According a rumor in BusinessKorea, Apple is set to switch from using the problematic TLC (triple-level cell) NAND flash to MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. MLC NAND was used in the 16GB version of the new iPhone 6 devices, as well as some of the 64GB models, while the 64GB and 128GB models use TLC NAND.
A few days ago we detailed reports that a small percentage of users were having issues with their new iPhones crashing and becoming stuck in a boot loop, supposedly due to the controller IC of the TLC NAND.
Although the suggestion that Apple was looking at a full-on product recall were largely debunked, the company is supposedly looking to fix the problem going forward.
Any users who are suffering crashing and rebooting issues should take their iPhones back to the Apple Store for a replacement.
Originally the decision to use TLC NAND was supposedly made to cut down on cost. As per the report, the alleged manufacturing defects are the work of Israeli flash memory firm Anobit, a company which Apple acquired several years back. The difference between TLC and MLC is that the solid-state NAND flash can store 1.5x the amount of data as the MLC flash. However, TLC is also slower than MLC in both reading and writing speeds.
Apple has not commented on the issue yet, although it hasn’t received a great deal of publicity, which suggests that this is not a problem being experienced by a large number of users.
Source: BusinessKorea
Via: GforGames
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
7 responses to “Apple might ditch storage chips alleged to cause iPhone 6 glitch”
I wonder if Samsung ram would have been a better choice? :)
The article is about Flash storage : |
Flash storage is made from what?
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ram-rom-and-flash-memory.html
Not ram if that’s what you’re implying.
I have a iPhone 6, 16G and it’s been buggy. Crashed twice so far
That BusinessKorea report is a fraud. It had been proven by TechRepublic’s Bill Detwiler (with clear screenshot) that the storage chip inside iPhone 6+ 128G is SK Hynix’s SmartNAND/E2NAND (part no. H2JTFG8YD1BMS), not the Toshiba TLC as implied by that Korean media. In fact, Toshiba does NOT have such product as SmartNAND+TLC at all.
Besides, the iOS stability problem (with 700+ Apps installed) is a known issue prior to iPhone 6 launch. It can be tracked back to iOS 6 and iPad 4 128G. Although the real reason is unknown, but definitely has ZERO relation to TLC. That’s way too ridiculous.
Fraud stop at the wise.