Apple acknowledges serious manufacturing defect in some iPhone 8 devices

For the past few months, Apple has been busy creating huge hype around its soon-to-be-announced new iPhone models, and some official images have even appeared in the press. It is clear that the firm has high expectations for these devices, particularly because prices will reportedly be relatively competitive.

Right now, however, the company has to deal with yet another PR disaster: it has become known that some iPhone 8 models were sold with a serious manufacturing defect that causes these devices to malfunction.

Defective logic boards cause what the company calls “a very small percentage” of iPhone 8 models to restart without any apparent reason, or to sometimes fail to turn on at all. At other times, their screens simply freeze.

According to Apple, it is prepared to fix the faulty logic boards without charge.

The news comes at a very inopportune time for the firm, just when it is preparing to launch the iPhone 8’s successor later in September. Apple usually showcases its latest iPhone models in September – and this year, it is expected to announce three new iPhones before the end of next week at a media conference at the Steve Jobs Theatre in Cupertino.

The iPhones affected by the defective logic boards were sold in the US, New Zealand, Macau, Japan, India, Hong Kong, China and Australia between September last year and March this year.

To qualify for the free logic board repair offer, the device has to be in original condition – i.e. no clear physical damage, including a cracked screen. Apple said that its repair programme covered phones for three years after the first unit appeared in retail shops.

To check whether your iPhone is one of the devices with a faulty logic board that qualifies for zero-cost repairs, simply enter its serial number on this page.