Apple Working to Fix iPhone X Cold Bug, But This Problem Isn’t New

By Joel Hruska

At least some iPhone X phones have a significant cold bug that causes the screen to become unresponsive once the temperature drops. Apple is reportedly working on a software fix for the issue. The problem, as described by various users, is that the display becomes unresponsive in cold weather, only recognizing ~20 percent of touches. Apple has acknowledged the issue and claims it will be fixed in an upcoming software patch.

“We are aware of instances where the iPhone X screen will become temporarily unresponsive to touch after a rapid change to a cold environment. After several seconds the screen will become fully responsive again,” Apple said in a statement to ZDNet. “This will be addressed in an upcoming software update.”

The funny thing about the iPhone X’s panel issues in cold weather is that almost none of the iPhones I’ve ever owned has handled cold weather well. I can’t honestly say if this is a problem with Android devices–I’ve never personally tested one in Svalbard-like conditions–but here’s what I’ve seen:

My iPhone 4s’ screen would not stop responding altogether, but either the phone itself or the display would slow to a crawl. Swiping left or right was extremely sluggish. My iPhone 3G (the first I owned) and my iPhone 5c both turned off, even when new, if the temperature was cold enough. My fiancée’s iPhone 5 is even worse and turns off if the temperature is ~45 degrees. All of these devices exhibited these behaviors from the moment they were purchased; none developed them over time. Attempting to keep the device warm by playing games, hooking it to a portable battery, or playing games while simultaneously using the flashlight never made a difference. I’m curious–if you have a newer Apple device (or have used one in the past) did you ever see this behavior? (Where you live will definitely make a difference, New York State in winter is much colder than the typical Midwest.)

I’m glad that Apple is attacking these issues on its new flagship device and I hope they can be resolved. But it’s amusing that this was apparently never an issue that needed fixing until it hit the company’s $1,000 flagship.

In other news, Apple has also acknowledged that the OLED panel on the iPhone X will inevitably suffer burn-in, and that this can only be mitigated, not eliminated. A support document for the iPhone X states:

With extended long-term use, OLED displays can also show slight visual changes. This is also expected behavior and can include “image persistence” or “burn-in,” where the display shows a faint remnant of an image even after a new image appears on the screen. This can occur in more extreme cases such as when the same high contrast image is continuously displayed for prolonged periods of time. We’ve engineered the Super Retina display to be the best in the industry in reducing the effects of OLED “burn-in.

The company suggests shutting the screen off after a short period of time via Auto Lock and using automatic brightness.