Apple to Address iPhone 15 Pro Overheating Issue With iOS 17 Update

[teh_hunterer]

Ten different outlets each parroting the same mistruth doesn’t make it any more true. It just means that there are ten different outlets each saying something that is not true or accurate, especially since they do not appear to have done any independent investigative work of their own, but are instead just citing the same source.

It’s the real world equivalent of social media.

Time and again, what I am seeing are hit pieces from these supposedly objective news outlets, which have no reason to exist aside from serving as clickbait to draw in the views. And you know that they are never going to issue any corrections or retractions when the truth does finally come to light.

They are supposed to be better than that. We are supposed to be better than that.

This is the truth. And what has been alarming with this year's iPhone launch especially is the lack of a balancing voice of reason. Usually there would be articles to point to that debunk stupid claims like this, but this time around they all just report on each other's reporting (on each other) and the validity of whatever piece of original information sparked it is long lost.

And usually there would be a majority of users on social media and in forums like this correcting those, but this time the vast majority of people are repeating the factually incorrect claims, almost in complete lock step with each other with identical talking points.

I'm sad to say I think social media, online reporting, and places like this have mostly become overrun. Overrun by clickbait reporting, and posts from people where you could not in good faith claim there isn't at least a 50% chance they're part of some troll farm.

Even MacRumors shows very shoddy journalistic integrity to call this an overheating issue in the first place.

 

[Abazigal]

I think this is as good an opportunity to sum up what we do know about this issue once and for all.

1) The iPhone's heating problem is evidently due to a specific interaction between apps like Instagram and Uber, with iOS 17. I assume that it's only a matter of time before both sides fix the issue and all is right as rain.

I do find it funny that the apps being called out are also notorious for tracking our location and data. While I am certainly not experiencing this problem on my 13 pro max, you have to wonder if Meta was just busted trying to doing something funny with their app.

There is nothing wrong with the thermal design of the phone, and I am giving Apple the benefit of a doubt when they say that their patch will not throttle the performance of the phone. We will see when the update is issued.

2) There are concerns with the 14 pro max apparently being easy to break, based on the Jerryrigeverything video where he cracks the glass back with his bare hands. I am personally not too concerned about this, because Zack is a pretty strong person, and you have to go out of your way to recreate the "crackgate" phenomenon. In short, the conditions under which the glass will crack is just not representative of normal everyday usage.

3) The normal iPhone 15 having just a usb 2.0 port. While this seems to be a limitation tied to the A16 chip, I doubt most users will ever notice, because they only plug in a usb-c cable to charge.

In all, this year's iPhone model represents yet another solid list of year-over-year upgrades. Apple is not expecting too many people to upgrade from the 14 pro max, so complaints that it doesn't represent a meaningful upgrade over last year's model is missing the point. It's only been what, a week since the iPhone 15 pro / max has been released? Many people have not even received their orders yet. The amount of negativity surrounding this is off the roof and frankly, quite ridiculous.

 

[kraistt]

Your comment demonstrates quite well why people should use facts, and not "common sense" to make decisions. Facts would tell you that, among metals, Grade 5 Ti has a very poor thermal conductivity of 6.7 W/m-K (https://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=mtp641), whereas 316 stainless has a thermal conductivity of roughly 2.5 times that at 16.3 W/m-K (https://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=MQ316J).

So, it does make a lot of sense to believe that a Ti chassis could reduce the ability of the device to eliminate heat.

Thermal management in phones isn’t just about the material of the chassis.

Take Aluminum, for instance. Its got a thermal conductivity of about 237 W/m-K, which is waaay higher than both Ti and SS, and yet phones with these different materials (14/14pro) can have similar thermal performance. This tells us that there’s more to it than just the chassis material.

The way the internal components are arranged, the interfaces, any interior linings—they all have a role in how a device handles heat. Not to mention, a lot of the heat in phones is actually dissipated through the screen and the back, regardless of the chassis material.

