The iPhone’s Touch Disease

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Sara Beitler, Writer

Within the last few weeks, lawsuits have been filed in both the United States and Canada against Apple because of the unresponsive touch screens on the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 6s Plus. This issue has been called the “touch disease,” a term coined by the hardware repair company, iFixit.

The lawsuit claims that Apple has been aware of this defect, but has failed to attempt to resolve the issue before advertising and selling them. The problem lies in the chips that control the touch-screen. If these chips fail, the touch screen will become obsolete, leaving the phone unable to perform any of its regular functions.

Tech Times believes this problem may have to do with how flexible these iPhones are, as the iPhone 6 Plus has the most reported cases by far.

The lawsuit claims the problem lies in the chips that control the touch screen functions of the phone. It also claims that these chips are not properly attached to the motherboard, so they will fail after regular wear and tear. If the phone is out of warranty, it can cost up to $329 to fix this issue.

The lawsuit contains 51 pages of complaints against Apple. It claims that Apple has “deceptive and/or fraudulent business practices” which has led owners of these iPhones to suffer “an ascertainable loss of money and/or property and/or value.”

People from 11 different states are cited in the case. One testimonial in the lawsuit said, “It started out happening only once and awhile until it got so bad that I couldn’t even use my phone. I took my first one back to Apple and got it replaced under the 1 year warranty, but now only 9 months later, the phone is doing the exact same thing and I can’t even use it. . . .”

Many news sources have asked Apple for their opinion on this issue, but Apple has declined to comment on the “touch disease.” However, many Apple Geniuses have confirmed the company’s knowledge of the issue. The “touch disease” has been reported in all the iPhone 6 models, but the iPhone 6 Plus has the most reported cases. It can be recognized by a flickering a gray bar along the top of the screen. According to the lawsuit, 11% of Apple Store repairs have to do with the “touch disease,” which is more than any other iPhone issue.