iPhone owners sue Apple over 'Touch Disease'

Owners of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices are slapping Apple with a lawsuit over a so-called "Touch Disease" that makes the devices unusable.

The case, which was filed in the Northern District of California Saturday, alleges that Apple is aware of the technical glitch but refuses to fix affected devices. Named plaintiffs Todd Clearly, Jun Bai and Thomas Davidson are reportedly accusing Apple of fraud.

"The iPhones are not fit for the purpose of use as smartphones because of the touchscreen defect," the complaint said, according to Reuters.

Touch Disease is reportedly caused by faulty controller chips, which interpret your taps and swipes into usable data for your iPhone. Those chips aren't properly secured to the logic board in the affected iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, according to repair website iFixit, which means the signals that would normally be sent by prodding your iPhone's touchscreen are interrupted or lost entirely.

The glitch has a telltale sign: A distinct gray bar appears at the top of affected devices.

iFixit claims Apple does not offer repairs for affected iPhones, forcing users to replace their devices or rely on third-party services. Kyle Wiens, the founder of iFixit, said this puts consumers in a tight spot.

"Repairing modern electronics like the iPhone circuit board requires specialized tools and access to schematics," Wiens told Mashable in an email. "Independent repair shops have the expertise and tools, but without Apple’s support are forced to rely on bootlegged schematics."

Apple is not legally obligated to provide these schematics to third-party companies. Some argue that forcing the company to do so would be like insisting they divulge trade secrets.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Mashable on Monday.