Apple confirms iPhone 15 overheating issue

Immediately after the iPhone 15 was released to users on September 22, a series of user complaints and tests from the technology industry showed that the iPhone 15 was unusually hot. The situation occurred on all four new iPhone 15 models.

On September 30, Apple confirmed to Forbes: "We have identified a number of reasons that may cause iPhones to feel warmer than expected. Devices may feel warmer in the first few days after setting up or restoring the device due to increased background activity."

This is also the reason Apple often gives when releasing updates. The company explains that the device will have to download all the old data, causing them to speed up their operations as well as run in the background to complete this process as soon as possible.

Additionally, the company also admitted that it "found a bug in iOS 17" that made the temperature issue more severe for iPhone 15 users. This could be resolved in a software update, but Apple did not say when it would be released.

The third reason mentioned is due to some third-party applications, such as Asphalt 9, Instagram, Uber... Recent updates of those applications overload the system, causing the device to heat up. The company is working with the above application developers to deploy a fix soon, in which Instagram updated on September 27.

In response to 9to5Mac, Apple confirmed that the titanium design of the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max does not cause the above condition. In fact, the new material even dissipates heat better than the previous stainless steel.

Apple says there is no safety risk to users, and the issues will not affect the long-term performance of the device. iOS has built-in mechanisms to prevent overheating. When it detects unusual heat, the operating system protects itself by regulating its temperature.

Apple released iOS 17, iOS 17.0.1, and iOS 17.0.2 in less than 10 days, two minor updates aimed at fixing security and data transfer issues. The company is currently testing a beta version of iOS 17.1, which is expected to be released later in October, and has said it will not throttle performance to address temperature issues.

Previously, WSJ editor Joanna Stern tested and found that the iPhone 15 Pro Max reached a temperature of 41 degrees Celsius during charging, sometimes up to 45 degrees Celsius. If you download a game using a 5G network, such as the game Genshin Impact, the smartphone's temperature increases to 50 degrees Celsius. Android Authority's test shows that the iPhone 15 Pro is 5-10 degrees Celsius hotter than the two Google Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S23 Ultra models when charging, or about 3-7 degrees Celsius when measuring performance.

Some experts at the time said that factors such as the Apple A17 Pro chip, USB-C port or titanium frame on the device could lead to overheating. Meanwhile, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the problem could be related to the design of the cooling system in the iPhone 15, especially the Pro line, due to the new design and materials that reduce heat dissipation efficiency. He also predicted that Apple would handle it with a software update but reduce the performance of the chip.