Apple: That 'white screen of death' nightmare? We'll fix it... AT SOME POINT Apple has promised to fix the dreaded "white screen of death" bug that has caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth after causing fanbois' phones to crash. Ever since the release of the fruity firm's last mobiles, the iPhone 5C and 5S, the Apple forum has filled up with angry fanbois complaining that their mobes "randomly …
Despite running a number of different devices on my home network, on The Cloud and BT Openzone. I'm not saying that they don't exist, but perhaps the issue is more subtle than you think and at least partly related to the WiFi base station you are using.
I've not noticed it on my iPhone, becuase that's also connected to the 4G network, but the 2 iPads I've had have been the flakiest network devices I've ever owned.
It's much improved over the iPad 1, where you pretty much had to give it a fixed IP address in order to make it stay on any network for more than 2 minutes. A big issue when trying to use it on networks you don't control. It took Apple 3 months to fix that bug. Then when the iPad got updated to iOS 4, the bug returned, and it had to be given a fixed IP again for a couple of months.
Nothing's been that bad since. But still, every time you use it for any length of time, you'll click on a link, nothing will happen,,and you'll look to the top left corner to see there's no radio signal for a second or two. My current iPad 3 never seems able to maintain a connection to my Bluetooth speaker for more than an hour either, without quickly dropping off for a nap. But I've never found Bluetooth to be reliable - so I'm less inclined to blame Apple for that one.
With only 3 non-overlapping channels for WiFi. The same bandwidth is shared by everything from TV senders to baby monitors, and their range is such that what your neighbours are using can effect your local network. Better modern routers will examine the traffic on each band before picking the best channel number for their environment.
Where I live I can see something like 11 other base stations on 2.4GHz, so I've chosen my band carefully and run most traffic over 5GHz instead (which is shorter ranged, but has much more available bandwidth).
Some of this MAY be Apple's fault, some may be the fault of the Router manufacturer, but chances are that lots of the problems are down to poor choice of channels and a saturated frequency.
The thing I hate most about Apple is the fact that the fanbois refuse to accept when there is a problem with the kit. My father in laws MBP refused point blank to connect to his router. I asked for help on forums and to the Apple users I know at work only to be told by everyone that there is no way there could be a problem with the Apple, it must be the router that was broken.
When I pointed out that no other piece of equipment had a problem connecting to the same router the answer stayed the same. Apples work unfailingly and the router has a problem.
All computers have problems, MS, Linux, Android, MS or whatever else. Refusing to accept that your preferred one could have a problem is just wrong...
(And just to be clear - this is written on my MBP; so not a blind hater :) )
1) where did I say that there was no way that this was Apple's fault at all?
2) why do you think that the Router manufacturer was 100% blame free? It's quite possible to interpret specifications differently, implement things in a way that hadn't been considered etc and end up with a device that will talk to some but not all clients.
In the absence of (1) and (2) many of the problems will be caused by congestion on the 2.4GHz band, that's simple fact and is born out of experience with both PCs and Macs (you'll find MANY examples of PCs refusing to work with particular Routers, slow performance, random disconnects etc.)
I had no idea I was only talking to you. I was merely saying that it's a problem that I have had with fanbois. Whether you consider yourself to be a blind fanbois as I said in my post is for you to decide.
Yes, the router was at fault. iPhones, Android phones and tablets and Windows computers all connected without a problem.
But the router is broken as the MacBook Pro doesn't connect.
Oh, and after a week or so of using it on the wired connection and it getting an update it worked. The Apple had the update, not the router.
The router was obviously broken.
Oh, and if I had a router where the everything except for one computer (or wireless dongle or card) worked, not matter the brand of the non-functioning appliance,then I would assume that it was a problem with that one computer. Not the router.
If everything has a problem with a router then I will accept that the router has a problem.
1) You respond directly to one of my posts but you weren't talking to me?
2) You tried at best a small subset of WiFi devices and found only one (the MacBook) that didn't work, hence it must be Apple's fault? Once again it is entirely possible to create a router that will work with some but not all devices based on how you interpret the spec. Since a large part of the WiFi stack is implemented by the chipset these days then it's perfectly normal for one device in a manufacturers range to work slightly differently to others, but still to be within the letter of the WiFi spec. and work with most routers.
3) When there are 3 possible generic reasons for WiFi not to work reliably (only one of which being Apple's fault) then you'd be a fool to assume any one of the three without propper testing.
Weeeeeeeellllllll … just *because* most routers are turds in plastic boxes with crappy chipsets and/or are hideously short on resources, I regret that I'd probably be inclined to agree with them. I do try and be objective, and would hope that I'd question whether or not the Mac could connect to anything else before condemning the router, but since it always ends up with me recommending that they get AirPort and put it into AP mode and turn off their existing wi-fi, I think in this case blaming crappy routers isn't a bad idea. Apple seems to be very picky about what it associates with, so this is something to bear in mind if you have any Apple stuff.
But have an upvote for the sentiment.
Signed, an actually blind fanboy. :)
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I know the feeling. My parents have a Virgin Super Hub, well known for it's crappy WiFi performance and dropouts. To solve the issues I simply turned WiFi off and connected an Airport Express to one of the ethernet ports. It's been pretty much trouble free since that point (and they use a PC before people start complaining)
If you have experienced the bug on various iPhone handsets from version 4 all the way up to 7 then either it is a bug which would affect a huge number of people (which it doesn't if you look at it as a percentage) or more likely it's some sort of local / other issue with your other wifi equipment.
