The media and Apple fans are almost entirely focused on the iPhone X. But there are millions of people who have purchased the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus since September. Before the iPhone X went on sale, we made a strong point that the iPhone 8 Plus could be a better buy than the iPhone X. Some of the iPhone 8 Plus buyers have been experiencing issues with their handsets. They reported that the iPhone 8 Plus display suddenly becomes unresponsive for no apparent reason.
Unresponsive iPhone 8 Plus display seems to be a major issue
A user named klk145 has started a thread in Apple’s Support forum to complain about the iPhone 8 Plus display unresponsiveness. Apparently, klk145 is not the only one affected by the issue. Many other iPhone 8 Plus owners added that they too experienced the same issue where the home screen becomes unresponsive intermittently. The thread has now spread to six pages.
Klk145 wrote in Apple’s Support forum that they were still able to access the Control Center, Notifications, use the volume buttons, and put the screen to sleep with the power button. The user restored the iCloud data, and the phone worked fine for a few hours. But then the iPhone 8 Plus display became unresponsive. Tapping on app icons stopped working. Force Touch, swipes, presses didn’t work either.
Interestingly, the tapping functions for the Control Center were working fine for klk145. But they were unable to launch apps from the home screen or swipe to other home screens. Klk145 has since switched to the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, which is “a fantastic device.” The user said it was “not worth the time wasted dealing with Apple support.”
Restoring the device temporarily fixes the problem
Another customer going by the name Raymond told iPhone in Canada that his 256GB iPhone 8 Plus suffers from the same problem. Neither Apple Store nor the Support staff have offered any help. Many users in the Support forum said restoring or resetting the device temporarily fixes the issue. But the problem re-occurs soon afterwards. It is unclear whether it’s a hardware or software issue.
Apple is yet to acknowledge the problem. Apple’s Support team has no clear answer except for offering a replacement device. A replacement rather than a software fix would suggest that it’s a hardware problem. Apple makes tens of millions of smartphones every year, and some of them may have one or another issue. So far, there have been no complaints from the iPhone 8 owners. So, the problem could be specific to the larger 8 Plus.
Apple has fixed the iPhone X display issue
Earlier this month, many iPhone X owners had also complained about unresponsive screens. But the iPhone X would become unresponsive only in cold weather. Apple was quick to acknowledge the issue, saying that it was already working on a fix. The company fixed the problem last week via the iOS 11.1.2 software update. Users had said that the anniversary iPhone’s screen would freeze up at near zero degree Celsius temperatures.
The iOS 11.1.2 also addressed an issue that would cause distortion in Live Photos and videos taken on the iPhone X. Apple’s earlier software update, the iOS 11.1.1 had resolved an auto-correct bug that would turn “I” into “A[?]”. The company is currently beta testing the iOS 11.2, which would be rolled out to the public by the end of this year. The iOS 11.2 would bring new features such as the fast wireless charging, AirPlay 2 support, Apple Pay Cash, and more.
The iPhone 8 Plus isn’t as beautiful as the iPhone X. It lacks the bezel-less OLED display, Face ID, and animoji. But the iPhone 8 Plus is still one of the best phone you can buy, especially considering it is much cheaper than the iPhone X. It would be interesting to see if and when Apple acknowledges the iPhone 8 Plus display issue.
