SAN FRANCISCO -- As Apple Inc. worked to fix a software glitch that left some of its new iPhones unable to make calls, some analysts said Thursday that the tech giant is doing the right thing by quickly acknowledging and apologizing for the problem -- which it was slower to do with earlier iPhone problems.
Apple's stock price fell nearly 4 percent Thursday, after some customers complained that a software update interfered with voice calls on the new iPhones, while others noted that the larger iPhone model could be vulnerable to bending.
The shares fell $3.88, or 3.9 percent, to close Thursday at $97.87.
While the bending problem may not be widespread, Apple was forced to withdraw the software update because of glitches that appeared to primarily affect customers who had purchased the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models. Late Wednesday, the company offered users a way to manually reverse the update provided earlier in the day.
In a statement Thursday, Apple 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 Sept. 19.
"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 apologize; we're working 24/7 to fix it.' I think that's what matters."
Apple said affected users can connect the phones to Mac or Windows computers and download a file to restore an earlier version of the iOS 8 software.
The company had begun distributing the update Wednesday morning to fix several issues in last week's iOS 8 operating system for iPhones and iPads. Hours later, it pulled the update, dubbed iOS 8.0.1, after some people complained it rendered their phones unable to make calls and caused problems with a feature that lets people unlock their phones with their fingerprints.
Users are still able to upgrade older phones to last week's version of iOS 8, which Apple said has already been downloaded to nearly half of all iOS devices. Apple said it will release iOS 8.0.2 soon to address both last week's glitches and the new ones.
It's not uncommon for new software to contain bugs that have to be fixed with subsequent releases. Apple has also grappled with other problems affecting new iPhones in the past -- most notably, the complaints about poor reception and dropped calls that affected new iPhone 4 models when they were released in 2010.
Meanwhile, social media sites were buzzing Wednesday with reports that the aluminum shell of the iPhone 6 Plus is vulnerable to bending. Some Twitter users claimed their phones showed a slight curving at one end after several hours in a pants pocket. With a 5.5-inch screen, the iPhone 6 Plus is slightly longer and thinner than other iPhone models.
It's not clear how widespread the complaints are. One YouTube video showed someone bending an iPhone 6 Plus by applying extended pressure with his hands -- not from normal sitting.
Both the iPhone 6 and the 6 Plus were given high ratings in a recent "breakability" test conducted by SquareTrade, a San Francisco firm that sells extended-protection plans for electronic devices. The test did not include bending.
Business on 09/26/2014