iPhone 6 owners are noticing a problem with their aging phones. The touchscreens are slowly getting less and less responsive until, suddenly, a grey bar starts flickering at the top and the touchscreen stops working altogether. It’s called ‘Touch Disease,” and it might be the ultimate fate of almost every iPhone 6.
To understand why, we need to rewind about two years and recall when people were whining that the iPhone 6 wasn’t sturdy enough. Apple ultimately took action, but what they didn’t realize at the time was that this meant the innards of the phone would bend as well. Time and repeated exposure to the force that flexes the phone loosens the solder on the chips that control the iPhone 6’s touch responsiveness. If the chips disconnect or otherwise go back, that’s pretty much it for your phone.
If you’re willing to violate your warranty, the team at iFixit, who originally discovered the issue, have a pretty easy solution. Anybody decent with micro-soldering will be able to reconnect the chips, provided they’re still good, and get your phone back up and running. Unfortunately, though, Apple Stores and Apple’s certified repair shops aren’t allowed to micro-solder, so you’ll have to buy a whole new logic board for the phone instead.
The conspiracy-minded might note this problem is first appearing conveniently right when two years are up and a new iPhone is about to make its debut. We’ll take the high road and leave it there.