Yes, Apple AAPL -0.11% may have big iPhone plans for 2018 (including one potential game changer) but first, the company has to sort out a new mess with its existing models. Today Apple was forced to admit two of its record-breaking models suffer from a fundamental design defect…
The credit for this discovery goes to Motherboard, after it painstakingly dug through internal documents Apple released in court as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the company for touchscreen failures known as ‘Touch Disease’ caused by iPhone bending.
The revelation: Apple knew about these structural weaknesses all along.According to the court documents, Apple’s own tests discovered the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were 3.3x ad 7.2x more likely to bend than its predecessor, the iPhone 5S. These structural flaws led to what many dubbed “bendgate”, where both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus could literally bend just from the pressure of being stored in a trouser pocket.
Unfortunately, until today Apple had dismissed there was any sort of problem. It claimed cases of bending were “extremely rare” and even asked select media to witness its iPhone testing procedures.
But now we know the real picture.
Apple’s court documents reveal that having recognised internally the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were at a risk of bending, the company tried to quietly strengthen all models produced after May 2016 by applying extra epoxy. It also switched to a stronger Series 7000 aluminium chassis for the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus but denied it has anything to do with Bendgate.
And now the repercussions could be serious. Given the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus generated the first iPhone sales “supercycle”, millions of models remain in use. Furthermore, Apple continues to sell both phones today (four years after release) after reintroducing them in February 2017 - such as this iPhone 6 on AT&T GoPhone - despite never officially admitting or successfully fixing its fundamental structural defect.
With Apple already facing over 60 class action lawsuits around the world for its initial cover-up of iPhone performance throttling and internal documents leaking about iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus hardware problems, this latest exposé couldn’t come at a worse time. Whether Apple will decide to settle this case quickly and move on or tie it up in legal action for years to come, remains to be seen.
Of course, smartphone fans are a fickle bunch. For those who have already moved on from the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple has the perfect all-new iPhones launching in September to win them over - especially considering their planned price cuts.
But others may not be so fast to forgive…
