Chinese angry over sudden shutdown of iPhone 6s handsets
05 Dec 2016
The government-run China Consumers Association (CCA) has asked Apple to take action in the matter of sudden shutdown of devices and also admit to lapses in delivering proper service to affected parties.
Apple on Friday conducted an investigation in response to several complaints of random shutdown of iPhone 6s series, which revealed that there was a lapse in the assembling process, which caused devices to switch off without any warning even when surplus battery life was available.
After accepting its fault, Apple offered to replace the batteries of iPhone 6s manufactured in September and October of 2015.
"Apple should do the job of stocking spare parts, replace the battery to improve efficiency, protect consumer Normal communication needs. China Consumer Association will be concerned with the community and to promote the unusual shutdown of Apple's mobile phone problem solving, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of consumers," CCA letter (in Chinese translated to English) stated.
The Cupertino, California-based tech giant addressed the iPhone 6s battery issue on its Chinese website last week. The statement published on Apple's website explains, ''iPhone 6s devices made in September and October 2015 contained a battery component that was exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have been before being assembled into battery packs," which caused these batteries degrade faster than a normal battery and led unexpected shutdowns to occur.
Apple is offering its customers who face the problem, free of charge replacement of battery. iPhone 6s owners can easily find out if their device is eligible by typing in their device's serial number on the iPhone 6s Program for Unexpected Shutdown Issues web page.
Apple further revealed that the iPhone was actually designed to automatically shut down under certain conditions, such as extremely cold temperatures. ''To an iPhone user, some of those shutdowns might seem unexpected, but they are designed to protect the device's electronics from low voltage,'' Apple said.
