Skip to main content

Debunk: Reports of possible 128GB iPhone 6 Plus recall are false, crashing bug is very rare

iphone-6-plus-landscape-mode

Reports claiming Apple could face a possible iPhone 6 Plus recall regarding a problem with NAND flash causing crashes for a small number of users are not true, according to a source close to the situation.

Users in Apple’s support forums have recently highlighted a rare issue that causes iPhones to crash, specifically for users with a large amount of apps installed. A majority of users noticed the problem on a 128GB iPhone Plus (the device those with large app libraries would naturally gravitate towards), although the problem isn’t specific to the iPhone 6 Plus or iOS 8. In fact, a similar problem has affected a very small amount of users since as far back as iOS 6. Today several news outlets picked up a story from BusinessKorea claiming the issue could be a result of malfunctioning NAND flash. The report cited sources that claimed Apple could have a potential recall on its hands, but we’ve confirmed with our sources that reports of a recall are completely false.

So the problem with crashing is only affecting a small number of users (around 159 posts on Apple support forums with many of those from the same people). Those users also all seem to have massive app catalogs installed, sometimes in excess of 500 or 1000 apps. Sources say Apple is aware of the rare bug, but reports that the problem is related to a NAND flash issue are conjecture and inaccurate.

Another day, another debunk.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

  1. theagentmike - 9 years ago

    “In fact, a similar problem has affected a very small amount of users since as far back as iOS 6.”

    In what world would iOS 6 function properly on an iPhone 6 Plus to have an issue with 128GB of storage?

    • Jordan Kahn - 9 years ago

      It’s a similar problem with large app libraries (not iPhone 6 Plus) that has been around for a while but only seems to affect a small number of users. What are you talking about?

    • theagentmike - 9 years ago

      Oops read it wrong please excuse me while I think about what I’ve done wrong here.

    • I can confirm this. In my local forum (Taiwan) I’ve seen similar post while the user claimed problem on an iPad 4 128G. Can’t find that post though.

    • Paul Hughes - 9 years ago

      I’m not sure I would be so quick as to dismiss the problem as conjecture.

      I have a 128 GB iPhone 6 Plus with 72 GB free and only two screens (and a few folders) of apps. I’m hardly stress-testing the phone — I would have been fine with a 64 GB model but I wanted a lot of overhead in case I needed the space in the future to store digital media on a long overseas trip.

      Anyway…on 6 November my phone started kernel panicking, rebooting, and exhibiting all the symptoms (like solid red and blue screens on reboot) described on the Apple Discussion Forums. I would guess it’s a hardware/memory problem.

      How widespread the problem is, I don’t know. But, as someone who paid USD 949.99 for my phone before tax and shipping I need it fixed.

      I’ve not mistreated my phone in any way. From my perusal of the Internet, I thin there is a problem with 128 GB iPhone 6s. The only issue is how widespread.

  2. Does your source say whether a fix is coming? Might be rare, but sure is frustrating!
    The problem *seems* to happen with lots of apps installed, and with the iDevice restored from backup rather than fresh-installed. Apple support suggested I do a fresh install (and then have to reinstall all apps, put them back in folders, reconfigure them which would be tedious and take me hours).

    There are probably a couple of different issues being reported – my flavor is a quick reboot (respring) when using search, switching apps, etc. Others have constant reboot cycles, “rainbow reboots” etc and I’m not sure what’s happening with them or if the fresh install fix would solve their problems.

  3. Drew (@gettysburg11s) - 9 years ago

    And of course, 9 to 5 debunked the erroneous report. Other bloggers reported it like it was the best thing ever (I’m looking at you, BGR).

  4. chrisl84 - 9 years ago

    Over 1000 installed apps, good lord I thought I was excessive with 135

    • jrox16 - 9 years ago

      Basically people who can’t be bothered to ever delete anything… digital hoarders. No human can actively use that many apps, ever, and still have time to eat, sleep, and perhaps work. It’s likely half of the apps or more never get touched and have been in their backups since 2009. It’s another non issue for click-bait.

