Apple admits some iPhone X models freeze up in cold, promises software fix

Apple has acknowledged there's an issue with some of its latest smartphones freezing in cold weather, but says it's a fixable issue that will be solved via a software update.

Owners of the latest smartphone, which retails for as much as $1,570 before carrier contract discounts, began complaining on social media that their phones became unresponsive in cold weather, just as a cold snap was making its way across much of North America this week.

Users reported the keyboard would become unresponsive under certain circumstances. Some figured out that locking and unlocking the phone would manage to reset the phone and get it working again.

Many people in a Reddit thread said they noticed the problem was most pronounced when they used their phones immediately after moving outside from a warm interior.

Apple confirmed the issue in an email to CBC News on Friday, but said it will soon send out an easy fix for the problem.

"We are aware of instances where the iPhone X screen will become temporarily unresponsive to touch after a rapid change to a cold environment," a spokesperson for the company said. "After several seconds, the screen will become fully responsive again. This will be addressed in an upcoming software update."

On its website, Apple advises customers that its products are optimized to work best under "acceptable" temperatures, which it says is a range between 0 and 35 degrees Celsius.

The company was dogged by similar problems with previous iterations of its smartphone, which was dubbed "touch disease."

• Apple's response to touch disease called 'pitiful'

In that case, the fix involved a hardware problem that was solved by bringing the device into an Apple store, and paying a fee of almost $200 in some cases.

This time, the company is promising the solution to the problem lies in the software and will be sent to customers seamlessly via a software update.