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iPhone Duo Reports of Faulty Duo Hinges

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gloss

gloss

macrumors 603
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The Duo's been out for some hours now, and there have been a number of reports (mostly from display units in China) of Duo hinges failing in approximately the same spot and damaging the inner screen. One user in Australia (the last image in this set) had the issue with his personal unit, and was able to get it exchanged immediately, with Apple staff saying the unit would be sent to Apple for a full failure analysis.

To some degree, this is to be expected with an extremely complex mass-produced unit, but I am curious how widespread it will end up being. I think, based on the position of the damage, it might have something to do with the tension springs used in the hinge to allow it to hold at various positions.

I'm not personally worried, but it will be an interesting thing to track.

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Gsxr750 said:
Maybe from people putting a finger in the crease to fold it….i hear Samsung warns against this on their folds. I would think if this was an issue, the “reviewers” would have discovered it.
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Yeah, it's possible. That said, 100 reviewers stress testing units is a lot different than a million units going out to people. There are bound to be some failures. Time will tell whether it's a manufacturing defect, a materials defect, or a design defect. I'm guessing it's an assembly issue with a subset of units, but who knows. I suppose we'll want to see if we get reports of the same issues in the US and Europe today.
 
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gloss said:
Yeah, it's possible. That said, 100 reviewers stress testing units is a lot different than a million units going out to people. There are bound to be some failures. Time will tell whether it's a manufacturing defect, a materials defect, or a design defect. I'm guessing it's an assembly issue with a subset of units, but who knows. I suppose we'll want to see if we get reports of the same issues in the US and Europe today.
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I sure hope not. But if it happens, I’m sure Apple will take care of it. I don’t think I have ever had a bad experience with apples customer service.
 
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gloss said:
Yeah, it's possible. That said, 100 reviewers stress testing units is a lot different than a million units going out to people. There are bound to be some failures. Time will tell whether it's a manufacturing defect, a materials defect, or a design defect. I'm guessing it's an assembly issue with a subset of units, but who knows. I suppose we'll want to see if we get reports of the same issues in the US and Europe today.
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from what i've seen, they used machines that grip at the edge of the phone, not pressing down on the display itself
 
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4sallypat said:
That crack at the same location tells me there is a defect in the hinges causing it to separate or part displacement and pinch the display matrix.

It's not like someone put a foreign object and closed it.
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Correct me if I am wrong here but, wouldn't that result have necessitated a lot of force coming from underneath the multiple layers upwards to the removable nano layer? If so, I would think the person holding the phone and then closing it would have noticed the extra resistance unless said person closed the Duo quickly in one motion.
 
Johnny365 said:
Yeah, the hinge assembly isn't moving at the same time with the gears, so it came out of allignment and stabbed the inside.
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If that is the case, I hope these are isolated batch builds and not indicative of a wider production problem. AC+ for sure on the Duo.
 
Gsxr750 said:
Maybe from people putting a finger in the crease to fold it….i hear Samsung warns against this on their folds. I would think if this was an issue, the “reviewers” would have discovered it.
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I didn't realize it was a thing until I googled.

So maybe pinching one half firmly between fingers and thumb of one hand while using the other hand to flip it shut?

I believe the inner screen has to slide laterally over the body as it folds but, because you're pinching it in one hand it's locked into place and can't slide.

So, literally, folding it wrong (I was just joking above in #11, btw)

Edit: Responded to wrong post.
 
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Arran said:
I didn't realize it was a thing until I googled.

So maybe pinching one half firmly between fingers and thumb of one hand while using the other hand to flip it shut?

I believe the inner screen has to slide laterally over the body as it folds but, because you're pinching it in one hand it's locked into place and can't slide.

So, literally, folding it wrong (I was just joking above, btw)

Edit: Responded to wrong post.
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Possibly. Idk. Just sharing what I heard. I can see how pushing on the soft spot would be bad. Not saying that’s what caused this. I plan on not putting much pressure on the crease, planned on that even before this potential issue.
 
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Apple_Robert said:
Correct me if I am wrong here but, wouldn't that result have necessitated a lot of force coming from underneath the multiple layers upwards to the removable nano layer? If so, I would think the person holding the phone and then closing it would have noticed the extra resistance unless said person closed the Duo quickly in one motion.
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The hinge uses a tension spring system to allow it to hold various positions. That means they are storing a lot of energy. If they are assembled wrong or there is a faulty part then it could conceivably fail and damage the screen from the inside.
 
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Sifko36 said:
Why is everyone saying AppleCare for this. This is a normal 1 year warranty issue.
I don’t understand the hype of AppleCare.

My motherboard died on my 16PM after about 6 months of owning it. Walked into the Apple Store and 2hrs later it was fixed for free.
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The point of me saying AC+ is that if something like this happens after 1 year, I am covered.
 
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