Apple iPhone users reporting unresponsive multi-touch displays
Posted by Will on Thursday, August 9th, 2007 at 8:49 pm under
iPhone
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Just as we were starting to think that the Apple iPhone would make it through the launch windows relatively unscathed by hardware defects and technical faults, we’re getting reports of a small number of iPhones’ multi-touch displays going numb to touch-inputs.
Forum users at Apple Insider and MacRumors are complaining of a “dead strip” starting to plague some iPhones out there. The “dead strip” on the multi-touch display loses sensitivity to all touch-inputs, and seems to afflict the bottom or top portion of the screen. Explains one forum user, “”First the very bottom of the screen went out so I could not hit the space-bar on the keyboard, or change to the number/character screen. Then it got worse a few days later, now I cannot hit any of the main function buttons.”
Updates, resets, restores - nothing seems to help the situation, indicating that a hardware fault is the root of the problem. Apple seems to be aware of the situation, and they’re replacing afflicted handsets with few if any questions asked.
Our experience with Apple support has been quite positive, so it makes sense that Apple would make it easy on the consumer and readily replace these defective units. And, with the incredible production volumes that we’re dealing with here, it’s not all that surprising to see some iPhones getting hit hardware problems.
Drop us a line if you’ve been unlucky enough to have a defective iPhone.
[Via: Apple Insider]
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August 15th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
I just recently sent in an 8gb iPhone for the dead strip defect at the bottom of the screen. 3 days later I was sent back a brand new device(although the store rep did give me some trouble.)
August 15th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
I had a dead strip.
Wandered into an apple store. Wandered out with a brand new phone. The phone still worked great into that point, I did nothing unusual with it to make it go wonky and they instantly said they’d replace it.
August 15th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
I had the deadstrip after a 4 week trip through SE Asia. Went to the Apple store and they tried to restore it. It didn’t work so they sent it off for repairs and gave me a free loaner phone. 3 days later, I got the new phone.
August 16th, 2007 at 11:21 am
My 4GB iPhone dropped a call last night, and when I tried to redial the strip at the bottom was dead. All other portions of the screen seemed fine. I took it to the Apple store and was told I needed an appointment to talk to a “genius” so he could eventually send my phone in for repair after a reset failed to help.
I did not buy the Applecare for the phone, and was dissapointed to find that the Apple store wanted to charge me $29 to rent an iPhone loaner. When I’ve dealt with hardware issues in the past with Cingular, they’ve always over-nighted me a replacement phone, no questions asked. I guess that’s what I get for spending $500. Thanks Apple.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Do not let them charge you for a loaner. Talk to the Apple Store manager and get a free loaner. This is a defect and should be handled by Apple for free - other people have gotten on-the-spot replacements and others have gotten overnighted units with a free loaner. Be persistent
September 2nd, 2007 at 11:21 pm
In your hands is my second iPhone. The first one was deemed defective by the trainer in my iPhone demonstration class the day after I purchased it. He experienced the periodic non-responsiveness of my phone screen when training me during his class. I brought the phone to the Genius Bar for replacement. The initial response was that they would take it in for repairs!!!!! …24 hours after I bought it… and before I had barely used it because I was waiting to take the class!!! Needless to say, that was not a fair nor just response to someone who had just purchased 2-8GB iPhones the day after their release. A replacement phone was supplied.
It is now a short time later. I was preparing for a trip and noticed that my phone started acting the way the first phone did. After 2 hours on the phone with tech support, I finally gave in to the notion that I once again had a defective phone…something the tech told me after only one hour on the helpline. The thought of being without my phone on a trip was not acceptable. …Of course, I could rent one!!! Anyway, I went to the AT&T store instead. They deactivated my iPhone for me and issued me a new SIM card so I could resurrect my trusty Samsung Blackjack. Two defective iPhones since their release. What’s Going on Here?
My charging block is also defective. I have been using my husband’s or just using the cord linked to my computer.
Apparently, I am not alone. I did a “Google” search and found that many others are experiencing the exact same problems that I have.
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:42 pm
You definitely are not alone. But, Apple’s handling of your situation irks me. My personal experience with Apple customer support has been extremely positive, it’s too bad that they seem to be handling this particular situation poorly.
Good luck with your iPhone!
September 26th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
I just bought an iPhone from eBay, it’s fully unlocked and was working great but after about one hour of playing with it, it stoped responding. The phone locked itself so I can’t even unlock it. I reseted it, cleaned the screen… Is there any other way to get it fixed or something? I live in UK so it will be hard. Will I have to send it back to the seller? God, I don’t know what to do!
