iPhone 6 Plus: Apple to replace phone cameras after they take 'blurry' pictures

The problems are limited to a ‘small percentage’ of phones, according to Apple

Andrew Griffin
Monday 24 August 2015 12:41 EDT
Comments
The camera on the iPhone 6 Plus. Never to be seen again
The camera on the iPhone 6 Plus. Never to be seen again (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Apple is replacing the cameras in some iPhone 6 Pluses, after a problem with their cameras means that they will only take blurry photos.

The company will swap the back cameras of those that are affected, and has provided an easy way for their owners to check whether their cameras are hit by the problem — though they’ll probably know already.

The affected iPhones were “primarily” sold between September 2014, when they were first released, and January 2015.

Apple said that the problem affected only “a small percentage” of iPhone 6 Plus devices, and applies only to the back camera and not the front, or selfie, one. Those users that own an affected device will likely know, since the pictures are blurry enough as to be obvious.

Apple makes clear that if the iPhone’s screen has been cracked or it has been otherwise damaged, it will need to be fixed before the camera can be replaced — potentially incurring a cost. It appears that Apple will replace the camera parts themselves, rather than swapping the whole phone.

To check whether phones are eligible for the replacement, owners should get their serial number either from the Settings app, by plugging the phone into iTunes, or by looking on the original packaging. That number can then be entered into Apple’s special page for the recall, to check whether the phone is eligible to be fixed.

If it is, then owners can take their phone in to an Apple retail store, an authorised service provider, or get in touch with Apple’s technical support team.

The company advised users to back up their data to iTunes or iCloud before they take them in, in case it is lost during the repair.

Apple is expected to launch the next iPhone — likely called the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus at an event on the second week of September.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in