  5. PMZanetti - 9 years ago

    This registers so small it shouldn’t even be on Apple’s radar to fix. There are a wealth of issues with other products that people paid a lot more money for that affect every user and need fixing.

    • silas681- - 9 years ago

      Mid 2011 MacBook Pros melting their own GpU soldering as an example!!!!

      I bought three MBPs for work, all failed in the same way. Come on you class action law suit!!!!!

  6. Ray Wolf - 9 years ago

    I haven’t seen any issues with mine, I’m very grateful that I’ve not experienced all the issues a “select few” have.

    • 89p13 - 9 years ago

      Just got my wife’s 6Plus 128 – which is a Christmas Gift – when I read that post on MacRumors. I’ve had mine for 2 weeks and have had ZERO Issues.

      NANDGATE :;)

      • 89p13 - 9 years ago

        Well, Herb, You wouldn’t know, since your beloved Samesung gives you nothing but, what, 48 new phones every year – and then abandons them for the ” . . . next new and shiny thing?” Update the software on a Samesung – WHY? Just buy this month’s new model.

        Samesung have corporate ADD – maybe that’s why their profits are tanking faster than North Korea’s world standing?

  7. Not so rare. Mine is crashing.

    • And I do not have a lot of apps. Less than 100.

      • jrox16 - 9 years ago

        You’re a dirty liar and don’t even have an iPhone 6. We’ve all seen your posts, you’re nothing more than another Scamsung/Google shill, best friends with herb. Don’t you have something better to do?

    • dksmidtx - 9 years ago

      Wasn’t yours also bending the other day?

      • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

        Yeah, his was bending with the slightest force on either corner… I’d take what he says with a grain of salt.

      • jrox16 - 9 years ago

        He’s a scumbag liar, pure and simple. I guess if I had no life I’d go over to AndroidCentral and post all sorts of BS, but I’m better than that.

  8. 89p13 - 9 years ago

    I’ll bet if Herb had one – it would be in permanent reboot and would be causing Solar Flares and pulling satellites out of orbit and impregnating 6 year old virgins!

    :)

  9. David Fell - 9 years ago

    Don’t be so quick to debunk. My iPhone 6 Plus has been spontaneously restarting nearly every day. Its reassuring to know I’m not alone!!!

  10. John Clair (@Mr_JPC) - 9 years ago

    It is not just the 6 plus, as my 128GB 6 has the same issue. 246 apps

  11. michaeljensovsky - 9 years ago

    i’ve experienced a different problem: the phone’s (ip6 128GB) display didn’t respond at all and visible stripes appeared as well. I’ve tried everything and nothing works. It’s a brand new phone straight out of the box…

    • dreamtiger - 9 years ago

      So it’s defective. Take it back & Apple will give you a new one.

  12. sardonick - 9 years ago

    Just works.

  13. Joe Cheng - 9 years ago

    Curious to see if if the conditions for the crash are consistently re-creatable. Is it total number of apps installed or total memory being taken up by said apps?

    While it won’t surprise me if its an issue, it really is an outlier of an issue for someone to have the needs to install that many apps. Less is oftentimes more.

    • g4711r - 9 years ago

      In my case it was unrelated to number of apps because I have less than 100 installed and the iPhone 6 plus just drove me nuts. The exact same set of apps works just fine on a regular iPhone – With not a single crash. I am talking about zero crashes, not just fewer…

  14. g4711r - 9 years ago

    Well, for what it’s worth: I had this issue with an iPhone 6 plus 128Gb and less than 100 Apps (with memory filled to 60% with content). It did not matter whether it was installed with a backup or from scratch. The iPhone would crash about 20 times a day and restart. It would even do this while in locked mode, which you’ll notice because Touch ID wouldn’t work (iPhone requires pin first time it is unlocked after restart). Sometimes it would enter a blue screen and sometimes it would freeze for 10 seconds and then restart into a black screen with Apple logo.
    I finally lost it and returned it to Apple.
    I have to say that my wife’s iPhone 6 16gb is fine. Not a single crash.
    Two iPhone 6 64Gb are fine with the exact same set of apps (and less content). I say “two” because I already had to exchange my first unit due to a defective screen (half inch area on top with darker backlight). The replacement unit took 2 weeks to deliver despite Applecare+ and still has a dodgy backlight, but neither has crashed a single time.