September 26th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
You can’t unlock it due to the an unresponsive/dead screen?
September 27th, 2007 at 5:24 am
I can’t slide that stupid button! I’m trying to catch it but I can’t. When I hold the power button and the red slider comes out, I can’t slide that as well… I even restored the software. I contacted the seller, I’ll have to send it back.
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:49 pm
I have been stricken by the dead-strip. Very unfortunate. I’m going to the Apple store tomorrow to see what they are going to do. I know what they should (and I want them to) do. We’ll see.
I’ve also been reading that the scren is rated for 3-6 months of usage. I got mine when I got back from Basic Training on August 18th. It’s now October 2nd. Not claiming to be a mathematician, here, but that does not add up. I’ll post again after my adventure at the Apple store.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Another dead stripper here. The bottom row just stopped working. I’m unlocked, but from the comments here, that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with it.
October 8th, 2007 at 9:22 am
I’ve got the dead strip after about 3 weeks of use.
Unlocked, in Europe, can’t get it replaced. The only solution is to replace the LCD, which is not an easy thing…
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Just got the dead strip problem yesterday. There is a small strip at the bottom of the phone that doesn’t register to input. It prevents the volume from being changed and some characters on the keyboard from being pressed. Glad I found this thread. I have a appt tomorrow at the apple store and I will request a new phone if possible. It sounds like that’s what they do in every case with this problem, so why should I have to wait 3 days?
Btw, I got this phone on day one. I am concerned that this is going to be a widespread issue that will become more common as time passes. It seems like it might be a design problem, like the problem the Xbox 360 is experiencing.
October 24th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Just got a brand new iphone today. They swapped it out right on the spot.
Too bad for them. I have a feeling a lot of people have been having the problem. I wish I could extend the warranty so at least the warranty runs the length of my service contract. I wouldn’t mind getting a new iphone every three months really. My old one was all scratched up and worn. This one is brand frickin new!
October 29th, 2007 at 7:49 am
I had this problem and I think I traced it back to using a Belkin Armband on a long exercise session. I ran for 2.5 hours, outdoors in humid, 90 degree weather around Houston and it seems that moisture accumultated inside the screen protector, exactly in the area of the bottom strip where the dock is.
It sounds like other people are having this problem and so I’m not convinced it was the Belkin armband. It happened immediately after getting back from the run, so maybe this was a coincidence.
I took it back to the Apple store where they immediately replaced it right then and there. Luckily it was not unlocked and I had RESTORED the phone deleting 3rd party apps.
The replacement phone works great.
November 5th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
After enjoying iphone foe a month suddenly i realised is have got one dead stip on my iphone but as its craced and unlocked cant do much . any body has a solution or any way of repairing it.. please help
November 10th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I experienced the dead strip after only having my i-phone for a day. Took it back and got a brand spanking new one straight away
It was brilliant. They will be getting a lot i-phones back in i reckon.
Anyway goodluck with your i-phones guys
November 16th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
We just discovered the dead strip on my wife’s iPhone. She is mortified! I had only bought it for her two weeks ago on a business trip to Chicago.
Unfortunately we live in Holland, so when I phoned Apple today, the local support hotline said they couldn’t help out - the iPhone is not on sale in our country yet, so they cannot service them either. I then phoned the American support line - they said I couldn’t get it serviced without giving them an American address. They then suggested taking it to the store where I brought it to have it diagnosed by a so-called Genius.
I obviously don’t have an AT&T service plan. Okay, obviously we have activated the phone by using third party apps. But I didn’t know that living in the States was a pre-requisite for me to get any hardware warranty too?
November 17th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Im in england, we’re having the same problems!!! My boyfriend bought an iphone and in one week the screen was dead…. i dont just mean parts of it, the whole screen. We went back to the phone shop we bought it from.. and they looked at us like we had fallen out of the sky, no-one seemed to know anything about this fault! They phoned apple support who didnt know what to do so suggested a replacement, he has bought the new phone home with the old sim card placed in it from the defective phone and it now wont work, even though the sales guy had spoken to customer care at O2 and we were told that it was fine to use, just go back through the set up of syncing the iphone in itunes. We are off to the shop again in the morning as he has had a enough already and is going to ask for a regular mobile phone as a replacement… seems like when the iphone dies you lose the number you had on it… as it looks like its 1 sim 1 number, new phone equals new number… not so good when you use the phone for your business! Ive got one aswell, im now waiting for when mine goes wrong… seems like apple knew of this problem and are still selling these things, after doing some googling, ive found alot of people with the same problem. Surely if apple know of these potential faults they should recall phones and try to fix it rather than taking peoples money….. apple i think you might be in for some hard times ahead.
