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Newer Apple iPhone models have much higher failure rates, according to report

Thomas Wellburn
May 11, 2016

A report by Blancco Technology Group has revealed that newer Apple iPhone devices such as the 6s and 6s Plus were among the highest failing in the company’s range.

Blancco Technology Group is an international data security company that specializes in data removal, operating in high ranking industries such as banking, finance, government and defense. The report compiled by the company focuses on failure rates within Android and iOS devices and the causes for such issues. Perhaps the most interesting thing to take away from the report (aside from the fact that Android is still very unreliable), is that newer iPhone devices make up four of the top five spots for highest failure rates on iOS.

Mayya Hryhoryeva, an Account Executive at Say Communications for Blancco Technology Group, spoke to What Mobile and commented on the findings, saying the cause was likely related to the last big OS update that Apple pushed out to consumers in March. While there were some beneficial features included in the update, many iOS users – especially those with the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus models – were having trouble opening links in Safari, Messages, Mail, Notes and other apps. Instead of taking them to the designated URL, the apps were crashing, freezing or just hanging there.

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It’s true that iOS 9.3 suffered it’s fair share of problems, with Apple going through seven BETA iterations before changing its status to RTM. Just typing in the release number on Google brings up a plethora of stories and personal accounts regarding random crashes, connectivity issues and more. Even Apple themselves had to release a statement admitting the issue, with the company promising a ”fix in a software update soon”. The newer 9.3.1 patch didn’t solve things fully, with battery drain issues and erratic behavior still remaining. Hryhoryeva continued to say that it will be interesting to see how the new 9.3.1 patch affects failure results for the next quarter, ”for better or worse”.

The Blancco report concluded that the worst offending Apple device was the iPhone 6, taking 25% of the overall device failure rates. The iPhone 5s was the only non-6 series device to be included in the top five, coming second with a failure rate of 17%. Obviously, as smartphones get more complicated and more phones are shipped into the wild, the likelihood of failure rates will go up with the demand. That said, with the recent decline in iPhone sales last quarter, they don’t really have much of an excuse. The most recent update is clearly still a lingering issue and one that needs addressing promptly.

For more news, visit What Mobile’s dedicated news page.

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