+1 for giving Apple Customer Support a call and discuss with them a reasonable length of time. Certainly the times I have talked to them they have been quite reasonable and helpful with getting things resolved, even outside the warranty period - Sometimes a bit of pressure needs to be placed but in a lot of cases they do come to the party.

A little bit OT but for those worried about the life of certain expensive products (not just iPhones) some premium credit cards offer an extended insurance (usually +12 months) for items that you purchase using the card, I've had to claim using this before (for a camera that failed) and it was quite easy and no hassle. Obviously you have to weigh up the annual card charges vs. the benefits, but this might be useful for some that are not aware of it.

Alternatively for those iPhone owners (or Apple device owners in general) that might be a little prone to dropping their device, I'd suggest buying AppleCare+ which gives you the 3 years warranty + 2x repairs/replacement at a nominal fee for accidental damage (eg. if you drop your phone). At $229 (NZ RRP) for an iPhone 6S/6S+ though, it can be a bit of a hard pill to swallow after shelling out $1200+ for the phone in the first place..

Last year an Apple update to my four year old 4s bricked it. I gave Apple a call and they replaced it with a new one. You never know what might happen.

This post of mine might help you, similar situation:

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumId=76&topicId=192016

Basically my 2 year old and 4 months iPad Air stopped working, no water damage or physical damage. Yoobee said they do CGA for 2 years and refused then borught up the fact they went into liquidation during that time and declared the CGA invalid  -customer service at its best. Went to Apple, got a CS code through declaring CGA and then took it to Yoobee, got a new iPad shipped from Sydney within 2 days. Thumbs up to Apple.

My phone situation is resolved satisfactorily. 

I filed an online TDR disputes claim after spark denied my repair request. 

Shortly after , Spark phoned saying they would send my phone to the service center and convince apple to fix it under warranty. 

The next week Spark phoned and said apple had refused repairs and that Spark were also rejecting my repair request.

Sent an email to the TDR explaining that spark rejected my claim. 2 hours later I had a call from spark that they changed their mind and would get my phone fixed. 

Very smooth process... the worst thing was having to use an iphone 4s loan phone :)  Amost unusable under IOS9.

My iPhone 4 is still working. Purchased new August 2010.

I use it mainly as an iPod.

James Bond:

 

My iPhone 4 is still working. Purchased new August 2010.

 

I use it mainly as an iPod.

 

Any probs with the home button? 

surfisup1000:

 

James Bond:

 

My iPhone 4 is still working. Purchased new August 2010.

 

I use it mainly as an iPod.

 

 

 

 

Any probs with the home button? 

 

lol - yes. It's not very responsive. Charge still ok - just.

surfisup1000:

 

James Bond:

 

My iPhone 4 is still working. Purchased new August 2010.

 

I use it mainly as an iPod.

 

 

 

 

Any probs with the home button? 

 

Yep - on my wife's, the home button and battery just went, but in fairness she did hammer the thing. it's 6 years old.

$99 later (back end of last year) both replaced and life of device extended another 2 years.