November 18th, 2007 at 4:37 am
Hi again. I just thought I’d add some additional comments for the benefit of other people who have unlocked iPhones with dead-strip problems. I still intend to chase Apple, and get them to replace the unit. (I am a Mac-Maven, I have converted dozens of people to using apple hard- and software. Apple cannot afford to loose clients like me!) In the mean-time…
Yesterday, I decided to see whether I could get my wife’s phone working again. Her dead-strip is at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, she had a pass-code with a zero in it, so this literally meant she could not do anything with the device. I rolled up my sleeves and worked out a way of circumventing the pass-code. Here’s how:
1. Copy com.apple.springboard.plist from /var/root/Library/Preferences from your iPhone to your computer (I used sftp, but iPhoneDrive or something similar will do the trick too).
[Note that not being able to log in implies not being able to configure wireless - if Wifi is not working on the phone, you will have to transfer files directly…]
2. Open and edit the plist file. On a mac, double-clicking the file will open ‘property list editor’. Expand root, and change the value of ‘PasswordProtected’ from 1 to 0. Under windows, open the file in your favorite text editor, find the tag PasswordProtected, and change the integer tag after it to 0 (0).
3. Copy the file back to your iPhone, and reboot, by holding the sleep + home buttons down for three seconds, and swiping the ’slide to power off’ slider at the top of the screen. Press the sleep button again to boot.
Now the phone will no longer challenge you for a pass-code, and you can use some of the functionality again. You can:
1. phone people in your contacts list: by double-clicking the home button and adding people to your Favorites list
2. read sms’s. You can also send sms’s, but with no spaces or numbers in the text
3. browse your calendar, add appointments (but with no spaces in titles)
4. browse youtube, stocks, maps, weather
5. Use (edit, add, remove, rename) alarms
6. Change settings
You cannot:
1. Dial a phone number that is not already in your contacts
2. Use safari directly
3. Type space or return in any application
To use some iPod functionality, go to settings -> General -> Home Button and set it to iPod. Now double-clicking home will get you to your iPod, and you can use cover flow or playlists (or whichever mode was there last time your phone worked.) Switching back to phone mode is ‘as simple as’ home -> settings -> General -> Home Button and set it to ‘phone favorites’ again.
One general remark/disclaimer: this is _not_ a recipe for hacking pass-code locked phones in general. IT WILL ONLY WORK FROM THE COMPUTER YOU SET UP YOUR IPHONE WITH - I.E. WITH YOUR OWN PHONE.
I will now procede to see whether I can set about changing the layouts of apps to circumvent the dead-strip at the bottom.
November 23rd, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Hi. I’ve had my iPhone for about 4 months now. I do not have that dead strip problem, but my phone periodically does not respond to touch. I may be using it and suddenly the touch screen doesn’t function. I turn it off and turn it back on and the touch feature works again. This event happens frequently, and its especially annoying when someone is calling me and I cannot “slide to answer.” Is this normal? I’m going to the apple store tomorrow to get it replaced. Will they?
December 10th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
I live in Canada and I just got an iphone as a gift. When i got it it was locked and i didn’t bother to unlock it. i thought I’d wait til it came to Canada legitimately. But i got sick of the wait and wanted to play it a little. I found that the screen is “dead” at the bottom portion. So as you probably figured, wehn it says slide to unlock, i cant slide it, which renders this device usless. does have an idea about what i should do? The warranty is still valid too.
December 10th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
I live in Canada and I just got an iphone as a gift. When i got it it was locked and i didn’t bother to unlock it. i thought I’d wait til it came to Canada legitimately. But i got sick of the wait and wanted to play it a little. I found that the screen is “dead” at the bottom portion. So as you probably figured, when it says slide to unlock, i cant slide it, which renders this device usless. does have an idea about what i should do? The warranty is still valid too.