I think if Apple states that is not due to Ti, we can trust that Apple did the heat analysis and they are not lying, otherwise, someone could eeaasily come and sue them because of misleading customers

 

[Housel]

Hello fellow forum members,
Since I got the iOS 17.1 beta on my iPhone 15 pro yesterday, my question is will this expected warmup update coincide with the beta or will I have to wait for the official 17.1? Because since I didn't have a backup of 17.0.2, I can't go back to it from the 17.1 beta.

 

[3530025]

The iPhone 15 models were all in extremely limited testing due to Apples very closed new product development culture. This is nothing new but issues like this appearing on launch of a new product is exactly the sort of thing that would have been caught if they had professional testers doing the evaluations rather than handfuls of internal engineers.

For example. The BMW wireless charging issue would have been caught with a broader program or a professional testing company.

And before anyone argues against this please consider I’ve been doing exactly this sort of work for almost 30 years in the very same industry as Apple. And yes I’ve worked with them as well. I’m just not impressed with their inflexible approach after so many years of quite fortunate success.

You are totally right. I don't know Apple's testing environment and which tests do they actually perform to pass the testing. The thing is - if your priority is keeping the information as secret as possible (and I somehow believe this is Apple's priority when designing and testing new product), then it's hard to manage this secret in a large testing group.

I believe these are two things that goes against each other. Either you have more chance to keep your secrets from the public - but the testing group is just small internal group. Or you have many many testers, but there's quite big chance that details would be leaked from someone of that group.

Also I don't want to sound like apologist, but you can't test and predict everything. There are just so many variables. So many chargers, so many cables, so many cars, so many apps... Can Apple do better? Definitely! But it's easy to blame someone when something goes bad to not catching such exception before the product launch.

I did not work as a tester, but I certainly was working with testers - as a product leader/owner and so I know it's a challenge to have really good testing. (but yeah, Apple is not some small startup, they already should have this figured out...).

 

[Elmo1938]

WHEN? and is there something I/we can do to mitigate the problem before 17.1?

 

[Abazigal]

WHEN? and is there something I/we can do to mitigate the problem before 17.1?

If it's possible to identify the offending app on your device (eg: Instagram), delete it first and stick with the browser version for now? I think the main solution right now is to simply not use said app?

 

[Mac_The_Ripper]

More iOS related brilliance from Cook and his crack squad.

 

[Mac_The_Ripper]

Seems fair and reasonable but wont stop the flood of comments and posts from "news" sites trying to make it into a big thing that's a real problem.

It also won't stop the flood of Apple defenders from blindly defending Apple at every turn.

 

[I7guy]

It also won't stop the flood of Apple defenders from blindly defending Apple at every turn.

Just like it won’t stop the flood of critics from continuing in their crusade.

However, I’m confident the update will address the issue.

 

[Mac_The_Ripper]

Just like it won’t stop the flood of critics from continuing in their crusade.

However, I’m confident the update will address the issue.

I would hope so.

 

[I7guy]

The iPhone 15 models were all in extremely limited testing due to Apples very closed new product development culture. This is nothing new but issues like this appearing on launch of a new product is exactly the sort of thing that would have been caught if they had professional testers doing the evaluations rather than handfuls of internal engineers.

To be fair you and we don’t know what kind of testing apple does and if the software vendor made the change that caused the issue. We only extrapolate what apple doesn’t do based on our limited knowledge.

For example. The BMW wireless charging issue would have been caught with a broader program or a professional testing company.

Sure. If bmw did their due diligence this wouldn’t have happened.

And before anyone argues against this please consider I’ve been doing exactly this sort of work for almost 30 years in the very same industry as Apple.

There are self professed IT folks on MR that (have claimed to) have major responsibilities and run IT departments. Unless you are Craig F. that experience can’t be extrapolated into a guess.

And yes I’ve worked with them as well. I’m just not impressed with their inflexible approach after so many years of quite fortunate success.

 

[Fat_Guy]

Sadly, with possible battery and NFC failures “possibly” related to heat problems. I can’t see how Apple addresses this problem without “some” throttling of the processor until all issues are resolved.