    Learning: some iPhone 6 plus do have a crash issue and it is unrelated to the amount of apps. It may be related to how much memory you use (music, video, books). Apple does not have a clue, they’ll service business as usual. The regular iPhone 6 does not have this problem. Obviously, the issue is not widespread or otherwise people would be complaining in 1000s (assuming that folks who buy 128 actually do use a big chunk of it)

  15. I have the 128GB 6P and mine does this weird thing when I try to remove an app. I just sits there for up to twenty seconds and does nothing, then finally pops-up and asks me if I want to delete the app. It’s a first world problem, but it’s still frustrating.

  16. Ian Meyer (@IBBM94) - 9 years ago

    If anything, this doesn’t seem like a consistent problem with the new iPhone. However, I do believe if this problem continues with the new iPhone models, perhaps Apple should offer a service where the phones can be fixed for no cost.

    After all, just because people install more apps (even though 500 is a lot of apps) does’t mean the phone should crash. That’s what it’s designed for anyway…

  17. Worthy Image - 9 years ago

    Well I was hoping that it was a software issue that could be fixed with an update. My 128GB iPhone 6 Plus crashes way too much.

  18. windlasher - 9 years ago

    I have a question. WHO THE HELL NEEDS 500 TO 1000 apps? Thats just stupid.

  19. I’ve got the 6 Plus 128gb with 439 apps. It sometimes crashes on a daily basis. I also have a 128gb iPad Air with over 300 apps. That has crashed on a regular basis since getting it last November. I just figured it was something to do with 64bit. Apple needs to sort this out. It’s ridiculous that its most expensive devices fail.

  20. Jebacz Koz (@JebaczKoz) - 9 years ago

    BUHAHAHAHA
    TLC in “premium” Phone.
    BUHAHAHAHA….

  21. Roger J. Caldwell - 9 years ago

    I continue to wonder why anyone would actually have a use for 500 or 1000 apps. Ever hear of housekeeping? Gees!

  22. I’ve had this issue numerous times. I was tired of it in iOS 7 and it’s unacceptable to see iOS 8.

  23. James Openshaw - 9 years ago

    Yes, yes…very rare.

    So rare that all 3 phones I’ve owned since getting my first have had the exact same problem. And this is with perhaps a dozen games installed. This entire page just reeks of apple trying to save face and preserve their stock values. I don’t know why I’m even bothering to post this, it’s not like Apple is going to sit down and read it, but I just had to say something.

    I just have to laugh at counter-posts like this that I see popping up more and more around the internet. Good to know that apple has deep pocket books but still isn’t willing to actually nut-up and admit they screwed up their phone cause they went with cheaper memory that turned out to have flaws…cause yeah, heaven forbid apple makes a mistake and actually fixes it. All I have to say is they better offer free replacements when they actually DO fix the problem.

  24. James Openshaw - 9 years ago

    Just got back from the apple store…their solution was to wipe the phone and tell me to reinstall everything again. Lovely solution for what they’re now claiming is an OS bug, but whatever I guess. Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPhone 6 Plus but it’s quite annoying to have springboard crash and reload every other time I pick it up…

  25. I have this issue. A replacement of the iPhone 6 Plus 128 GB did not help – The iPhone keeps crashing. In one case several times during an important conference call. I installed around 750 apps. After 3 weeks ownership the log file is very long with springboard crashes.

  26. Wayne Fields - 9 years ago

    Question is What is Apple doing about it? My problem is so bad I can reproduce the issue and have made a video on YouTube. https://youtu.be/CYl63aEyIB8
    I have had iPhones since the very first model 2G and I have never run across this issue even though I’ve had 400-1000 app libraries since my 3Gs

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.