14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has recently started a recall program after it discovered that “a small number” of iPhone 6s units might come with a faulty battery, and now it says that it’s possible that another “small number” of iPhone 6s models might have the same faulty battery.
In other words, there might be many more iPhones out there that were shipped with a bad battery, and although Apple seems to be doing damage control right now and limit its recall to just “a small number” of devices, it appears that the issue might be more widespread than initially believed.
iOS update coming
In an updated statement posted on its Chinese website, Apple says that it believes that another batch of iPhone 6s units could be impacted by the unexpected shutdown problem. Originally, the firm said that only devices manufactured between September and October 2015 were affected.
“Outside the affected batch, a small number of customers reported an unexpected shutdown. Some of these shutdowns may be normal, because the iPhone will shut down to protect its electronic components,” the firm says.
In order to determine whether more units are affected or not, Apple is now planning to release an iOS update that would help the company isolate the issue. The patch should go live next week, Apple says, but it’s not yet clear if only the iPhone 6s would get it or all models. We’ve also seen reports that other iPhones could suffer from similar unexpected shutdowns, but Apple might be targeting just the 6s.
“To gather more information, we will add an additional diagnostic feature to the iOS software update that is released next week. This feature collects a variety of information in the coming weeks that may help us improve algorithms for managing battery performance and shutdown operations. If such improvements can be achieved, we will deliver them through further software updates,” the company says.
According to Apple itself, the batteries in these iPhones were exposed to the air for too long during the manufacturing process, so they degrade faster over time and lead to unexpected shutdowns even though devices still show around 50 percent of battery left.