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Apple Investigating iPhone 7 Plus Caught Melting on Video
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Considering that Apple has built in a detection mechanism to prevent the iPhone from working with any cable that isn't properly licensed and authorized by Apple, then yes it is the phones fault. Or Apple's fault. You pick.
There is a chip in the cable, that Apple uses to establish if said cable is authorized to be used with the phone.
But blaming a cable for a burning phone is like blaming the extension cord for the Toaster catching on fire.
If the extension cord catches on fire and the fire spreads to the toaster, then blame the cord.
If the toaster catches on fire internally, and the extension cord is unharmed, then blame the toaster.
Or... we could go a different route... let's blame the house. After all, the house should have known the phone was fully charged and turned off the electricity on that wall outlet.
Now, you could potentially blame the charger (not the cable) if the charger failed to properly regulate the power sent through to the cable. The charger is a converter. It converts 110 or 220 volts AC to approximately 5 volts DC.
The charger then sends that DC power through the cable to the phone.
Now, a good circuit design will measure incoming power, and determine if it is within acceptable limits. A mechanism I would hope the iPhone is using.
But, suppose the charger suddenly sends 20 volts through the cable due to a malfunction. In typical cases, the cable will melt if it's not rated for 20 volts. Thus the cable will burn first.
If this were to happen, and the cable didn't melt, then here's where another piece of ancient technology comes into place. All electronic devices of quality design, should have a sacrificial element that will break first, and sever the supply of power to the device to prevent fire caused by overcurrent. Those of us that have been around a bit, call these sacrificial elements "fuses".
Obviously, technology is now smaller than a traditional fuse. But the same effect is achieved by having a trace wire inside the device that is slightly weaker than the rest of the devices internal circuitry.
This weaker link should be placed very close to the supply of power entering the device (phone in this circumstance). That way if the supply of power does become greater than is safe, the weak link breaks, power is fully cut off to the devices other parts. And all that happens is the device doesn't work anymore.
Now, if ancient technology like fuses is beyond Apple's level of comprehension, then it's time they get out of the electronics industry.
So, to sum it up, if the smoke, fire, sparks, etc originate inside the device, then the device (or its design team) is to blame. If the cord burns first and the flames spread to the phone, then blame the cord.
By blaming the cable for a fire that originated inside the phone, essentially you're saying Apple couldn't even grasp the concept of how a lightbulb works. If this is your defense of Apple, I'd seriously consider buying from someone else.
We also don't know what else might have contributed to or exasperated this "melting" of the phone. (Was it damaged by prolonged water exposure, using cheap after market charger, prior 3rd party repair or parts installed, etc.) IMO there's some missing details that will come out during Apple's investigation. Look forward to the follow-up story.
Why would an iPhone 7 be fitted with an aftermarket battery - should still be under warranty
ANY Battery control board has fuses and resistors all over the place, intended to pop once current keeps coming but really shouldn't.
So while the worst 5$ knockoff - charger imaginable is able to blow your battery control circuit board, it shouldn't be able to overcharge your battery. ever.
we don't know what really happened. Good that nobody was injured!
Brings back memories, haha. Meh, it happens. Everything with a battery has potential to do this, I'm glad the owners were ok.
Same happened to my wife's MacBook;
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbook-caught-fire-with-happy-ending.1279785/ empty mess with smoke everywhere.
- Apple were great though with replacing it, at least.
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Same happened to my wife's MacBook;
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbook-caught-fire-with-happy-ending.1279785/ empty mess with smoke everywhere.
- Apple were great though with replacing it, at least.
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Probably - they've done enough battery recalls before.
A battery defect in this specific iPhone and no others? Or a widespread issues of faulty batteries?
If you mean the latter, that would have been obvious by now as they've sold hundreds of millions of these phones, so any manufacturing defects would come out of the woodwork. If you mean that this one phone has a battery problem, that again could be difficult to figure out if most of the phone has already been destroyed.
However it's worth noting that this problem could be caused from a seriously faulty charger, the battery getting punctured, or the phone being used well outside its recommended temperature levels. So it's best to eliminate the obvious points first and work backwards from there, which is what Apple are currently doing.
duh, Lithium-Ion Batteries can catch fire, big news. comes with the technology, and even the best quality control and safety-electronics won't prohibit a few of millions of batteries to go up in flames.
at least it's not a widespread manufacturer's fault like with the samsung galaxy or the infamous macbook pro battery bulge a few years back.
at least it's not a widespread manufacturer's fault like with the samsung galaxy or the infamous macbook pro battery bulge a few years back.
Standard aluminum has a melting point around 1200°F ...
Can the fire from the battery really get hot enough to melt the aluminum?
Can the fire from the battery really get hot enough to melt the aluminum?
An iPhone 7 won't need a new battery for some time.
Apple would be very quick to report if the phone had a third-party battery (it would put them in the clear), which they have not done. So the evidence strongly suggests it is genuine.
My understanding is that third-party adapters are a greater risk for the user than they are the phone. They plug directly into a power socket and any faults or problems could lead to electric shock.
The cable is a relatively dumb device and shouldn't be the cause of battery ignition. If it was then incidents like this would be far more common. How many millions of iPhones are there in the world and how many people use non-Apple cables and adapters? Probably 100's of thousands if not millions.
The phone after all is ultimately responsible for its own charging and the power that it draws.
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And your typical hyperbole and exaggeration.If one note 7 reported on fire , mass hysteria, if one one phone, story called fake.
Bless the usual posters here
Every generation of iPhone has experienced such battery failures , it's the nature of the battery technology. This will be an isolated cause, unless it's linked to a batch of batteries with issues like note 7. I'd assume the former .
I think from the video most that melted was the plastics case. The aluminum casing was pretty much intact.
The level of "Apple Denial" here is hilarious! So many people badmouthing Samsung during the Note 7 battery issues, yet it happens to an iPhone and every excuse is given EXCEPT for the obvious--the battery "exploded" (to incorrectly use a term that people used about the Note 7 battery).
But isn't the part that regulates how much power is taken on by the device and at what rate within the device itself rather than the cable?
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Scale and frequency are certainly something that would play big roles. Details matter and certainly can make situations fairly different.
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My thoughts exactly. I was offered a 'free charger' at a local gas station. I laughed and declined. 'But it's FREEEEE!' the person cried as I walked out...