New iPhone 6 launches in Ireland as Apple apologises for software bug

The new devices come with several new features - among them is a larger, sharper screen and a 20% improvement in battery life.

It has been a difficult launch for the tech giant however, which has just released a new update that the company says will repair the problems caused by software it released earlier, repeating an apology to owners of its newest iPhones affected by the bug.

Thecompany had scrambled to fix the software glitch that left some of its new iPhones unable to make calls, but some analysts say Apple’s response to the high-profile gaffe may be more important than the fault itself.

Some said Apple was doing the right thing by quickly acknowledging and apologising for the problem – which it was slower to do with earlier iPhone glitches.

“There’s a certain perception that Apple has to get things right, and when they don’t, the whole company gets questioned,” said Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel.

“But they came out and said: ’We apologise; we’re working 24/7 to fix it’. I think that’s what matters.”

Apple’s stock fell nearly 4% yesterday, leading a broader decline in technology shares, a day after the company was forced to withdraw an update to its new iOS 8 mobile software because of glitches that primarily affected customers who had purchased its new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models.

The 6 Plus phone has also been the subject of social media reports that its

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Apple yesterday defended its manufacturing standards and said bending “is extremely rare” with normal use of an iPhone.

The company said just nine customers had contacted Apple to report a bent iPhone 6 Plus since they went on sale.

Hours later Apple released a new update, dubbed iOS 8.0.2, which it said would fix the problems caused by the iOS 8.0.1 update that it released on Wednesday.

“We apologise for inconveniencing the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who were impacted by the bug in iOS 8.0.1,” the company said.

The company earlier apologised “for the great inconvenience experienced by users” and vowed to work “around the clock” to fix the problem.

Apple has said it sold a record 10 million of the new iPhone models last weekend, in what the company has called one of the biggest product launches in its history.

It also reported this week that nearly half of all iPhone and iPad users had upgraded to the new software known as iOS 8.

That new software contains a number of new features and is more complex than earlier versions of iOS, analysts said. Apple released the 8.0.1 update on Wednesday to fix some flaws that were detected after iOS 8 was released – only to find the 8.0.1 update created problems of its own.

The new problems included interference with calling and with a feature that lets people unlock their phones with their fingerprint.

That is not uncommon, according to veteran tech analyst Ross Rubin of Reticle Research.

“All major companies have released fixes that they’ve had to pull because of unforeseen side-effects,” he added.

On the bending issue, Mr Rubin said the iPhone 6 Plus was “a large, thin device. That’s not to say customers should treat it gingerly, but it’s still an electronic product and it’s an investment, and it should be treated as such”.

Apple is held to a higher standard by many consumers, analysts said. But Ms Milanesi said she thought the company suffered more harm a few years ago, when it was slow to acknowledge complaints about poor reception and dropped calls that affected new iPhone 4 models when they were released in 2010.

The company eventually offered a fix for the problem, after then-CEO Steve Jobs initially suggested users just needed to hold the phone differently.

“There wasn’t any of that this time,” Ms Milanesi said. She noted that Mr Jobs’ successor, Tim Cook, had also taken responsibility and apologised for initial problems with Apple’s Maps software when it was first released.

Meanwhile, an analyst said yesterday’s stock sell-off was more likely related to broader market concerns than investor unease about the new iPhones.

“Earnings is what drives the stock the most,” said Walter Piecyk of BTIG Research. “It’s too early to say what the impact’s going to be, but it does not appear to be something that would impact the company’s ability to deliver on earnings” in the next two quarters.

Apple said users affected by the software glitch could connect their phone to a Mac or Windows computer and download a file to restore an earlier version of the iOS 8 software.

The company’s stock ended Thursday down 3.88 at 97.87 dollars. Earlier this month, it hit an all-time high of 103.74.