There’s been a bit of a scuttlebutt lately about issues with iPhone’s touch screen. Reports of unresponsive areas or “dead spots” on iPhone’s revolutionary screen are all over sites like Techmeme today. Described as a half inch strip on the top or bottom of the vertical display the unresponsive areas prevent afflicted iPhone’s from performing necessary tasks like unlocking the phone and answering calls.
According to Apple 2.0 there have been at least 22 separate incidents reported on various Apple forums. Many relevant threads on Apple’s official forum have subsequently been removed. The problem doesn’t seem to be helped by resetting or reformatting the device and installing Update 1.0.1 has no effect.
Thankfully Apple seems to be quietly handling the problem; even going so far as to contact some forum posters before they could register a complaint. Others have reported that they have required direct replacements from Apple. At Apple stores employees have routinely recommended that the defective units be sent away for a 3 day repair period.During this time a temporary phone may be rented for $29, but some iPhone owners have been able to sweet talk Apple’s Geniuses into letting them have a loaner phone for free.
The cause of the touchscreen failure is being debated. MarketWatch (UK) has reported on a note by Nomura International analyst Richard Windsor saying, in part:
Windsor explained that the screen of the iPhone uses a chemical deposition to provide touch sensitivity based on heat. The international property rights for this technology, he said, were purchased from a bankrupt Finnish company that was trying to make a similar device. But that company encountered the problem that with extensive use, the film would begin to degrade and the screen would lose its sensitivity.
The article goes on to say that Apple should have been aware of the issue and repaired it before the iPhone’s release. However, many comments have been made in regard to the fact that iPhone’s touchscreen does not rely on heat. The iPhone’s screen uses charge capacitance (see How Stuff Works’ iPhone article) to register touch.
As of now it is unknown how many iPhones are or could be affected by these dead spots. Apple seems to be handling it well, albeit quietly. Only time will tell if this will become a serious problem for Apple, Apple’s stock, and iPhone users.