Apple's 6 biggest iPhone faceplants

In the eyes of die-hard devotees, Apple can do no wrong. But in reality—when it comes to the company's iPhone models and iOS releases—hitches, glitches and defects happen. The company has usually been quick to deploy fixes and replace finicky hardware, but these snafus have likely left more than a few Apple employees scrambling for solutions.

—By CNBC Staff
Posted Sept. 25, 2014

Numerous iPhone 4 users in 2010 complained the phone was dropping calls and losing reception when they gripped them a certain way. It turned out that in some cases the antennae on some units was to blame. In response, Apple offered customers free plastic "bumpers" that would wrap around the sides of the phone and prevent the problem.

In response to media reports, in July 2010 Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, "This has been blown so out of proportion that it's incredible. There is no Antennagate."

A "very small number" of iPhone 5 units suffered from short battery life, according to Apple, and some users complained the phones were actually heating up as they lost power. The phones were sold between September 2012 and January 2013 and fell within a small range of serial numbers. Apple offered to replace any defective batteries.

Apple's iOS 7 operating system garnered numerous complaints in 2013 for glitches such as drained battery life, fading app icons, spotty Bluetooth functionality, problems with iMessage, Wi-Fi issues, and even a grayed-out screen reminiscent of the dreaded "blue screen of death," according to reports in USA Today and elsewhere.

Apple released several later versions of the software that made many improvements and fixed many bugs found in early releases.

In 2012, Apple Maps replaced the Google Maps app that Apple used to offer natively in its iOS, and many people weren't happy about the switch. Apple CEO Tim Cook even wrote an open letter to his customers frustrated with the app, where he apologized and attributed the troubles in part to the ambition of the project. Cook went so far as to recommend angry users download similar apps made by Apple competitors such as Microsoft and Google.

Apple's newest iPhone debuted in Cupertino to applause and sold out inventories, but some customers have complained the phone bends when pressure is placed on it—like say when it is in your back pocket—even though it is definitely not supposed to. There are reports that Cupertino plans to replace the bent iPhone units, according to ZDNet.

When users began reporting that an update to the iOS mobile operating system made their phones unusable, Apple pulled the update. The company has released a workaround for customers.

Since this is Apple's newest iOS release, and is crucial to its entire line of mobile devices, this is certainly not over. Here is a .