Some iPhone 6S owners say their phones randomly power down
No specific action seems to trigger the problem, but a few people say the home button feels warm.
A new technical glitch seems to be affecting some iPhone owners.
Some owners who've upgraded to iOS 9, Apple's latest mobile OS, are reporting that their iPhones randomly and unexpectedly power off. So far, people have chimed in on a Reddit iPhone forum, an Apple support forum and a forum hosted by blog site MacRumors, all complaining of the same problem.
Users report that their iPhones power down even if the battery is charged and the device is unattended. Some say the phone's home button felt warm or even hot at the time it shut down. Most of the commenters are using the iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus, both of which launched September 25, though one said it happened on an iPhone 5S. Some say they've since upgraded to iOS 9.0.2 and are waiting to see if the problem reoccurs.
Apple was not available for comment.
No matter how many times a new product is tested before its release, random problems are going to pop up once millions of users get their hands on it. So far, Apple has released two bug-fixing updates to iOS 9 , which was released September 16. iOS 9.0.1 fixed a glitch that froze the iPhone at the Slide to Upgrade screen when attempting to install iOS 9, and iOS 9.0.2 resolved a lock screen security issue. But there are still likely to be bugs lurking around that need to be squashed.
It's important that Apple avoids the trouble it bumped into last year with iOS 8, in which the initial bug fixes introduced new bugs, earning version 8 a reputation as unstable, and possibly keeping many people from upgrading.
Here's one post from the MacRumors forum that details the new problem:
Rose Gold iPhone 6s running IOS 9.0.1.
The screen was off, and the phone rang. The screen remained dark, but the ringing kept going, but couldn't be answered. The home button was EXTREMELY hot, and the only way to get the screen back on was to hard boot it (home and power buttons)
And here's another:
Happened to me at least twice so far, with no interaction. Just pulled phone out of pocket and it's dead.
iPhone 6s 128GB SG iOS 9.0.1
Haven't had it with 9.0.2, yet.
Many of the users who have posted to the forums say performing a hard reset (holding down the Home button and then pressing Sleep/Wake button until the phone turns on) powers up the phone again.
From the postings, there's no clear indication yet whether the issue is related to the hardware, the software or a combination of both. Some speculate the issue may be related to the A9 processor inside the iPhone 6S, which had two manufacturers -- TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) and Samsung.
(Via MacRumors)