SAN FRANCISCO: Apple has offered to fix some older iPhone 5 smartphones with flawed on-off buttons.

The California-based company said a "small percentage" of iPhone 5 models manufactured through March of 2013 may have on-off buttons that stop working or work intermittently, in a posting on its support website.

"Apple will replace the sleep/wake button mechanism, free of charge, on iPhone 5 models that exhibit this issue and have a qualifying serial number," it said at the website.

The support web page contained instructions for iPhone 5 owners, along with a way to check serial numbers to determine if smartphones qualify for free repair.

The process began Friday in the US and Canada and will begin in other countries on May 2, according to Apple.

Apple prides itself on the quality of its devices, and offers of free fixes are rare for the company.

In mid-2010, Apple put off dealing with concerns about iPhone 4 reception problems and the ensuing controversy came to be dubbed "Antennagate."

Apple was forced to address the issue after Consumer Reports, the influential product review magazine, said it could not recommend the iPhone 4 because of signal loss problems it blamed on a design flaw.

Apple downplayed the issue as being the overblown result of the way people held their smartphones and offered free cases as a fix.

Rumors regarding what Apple may introduce as its “next big thing” have included an Internet-linked smart watch and a revamped Apple TV home entertainment box and service.

“We currently feel comfortable in expanding the number of things we are working on,” CEO Tim Cook said during an earnings call when asked about Apple diversifying its offerings.

Cook hinting that new products are on the way from the maker of iPhones, iPads, iPods, and Macintosh computers.

“We’re very proud of our quarterly results, especially our strong iPhone sales and record revenue from services,” Cook said in a press release.

“We’re eagerly looking forward to introducing more new products and services that only Apple could bring to market.”

Cook said: “We’re confident in Apple’s future and see tremendous value in Apple’s stock, so we’re continuing to allocate the majority of our program to share repurchases. We’re also happy to be increasing our dividend for the second time in less than two years.”

Forrester analyst Frank Gillett said the earnings showed a company “chugging along” on proven products but under pressure to rock the world with another innovation.

“We are ready,” Gillett said. “It is time for Apple to show us something from their labs; from behind their closed doors.”

While iPhone sales handily beat Wall Street expectations in the quarter, the performance underscored how heavily Apple’s revenue relies on its hit smartphones, according to Gartner analyst Van Baker.

Powerful iPhone sales figures also offset “less than stunning” iPad sales, the analyst noted.

“Apple’s dependence on the iPhone is even higher than it used to be,” Baker said.

“It is even more important to bring some new products.”