including the iPhone SE, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5S and iPhone 5 - as frequently as they mention the iPhone 6S. The good news is the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus predominantly remain unaffected, but they are currently suffering a significant problem of their own.
What Happens Next?
Despite an extremely cautious statement, Apple says it will now take a course of action which strongly suggests it knows full well that more than “a small number” (a phrase it has used 3x in its last two statements) of iPhones are experiencing problems: it will release a new version of iOS specifically to diagnose battery performance:
“This will allow us to gather information over the coming weeks which may potentially help us improve the algorithms used to manage battery performance and shutdown. If such improvements can be made, they will be delivered in future software updates.”
Yes, Apple is going to try and fix this in software and the fact this option is even on the table is encouraging given the immense logistical effort and cost Samsung endured (potentially $17BN) when it had to recall all Galaxy Note 7 models (a handset whose brief time on sale meant it had shipped only a tiny fraction of the units of all these iPhones). But we're clearly not at that stage yet.
Samsung's recall of the Galaxy Note 7 (pictured) has been a financial disaster for the company.... [+]
That said Apple’s language - “If such improvements can be made” - does leave in the caveat that the 30% Bug could be hardware related.
Given Apple blames a physical problem for the iPhone 6S battery bug (officially: “a battery component that was exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have been before being assembled into battery packs”) and has setup a dedicated replacement service, the hope will be the problems suffered by all these other models are different. Cynics and optimists will no doubt react differently.
So while a radical iPhone redesign looks certain for 2017, it appears Apple will spend the rest of 2016 focused on something whole lot less appealing...
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