Apple sorry for software glitch, defends new iPhones
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Apple made a rare apology Thursday for a software bug that has seen iPhone users lose service, while seeking to quell a storm over reports that its new handsets are susceptible to bending.
The slew of negative headlines saw a steep drop in Apple stock, as the US tech giant acknowledged the software glitch, offering a temporary fix immediately and a full update "in the next few days."
But Apple sought to minimize reports on bending of its newly released oversize iPhone -- one analyst described the damaging claims as "a black eye" for Apple --- saying it had only received nine complaints about the matter.
"Our iPhones are designed, engineered and manufactured to be both beautiful and sturdy," a spokeswoman said in an email to AFP.
"They also feature stainless steel and titanium inserts to reinforce high-stress locations and use the strongest glass in the smartphone industry."
The statement said that "with normal use a bend in iPhone is extremely rare and through our first six days of sale, a total of nine customers have contacted Apple with a bent iPhone 6 Plus."
Apple offered a "workaround" to the software glitch after numerous users complained on social media and online forums that the iOS 8.0.1 update left their phones largely inoperable.
The update, which was released and then pulled within hours Wednesday, had been developed to add in fitness monitoring programs which were omitted from the iOS 8 platform released last week.
"We have a workaround for you if you have an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus and you lost cellular service and Touch ID functionality today after updating to iOS 8.0.1," Apple said.
The California company released fully updated iOS 8.0.2 software late Thursday to fix the problem, but it was not immediately clear if that had done the trick.