Sorry, I'd forgotten I had posted here and there is probably no one reading this now, but, its not just me who has experienced wifi problems, search results from google, bing and duckduckgo (just to try and not make it a MS conspiracy) ;
https://www.google.co.uk/#q=ios+update+kills+wifi
http://www.bing.com/search?q=ios+update+kills+wifi&pc=MOZI&form=MOZLBR
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ios+update+kills+wifi
I should add, its not that the wifi doesn't connect, the actual wifi option from the phone greys out and its not possible to turn wifi back on without reheating the chip. I'd say for every 100 iPhones we see and update, 2 or 3 have this problem.
What are the chances of getting the random WiFi killing bug fixed that has haunted every iOS updates since version 4 if not earlier?
Apple can't do decent WiFi full stop. My Macbook Pro gets WiFi dropouts all the time. Shows as connected, but traffic stops sending / receiving. Tested alongside a really old netbook / two phones / partners laptop and tried the usual - wireless channels, moving the router, no phones connected, switched off anything that could cause interference. Even upgraded to the latest OS X and the problem got worse. Now when waking from sleep WiFi doesn't work. Shows it is connected, but needs disconnecting / reconnecting before it will actually work.
Even changed routers when upgrading to Fibre optic with another company and the new router still does the same. I guess it is software / driver based on OS X / iOS that they just can't iron out
When that dude, you know, the guy who owned Apple, was alive, my ipad never rebooted - now he's dead it does. QED. Apple have turned shit! When he was alive, had a significant number of iThings been randomly rebooting he'd have put his best people onto fixing... no, strike that, he'd never have let ios7 out the door.
@Big_Ted - I strongly suspect that the MS "customers" who are frothing at the mouth for a fix are no such thing. They're MS nay sayers who are constantly saying how awful everything MS is, then banging on about how MS can't push out a simple fix, while also missing the point that it's a subset of devices, which sort of suggests it's not a simple problem.
As an aside - I generally find that problems in IT that are works/broken tend to be dead easy to fix. Problems that are intermittent, not on all platforms or all devices are a right old pain in the pain. Which is why I try to stay away from "mine's working" comments when X, Y or Z has broken or won't update etc.
The fact that Apple have made a vague promise to fix this sometime is not the issue here. The story doesn't tell us anything about Apple, many companies have made similar promises. The real message in this story is about Apple customers. Yes plenty of companies have made similar promises and their customers have gone mental, to the point of threatening legal or even direct action. The same happens with Apple and the customers welcome it. Why? Is it because the users know Apple will have a fix out in a few days? No it's because fanbois are more interested in the badge than using the product.
The real message in these comment boards is the instant assumption by you cynical lot that Apple users will just accept whatever the Church of Jobs tells them. Is it your arrogance or jealousy that is showing through?
No it's because fanbois are more interested in the badge than using the product.
Naturally you have some empirical evidence to back up that statement you've made?
No?
SHOCKER!!!
That's nonsense - most people buy Macs for the product, support and reliability etc. and most people buy a Mac next time as well for the same reasons. I moved to Macs a few years ago as was so chuffed off with Windows and Windows hardware. They are not perfect, still have bugs / issues but on the whole they get resolved much better and quicker.
@ Grease Monkey:
"Why? Is it because the users know Apple will have a fix out in a few days? No it's because fanbois are more interested in the badge than using the product."
I doubt that you have any evidence for that but if you do, it'd be awesome to see it because it's an assertion that is frequently made, but for which I've never seen proof.
Couldn't it equally be that Apple users have had experience of glitches and bugs in the past and Apple have said the issue would be fixed, and then it was? So they believe that this time, when Apple say that they will fix the issue, they actually will?
You know, trust (through experience - the best kind).
Perhaps other manufacturers are just as trustworthy, but the frothing and bristling that Apple users would actually trust Apple would seem to indicate to me that other people have some unresolved anger issues to other vendors when they have had similar problems - how DARE anyone be happy with their purchases when I AM NOT?
But then, I have no proof of that.
Once persons occasionally is another persons often. Myself, my family and a few colleagues I asked have never experienced one so for me that would be never. YMMV. Friend has an Android phone that he updated with CYANOGENMOD to try and make it work better / get rid of bloatware actually did that but now he has to contend with it crashing most days. Ok so it's anecdotal and I'm sure hundreds will step up to say how reliable their non-iPhones are.
At least this time they've acknowledged that there might be a problem.
Despite several hundred forum pages about the 3GS crashing in the middle of calls there was never any official recognition that the problem existed. Strange that the problem disappeared when iOS4 was released. I guess Apple is starting to emerge from its Banana Republic Dictatorship roots into an open, free and inclusive society.
(downvote in 3,2,1...)
I'm constantly surprised that Apple come so high up customer satisfaction surveys. My boss had a Mac Book Pro which cost him about £2000 with a cinema display which was another grand, when the MBP was plugged into the cinema display, it would randomly reset. A proper hardware reset, no black screen of death, just "ching" as it rebooted. He took it to the Apple store and was told that he had to spend £750 on a new motherboard, despite them admitting it was their fault and using the magic words "not covered by Applecare" (how many times have I heard of those words being used by "Geniuses"). He still won't hear a word against Apple. This is not just a one-off, I've heard it from lots of otherwise sensible people, they're just totally myopic when it comes to Apple and customer services.
Me? I've had the similar piss-poor customer services, but I'm not going to be their customer after my current MBP is put out to pasture. It's a shame because when they're working Apple hardware is really good, it's just their awful customer services.
The white (or black) screens of death occurring with ios7 are probably not actually reboots. They appear to be springboard crashing (the thing that shows you your icons). If it was the phone crashing then a 5S would request a passcode before the fingerprint reader could be used. It does not request this suggesting that the phone did not reboot.
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