 

[ttaylor2258]

I miss the days when Apple made things that were both nice and functional and just worked right.

 

[theinsaneworld]

To the folks that think the tone of things around here have changed - it’s always been like this. I’ve lurked the MR forums since basically the beginning. There have always been folks that were loyalists and those that were haters. The primary thing that has shifted is the fans can be a bit more defensive. I can’t really blame them though.

Just look at this latest thing around the iPhone 15 Pros and the high temps. There was commentary by a non-technical supply chain analyst who I think has received an outsized amount of influence for what he has historically gotten right. Basically everything he said was wrong but it had been reprinted by a ton of folks in the media as fact and it all turned out to be wrong and impacted the stock materially.

People have a tendency to get defensive, especially if there is a history of this sort of inaccurate commentary out there. Apple is not perfect by any stretch but they actually have an inordinate amount of negative news thrown at the wall to see what sticks. It helps drive clicks across social media, YouTube and the general business news ecosystem. Apple doesn’t need defenders but people are squishy and can get upset.

 

[cocky jeremy]

A software update? Why? It's the perfect opportunity to release the iCooler!

 

[Fat_Guy]

To the folks that think the tone of things around here have changed - it’s always been like this. I’ve lurked the ME forums since basically the beginning. There have always been folks that were loyalists and those that were haters. The primary thing that has shifted is the fans can be a bit more defensive. I can’t really blame them though.

Just look at this latest thing around the iPhone 15 Pros and the high temps. There was commentary by a non-technical supply chain analyst who I think has received an outsized amount of influence for what he has historically gotten right. Basically everything he said was wrong but it had been reprinted by a ton of folks in the media as fact and it all turned out to be wrong and impacted the stock materially.

People have a tendency to get defensive, especially if there is a history of this sort of inaccurate commentary out there. Apple is not perfect by any stretch but they actually have an inordinate amount of negative news thrown at the wall to see what sticks. It helps drive clicks across social media, YouTube and the general business news ecosystem. Apple doesn’t need defenders but people are squishy and can get upset.

It happened to me last year with the camera shake issue and all the bugs. I get it. But they were quick to address it and so far so good.


This one needs to be fixed pronto as the heat negatively affects components in different ways and not immediately. By being totally transparent including the remedies, Apple will add to the consumer loyalty they already have. But to be closed mouthed about it because of possible lawsuits is a bad approach. Lawyers have messed up too many things in the world today.

 

[theinsaneworld]

I miss the days when Apple made things that were both nice and functional and just worked right.

You mean the days of the flaking TiBooks or the original MacBook Air with the drop down port cover that had issues or the hockey puck mouse or the PowerBooks that had a host of issues or the 3G iPhone that had cracks at the 30-pin dock connector or the Cube?

Every single company has issues, including Apple back in the day. There’s a reason that the Genius Bars were a core aspect of Apple stores from the beginning. I would argue that the latest gen MBPs tick all the boxes you mentioned. Same with the latest MBA and the Mac Studio, and outside an acknowledged software bug, I love my new iPhone 15 Pro Max. It feels better in the hand, is quick, looks great and I’m enjoying it quite a bit.

 

[Abazigal]

Just look at this latest thing around the iPhone 15 Pros and the high temps. There was commentary by a non-technical supply chain analyst who I think has received an outsized amount of influence for what he has historically gotten right. Basically everything he said was wrong but it had been reprinted by a ton of folks in the media as fact and it all turned out to be wrong and impacted the stock materially.

It's more than that.

In this situation, Ming Chi Kuo seems to be acting as an unofficial spokesperson for TSMC. He is deliberately spreading falsehoods about the iPhone 15 pro so people will not think that there is anything wrong with their processors. Whether or not this is the case is immaterial. Management genuinely seems worried enough about the possibility of bad press that they are willing to throw their biggest customer under the bus.

Which then raises the question - by being so eager to believe every single bit of bad press about Apple, does that make the haters hear TSMC's willing conspirator, or unwitting pawn?

Too many people here just seem all too eager to believe and assume the worst of Apple. I will never understand why.

