Apple sorry for software glitch, defends new iPhones against #bendgate

Check it out folks, Apple made a rare apology after its software update to its iOS operating system stopped many iPhone users from using their devices. 

Apple withdrew the update, iOS 8.0.1, after some users of its new phones complained of call service disruptions. 

“We apologise for the great inconvenience experienced by users,”  said Apple spokeswoman, Trudy Muller.

This comes after a slew of reports about their customers complaining about bending iPhones, and hours after withdrawing the glitch-ridden software update as the company struggles to restore momentum to the rollout of its latest phones.

The update, which was released and then pulled within hours on Wednesday, had been developed to add in fitness monitoring programs which were omitted from the iOS 8 platform released last week.

Apple has since released a new update, iOS 8.0.2.

#Bendgate

The new phones also faced much criticism over their bendability, dubbed “bendgate”.

“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,” said Muller. 

But the effect of the reports cannot be scoffed at, not when Apple's shares closed nearly 4 per cent down, wiping out nearly US$23 billion (S$29 billion) in market value.

Apple's closing price on Wall Street yesterday. Source: Yahoo

The only way an iPhone may have bent is if someone put it in their back pocket and sat on the phone for a very long time, said Laban Roomes, chief executive of Goldgenie, which customizes and gold plates iPhones.

Related report: Gasp! Is the iPhone 6 plus bending in people's pockets?

Source: Reuters, AFP