December 17th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Abel, call the 1-800-MyApple. I had the same problem with the dead strip (I was screwed if i was ever in an emergency and needed to call 911) for an iPhone I’ve had since July
Call, go through to pointless resets they have you do, and they’ll finally realize that it will need “repaired” and they’ll send you a box with a replacement iPhone if you choose to purchase one ($29.00…..yeah, load of crap to have to pay for their problem) and you send in your iPhone. They’ll recieve it and most likely replace it (I recieved a brand new one, along with many other people who did) and you’ll recieve it in a timely manner.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Haven’t posted in awhile, but my problem was fixed instantaneously. Funny thing happened, though. The folks at Apple replaced my dead-stripped iPhone, then, literally, two weeks later, my replacement phone died out. The SIM slot stopped responding. Luckily, they replaced that one, too. I’m on iPhone number 3. This one seems to be doing alright. Best of luck to everyone out there.
December 20th, 2007 at 11:34 am
I just got an Iphone unlocked off ebay. The seller notified me of a deadstrip on the bottom, but the strange thing is that it only exist inside of the SMS app. All other times the bottom row is fine. Any ideas? I did a full restore, but that didn’t help so it seems to be a hardware issue, but the fact that it is only within SMS seems software.
December 20th, 2007 at 11:39 am
I could virginize the phone and take it to an apple store for a replacement, but I don’t want to get one of the new 1.1.2 phones with BL 4.6 (the whole reason I bought a used one off ebay was to avoid that problem.
December 27th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
January 1st, 2008 at 9:52 pm
My iPhone is a dead stripper after only 4 months of use. Time to mosey on back to the Apple store.
Unrelated, but I just don’t understand why Apple doesn’t make their products more cosmetically durable? Every one I see just looks trashed, even only after moderate use. Maybe parallels to their software quality? Who knows.
January 24th, 2008 at 5:20 am
February 17th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
ugh i just got an i phone and i have a dead strip and then the screen cracked so i called 1-800 MY APPLE and they said it 250 dollars to repair it. WHAT SHOULD I DO
February 19th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I had a dead strip at the bottom so I couldn’t use phone, mail, safari, or text. I walked into an Apple store and initially they said I was going to have to make a genius bar appointment, with the first available in a couple days. With a little persistence and explaining how my iPhone is my only phone, they said that since I couldn’t make calls, they would squeeze me in as a priority appointment. After reseting several times and inspecting every orifice of the phone with one of those things doctors use to look in your ears, they straight up gave me a brand new one then and there, free of charge, since he said that he couldn’t see any obvious signs of drops or anything else that would cause the phone to malfunction. Aside from having to wait for about 45 minutes to get squeezed in, it was a relatively painless experience-by far the best tech support experience I’ve ever had.
July 19th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I have had my 16gb iPhone for 3 months now, and just today I discovered a dead strip at the bottom of the touchscreen. So now I can’t make spaces when I’m typing a message..
what to do?
August 9th, 2008 at 9:33 am
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FULL SPECIFICATION FOR APPLE IPHONE 8GB
Display Type 16M colors
Size 480 x 320 pixels
Camera Resolution 2MP
Video Yes
Flashlight No
Connectivity GPRS Yes
HSDPA No
EDGE Yes
3G Yes
WiFi Yes
Bluetooth Yes
A2DP No
USB Yes
Ringtones Type yes
Memory
Card slot no
Internal user memory 8gb
Battery
Stand-by time Up to 250 hours
Talk time Up to 8 hours
Features Messaging SMS, Email
FM radio No
Games No
Speaker phone Yes
Operating System OS X v10.4.8
Touch-screen Yes
General Network GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
Announced 2007, January
Status Available
Size Dimensions 115 x 61 x 11.6 mm
Weight 135 g
Display Type Touchscreen, 16M colors
Size 320 x 480 pixels, 3.5 inches
Multi-touch input method
Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3
Customization Download
Vibration Yes
3.5 mm headset jack
Memory Phonebook Advanced, Photocall
Call records Yes
Card slot No
4/8 GB shared memory
Data GPRS Yes
HSCSD No
EDGE Yes
3G No
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
Bluetooth Yes, v2.0
Infrared port No
USB Yes, v2.0
Features OS Mac OS X v10.4.8
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser HTML (Safari)
Games Yes
Camera 2 MP, 1600×1200 pixels, video
Google Maps
Widgets support
iPod audio/video player
PIM including calendar, to-do list
Photo browser/editor
Voice memo
Integrated handsfree
Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion
Talk time Up to 5 h
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August 21st, 2008 at 3:28 am
I have the same problem, however I don’t have a receipt; bought it in the states and jailbreaked it in Europe. I Wonder if Apple still will help! If so, I’ll let you know soon.