Paging Colonel Panic to the White Courtesy iPhone

TUAW love Colonel Sanders and kernels of popcorn, but as far as colonels and kernels go, you probably don't want a kernel panic on your brand new iPhone 6. Reader Jason Lang sent in this screen of sadness.

Normally, iOS devices automatically reboot on kernel panics but this one did not. I wrote back and suggested Jason try rebooting. A hard boot involves pressing and holding the Sleep and Home buttons until the screen clears and the little white Apple appears. Unfortunately, this didn't fix Jason's problem nor did trying to restore through iTunes.

After consulting with a variety of developers, I ended up recommending that Jason take the unit over to an Apple store for replacement. (Whether any stores will have stock to do replacements at the moment is an open question.) Best guess on the table, courtesy of developer Sam Marshall, is a bad chip out of the factory, "extremely rare but it can happen," he told me.

How did your iPhone delivery go? Add a comment below and tell us all about your new baby phone. And don't forget: the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are dropportunities waiting to happen (TM Victor Agreda), so take care with your gadget!

Thanks, Mike Ash, Kevin Ballard, Sam Marshall, and Wess Cope