It is a hardware failure. Screens are complex and sensitive parts that are exposed to a lot of (ab)use. What is cryptic about that?
The cryptic part being this is not talked about much. Or manufacturers choose to skirt this issue. If you read online this issue can randomly happen to any device after a software update without physical damage. With phones getting 4-7 years of software updates this becomes a serious issue when updating especially when you are out of warranty.
It happened on iPhone X in the same manner. It was caused by micro fractures to the digitizer due to impact, but sometimes the symptom wouldn’t manifest until the kernel extension (driver) was updated.
When it happens the repair is replacement of the screen. This is one of many reasons to check the repaiability of a device before deciding which to spend your money on
This article is not very helpful. It doesn’t clarify what is meant by the term “green line of death”. Does it brick the phone? Does it make the phone unusable? Is it just annoying? Does it include red lines? Blue lines, black lines, rainbows?
It presents anectdotal evidence of it having happened a lot, but doesn’t give any real numbers. There’s no analysis of the information they do have to say if it’s more often a hardware issue, a software bug, or caused by damage. There’s no indication if there was an attempt to ascertain how often it happens within the warranty period, or if occurrences increase with phone age.
Interviewing a couple friends and a “quick reddit search” is not investigative journalism. The writer didn’t hear back from manufacturers or industry experts, and gave up. So they interviewed a couple more “nerd” friends. Ouch.
