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Apple iPhone 6S Battery Bug Hints A Major Hurdle For Smartphone Makers

By Nicholas Kitonyi
Published on: 04:56 PST, Jan 19, 2016

On Monday, Apple confirmed that there is a bug on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus battery meters. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users were experiencing unexpected phone shutdowns as the battery meters froze at various levels, never to show further discharge levels until the batteries finally ran out.

Apple acknowledged its awareness of the glitch yesterday and provided the likely reasons behind the freeze along with a possible solution.

Apparently, the problem appears to be related to your time zone and settings.

“If you change the time on your iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus manually or change time zones when traveling, you might notice that the battery percentage doesn’t update,” the company wrote on its website.

However, in order to fix the freeze, Apple asked affected customers to try restarting their phones and following these steps.

“Go to Settings > General > Date & Time and make sure that Set Automatically is turned on,” Apple added.

If the problem persists, customers are encouraged to contact Apple support via their website.

Apple is seen by many, including some its rivals, as the industry benchmark when it comes to making top-class products. The company has been the leader in smartphone business in North America for the last several years. However, despite its prowess in delivering quality products and upgrading the iPhone product lineup every year, the company, along with its rivals, have never really been able to improve battery life significantly.

Perhaps this bug can serve a better purpose of reminding Apple and rivals that there is still another element of the smartphone that lags behind all other features in terms of updates.

Companies have been focusing on battery size a lot more than they have been on performance. When customers began complaining of premature shutdowns of their iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus smartphones, the media was filled with stories claiming that Apple’s devices were lying about battery life.

Note that, in this case, the story was about battery life, but the facts revealed later that it was a glitch that caused the battery meters in the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus to freeze. The company later revealed that it was pursuing a permanent solution to the problem, and now, many expect it to be fixed with iOS 9.3.

Apple launched iOS 9.3 last week, but it is only currently available to developers. The glitch in the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus has been attributed to a flaw in the iOS 9.2 version currently running on the devices. The new iOS 9.3 comes with new impressive features, which include Night Shift, a feature that is supposed to help people sleep better, and Touch ID for accessing Notes. Night Shift will automatically adjust the lighting in your iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus after sunset.

The company has also released the iOS 9.3 Beta for public testing along with 9.2.1 as it gears up to the eventual launch of the software for use in the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus alongside other devices. Apple is also expected to launch new devices later this year, including an update to its iPhone, iPad, and Mac product lines as it seeks to maintain its position as one of the leading smart device makers in the world.

The recent bug on the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus battery meters is not the only low-key moments the company has faced since launching the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. A couple of years ago, “bend gate” news dominated headlines as the company’s iPhone 6 Plus showed structure weaknesses when subjected to certain levels of pressure.

However, the company was able to overcome that, and there is no doubt it will overcome the latest lowdown. So, for those whose iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus smartphones experienced freezing battery meters, it appears that a permanent solution is coming.

[Image by Stephen Lam/Getty Images]

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