Warranty on phones

I own an Iphone 6 that I purchased in 2005 for about $900.However over the last few weeks I have not been able to use maps or google search for addresses.
This took lots of time on the phone to Apple care and Telstra trying to find out why I was unable to access all functions on 4G.
In the end I was directed to the Apple city store for technical support.
It was eventually resolved after some time and all is now working.
This problem was caused by Apple when they downloaded a change to the latest Operating System.
The Apple people informed me that if the issue could not be fixed I would be up for the cost of a new phone for $450.
This time consuming fault and interruption to the use of my phone I was told was not Apples concern but a cost to me as the warranty was no longer applicable.
If this had not worked where do I stand as this Phone is expensive and Apple seem to think interfering with the Operating System on my phone is not their responsibility?

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This is an issue not only for phones, but any device that has an update(able) operating system. This includes PCs through to TVs and now even more and more appliances as they become smart. There has been a post on this forum about smart tvs becoming less smart the older they get.

It appears that manufacturers have different life expectations than their customers, and possily view the ‘updates’ as a way to sell new models as the older models lose functionality.

Maybe it is time for a product life guide to be prepared like that suggested here. Software/OS support/functionality would be part of the product life expectation.

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Well they did supply a good or service that failed. This would, I think, be covered by ACL. The phone per se did not fail but the software installed did. Your phone was still good but because Apple failed to ensure that their software was good failed the ACL test of fit for purpose. This is my take on it and should be read as being personal belief and not a legal opinion.

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Missprint it was purchased in 2015 so what Apple was implying was that after the 12 month warranty which brings it to 2016 after that a $900 phone you just bin it as unusable!

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My belief is that no industry will continue making large profits if they make goods that do not in some way have built in obsolescence. This may include new software that is incompatible with older hardware, or new hardware incompatible with older software, In the realm of IT older software can have security holes that are no longer fixed and render your data vulnerable or more so than current software does.

However in this case[quote=“hartg2, post:1, topic:14851”]
This problem was caused by Apple when they downloaded a change to the latest Operating System.
[/quote]

Apple supplied a piece of Software not fit for purpose, my take on this is they should have not downloaded this software to your phone or they should remedy the fault because they caused the failure. Your phone was completely operational until the faulty/incompatible software was installed. It wouldn’t matter that your phone was not the current model, this is not the issue at all. It is similar to saying throw my mincer out as the meat the butcher is putting in it is the wrong type.

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Then it would definitely be covered by the Australian Consumer Law. One would expect a smartphone (iPhone) to last a number of years trouble free and as @grahroll outlined, the OS upgrade was not fit for purpose, as well as there would an implied warranty under the ACL. I expect Apple is likely to have T&Cs stating that they have no responsibility for problems their software/OS causes, but these conditons would not pass the fair test and could easily be challenged.

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My non-lawyer view of your situations is:
I would have argued that given Apple’s approach to limiting software which can be installed to only software which has met and passed their stringent standards, then it is their responsibility to ensure that the software 1. works 2. works as described and 3. causes no faults.

As the Apple operating software update did cause a fault(s) then it is their responsibility either because their software assurance system is faulty, and/or because the software they injected into your phone caused problems you could not have unforeseen.

Therefore, Apple needs to make good the damage they caused, whether it is software or hardware, and whether or not your phone is in warranty or not.

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Looks like you aren’t alone.

Reading some of the posts on recent iOS updates is they have been rushed and very buggy.

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Thanks for the link @phb.

Google maps has been playing merry hell in the last few days on my iPhone 6. Until reading the discussion on the Apple thread, it never occurred to me that it may be a widespread problem, and that it is likely caused by the iOS update.

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