iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus News and Tech Issues: Touch Disease Can Infect Smartphone Displays in a Fatal Bug
First, it's a flickering gray bar on the top of your iPhone 6 or iPhone Plus touchscreen. The screen will start to behave erratically, then there's a glitchy touch functionality until the screen becomes unresponsive altogether.
It's been called the "Touch Disease" by researchers at the gadget repair blog, iFixit. They estimate that it could potentially affect millions of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users, discriminately, as the disease only seems to affect them specifically.
What it means
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Unfortunately, there are currently no means to avoid this tech issue. Touch Disease appears without forewarning and usually manifests itself in erratic visuals and whacked sensitivity until the screen stops functioning completely.
A professional smartphone repair blog, iPadRehab, has been seeing the epidemic for a while now. They concluded that the problem may lie in the very size of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus itself. Large and slim phones tend to become bendy, especially when placed at an extended amount of time in your pocket. This means that the phone is subjected to various pressures that may damage the circuitry inside.
It hasn't gone unnoticed by Apple users, nor by Apple itself. Discussions in the Apple forum reveal that several iPhone users have come to see Apple reps to have the issue fixed, but were told by employees that Apple does not see it as an issue.
How to cure it
It's been difficult finding a cure for it, too. Some of the users said twisting the phone a bit or putting pressure on the screen puts it on a short remission. But then, the illness comes back with a vengeance as the grey bar spreads through the display and the touch gets increasingly erratic.
The problem is, simply replacing the touchscreen won't work. According to professionals, the Touch Disease is rooted at two touchscreen controller chips inside the phone. Over time, the lack of underfill on the chips and its relative position on the board make them vulnerable to cracks and separations, even under normal use.
According to iFixit, the best courses of action would be to replace the handset completely, especially if you're still under warranty. You can also try swapping the motherboard with a clean model. Another risky option would be to replace the chips with new ones, except that Apple currently does not offer those services and third-party repair shops aren't vetted by the tech giant as well.
The Touch Disease is actually quite a rampant issue so it comes as a surprise that Apple itself hasn't come out yet with a solution. Hopefully though, they'll start addressing the issue in order to avoid hordes of disgruntled iPhone users throwing out their Apple devices in favor of non-erratic Android alternatives.