 

[theinsaneworld]

It happened to me last year with the camera shake issue and all the bugs. I get it. But they were quick to address it and so far so good.


This one needs to be fixed pronto as the heat negatively affects components in different ways and not immediately. By being totally transparent including the remedies, Apple will add to the consumer loyalty they already have. But to be closed mouthed about it because of possible lawsuits is a bad approach. Lawyers have messed up too many things in the world today.

That’s fair. The only thing I’d add is that they came out less than a week after the phones being released, acknowledged the issue and stated that the fix is coming soon. They also explicitly called out that the thermal loads they are seeing shouldn’t impact the long term health of the device. I doubt they would call it out if they weren’t confident, specifically because IF they are lying, they get sued and discovery shows that they were lying, the damage would be way worse.

That is much better than say Microsoft, completely ignoring the outcry over the Surface Duos for months on end or Google Pixels last year and how bad it was that Google apologists were getting rid of their Pixels.

 

[xgman]

I'm guessing a 17.0.3 will be the heat fix, and then they'll continue on with testing 17.1. Unless they have already done something about it in 17.1 beta.

 

[hans1972]

“How Now Brown Cow?!”

Every person in these forum who flamed iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max owners who constructively reported their own personal experiences of abnormal overheating issues owes them an apology.

(But each is probably too big of a baby to do so.)

There’s a place online for flaming people, and it’s called Twitter or “X.”

Some owners even wrote that their iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max froze altogether with the “On Hold” “…will resume when iPhone returns to normal temperature” on-screen message but were still called babies and technology-illiterate.

(Explain away that event and on-screen message and deny people their own personal experiences!)

I just hope Apple’s fix is not to permanently “tune down” the A17 Pro’s overall performance — a blunt approach to prevent overheating and thermal throttling (but would ultimately work). That would be a shame.

Apple finally reported the abnormal overheating issue itself and said it occurred on some 15 Pro models when using a small number of third party apps, so I hope it’s a fix like Apple’s software fix for a relatively small number of iPhone 14 models that suffered violent OIS shaking of the camera sensor module when also running a small number of third party apps.

That fix didn’t cripple overall performance in any way, and I hope/expect the same will be true for this fix.

A lot of them didn't report it constructively. They said it was a hardware failure, the SoC-design, the frame design, Apple needed to recall, it was a dud, DOA, etc.

If all of those who experienced a warm iPhone said:

My iPhone got more warm (not overheated) than what I expected and I don't know why because I am extremely ill equipped to determine the causes of unexpected behaviour of complex devices and there is a 50% change I have below average intelligence

then none of them would have been flamed.

 

[hans1972]

Your comment demonstrates quite well why people should use facts, and not "common sense" to make decisions. Facts would tell you that, among metals, Grade 5 Ti has a very poor thermal conductivity of 6.7 W/m-K (https://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=mtp641), whereas 316 stainless has a thermal conductivity of roughly 2.5 times that at 16.3 W/m-K (https://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=MQ316J).

So, it does make a lot of sense to believe that a Ti chassis could reduce the ability of the device to eliminate heat.

Yes, but the iPhone 15 Pro uses a chassis consisting of both aluminium and titanium.

So most users don't even have the facts correct.

 

[Armada2]

Just curious if any of you read the whole article before creating a knee jerk response in the comments…..

Apple said they are not going to reduce performance.
This is measurable if they do.

Try reading more than the article’s title next time. You don’t have to….but it helps.

Don't worry I read it so don't ass-u-me and if you believe everything Apple says then check their history and excuses they come out with.. (I also read those articles) btw I am pro Apple but to not detect this with months of QA testing with their iOS and new/old phone is poor.

So to answer your question it's not a knee jerk and I can write whatever I want

 

[alatariel]

Yes, but the iPhone 15 Pro uses a chassis consisting of both aluminium and titanium.

So most users don't even have the facts correct.

Yes it does, however I don't believe any of the external faces of the iPhone 15 Pro are aluminium, which makes me wonder how efficiently heat can exit the chassis.