After a few weeks of user complaints, Apple now claims the 100+-degree iPhone 15s are due to a round of glitches in iOS 17 and in a few specific apps. The company is still emphasizing it’s not some sort of hardware hangup caused by the new titanium frame or 3nm processor in the Pro and Pro Max models.
Apple said in a statement that there’s a bug within iOS 17 and on some apps that is “impacting some” iPhone 15 Pro devices but this will be addressed in a software update. Those apps reportedly include Uber, Instagram, and the game Asphalt 9 which are overloading the A17 Pro CPU. Bloomberg first reported over the weekend that Apple is currently working with other app developers to fix the overheating issue. Instagram owner Meta should have patched the issue in a Sept. 27 update.
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Gizmodo contacted Apple for further comment, but we did not immediately hear back.
Some iPhone 15 Pro users have been complaining about their devices reaching temperatures around 80 or well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Some claimed their iPhones were reaching Arizona summer-level temperatures when charging, when playing graphics-intensive games, or even when not in use at all. The upsettingly hot iPhones led to speculation that the issue was due to the new A17 processor and titanium frames on the premium-end iPhone models.
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Apple initially told iPhone 15 Pro customers their devices were overheating due to heavy processing loads when booting up devices for the first time. The company is still saying users who boot up their device for the first time should expect hotter-than-normal temperatures for the first few days, especially when transferring data from an old phone to a new one. But it’s now slowly admitting there’s an issue on its end, as well.
Apple is now saying the issue has nothing to do with the iPhone’s new hardware, with the Cupertino, California company even claiming the device has improved heat dissipation compared to previous models that used stainless steel, according to Bloomberg. The iPhone maker is further saying any new update to fix overheating shouldn’t come at the cost of performance on the A17 Pro chip. The iPhone 15 Pro with its new USB-C port cuts off max charging at 27W, though those using a beefier charging adapter could make the device warmer than usual.
Apple’s initial response to the overheating controversy is a part of its standard playbook. First, the company tells customers they’re the problem, before eventually admitting to some blame under pressure. Back in 2010, some users complained about the iPhone 4 having reception issues due to the location of the antenna location on the side of the device. In effect, users’ hands were getting in the way of reception, so the big-man-in-charge Steve Jobs told complainers to just “avoid holding it that way.”
That legacy continued with its current CEO Tim Cook, who last year responded to pressures of letting iPhone users talk to Android users without the dreaded green bubble with “buy your mom an iPhone.” Google’s “Get the Message” campaign for Apple to adopt RCS hasn’t spurred any change, but Apple might inevitably bow to some pressure. After all, it took the European Union regulating USB-C standardization before Apple finally bowed to pressure.
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Hopefully, these planned future updates will fix the overheating issue. In the meantime, Apple might be better off not telling users they’re the problem before their inevitable mea culpa.
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