Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 17 do not charge iPhone while sleeping

macfacts said:
I saw a news article saying not to charge the iPhone while sleeping or while unattended:
vancouversun.com

B.C. iPhone fire in middle of night leads to damages lawsuit against Apple

B.C. resident woke up from sound sleep to find bedroom filled with smoke and his burnt iPhone stuck to his leg and releasing gas.
vancouversun.com vancouversun.com
Click to expand...
1. the article quoted a person employed by the Surrey BC fire department. Studies contradict that. For example the Canadian government funded study, "The Influence of Electrical Fires in Residential Homes" lists only batteries stored in garages as a hazard. What is typically said is to avoid charging under pillows, blankets, or on soft surfaces that trap heat - and avoid cheap uncertified chargers and cables.
2. the person waited 2 years to sue
3. remarkable that a room could fill with smoke and severely burn their leg before they notice what's happening unless they were perhaps passed-out drunk or on drugs
4. “In particular, the iPhone had the tendency to overheat, explode and/or release gas unexpectedly...” So, how many out of literaly billions sold is a tendency?
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: Ben Sparrow and Parowdy
sarcasticgamer said:
So he slept with the phone plugged in with the cable charging in his lap or in his pants pocket overnight huh? SUS…😏
Click to expand...
Sounds like user error to me.

Nothing to see here folks, keep charging your phones overnight whilst you’re asleep.
 
  • Like
Reactions: boswald
If you work in your car and have a car charger, or work at a desk and have a desk charger, there's really no need to charge it overnight.
 
Hmm said:
I have the power company disconnect my house from the electrical grid every night and then reconnect it in the morning.
Click to expand...
That's living dangerously! Reconnecting it is dangerous as is the potential surge when you turn everything back on. Just keep it disconnected and go live in a cave. Avoid fire because it's dangerous. So are many animals (and people).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jumpthesnark and Allen_Wentz
Where does the article say it was charging when this happened ?.

There are three instances of 'charg' in the Fire Service advice, and one in the caption for an image from 2014.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Man burned after his new iPhone 6 bent and burst into flames

Arizona business coach Phillip Lechter says his brand-new iPhone 6 bent in his pocket and caught fire, leaving with him with second degree burns to his thigh and hip.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk

Perhaps the OP could re-title the post to 'do not use iPhone in a rickshaw'
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: max2
cjsuk said:
It does happen and like hell you should be charging a battery when you are asleep. Even with a factory fresh phone, cable, charger, proper charge controller and all that, there is a probabilistic failure mode to consider in your pocket incendiary. If it wasn't a thing, then we wouldn't have entire web sites and subreddits dedicated to "spicy pillows" which is the least violent failure mode.

Anyway it might not happen but it might happen. Which is why you have smoke alarms, seat belts and look left and right before we cross the road.

Edit: oh and this is nothing much to do with charge controllers, the charger itself or any of that but battery chemistry and engineering. The charger has a shelf life on the parts as well, particularly electrolytic capacitors. The cable has mechanical failure modes which lead to shorts and heating too. Those are different problems though.
Click to expand...

Wife charges her car at night in our climate controlled and attached garage. There is a hell of a lot more energy in those batteries than a phone, and we're not monitoring it.

I'm going to continue to not worry about it. We have smoke, CO, and heat detectors, and that's good enough for me.
 
Last edited:
cjsuk said:
My mother burned half her kitchen down because a RIFA X2 class capacitor, which is permanently connected across the mains before the isolation switch caught fire in a mixer. This is a known failure mode much reported and understood due to the epoxy encapsulation failing, moisture getting in and then the capacitor dissipating power and thus generating heat and eventually fire.

And we have the whole Grenfell tower fire here which took the lives of 72 people which started as an appliance fire and spread through cladding into the rest of the building. Don't assume a minor thing can't turn into a major thing.

View attachment 2578828

Sleep well.

Source: actual qualified electrical engineer...
Click to expand...
So what's your point?
When u step my foot outside the house I might get hit by a vehicle. When I am on an airplane flight, there might be an emergency.
There miggt be a meteor falling on my house ...

A headline "don't charge your iPhone while sleeping" asks for these kind of responses, it really belongs in the wasteland section.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: digimc, boswald and Jumpthesnark
Artemiz said:
Why do people post these clickbait articles and sensationalize? This is literally a one in a few million thing. He claims his iPhone was stuck to his leg which means it was under the sheets and possibly under his leg while wrapped in a thick case with zero ventilation. I’d toss out his lawsuit in his face.
Click to expand...
The article was in the Vancouver Sun; their entire business model is posting pseudo-news with poor reporting just to get clicks or copies sold. Have a look at any of their other content and you'll see what I mean. The fact that the article doesn't mention WHERE his phone was when it was being charged and caught fire ignores the most important details of the circumstances in which this occurred. Your point about it being stuck to his leg largely supports the likelihood of it being under the sheets with zero ventilation. Was he even using an Apple charger and cable? Again, poor reporting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: max2
jz0309 said:
So what's your point?
When u step my foot outside the house I might get hit by a vehicle. When I am on an airplane flight, there might be an emergency.
There miggt be a meteor falling on my house ...

A headline "don't charge your iPhone while sleeping" asks for these kind of responses, it really belongs in the wasteland section.
Click to expand...

Only if you don't look or fly UPS.

The point is you can mitigate risks.

Or you can shrug them off as improbable.
 
FatLouie said:
Well, he is in Vancouver....probably charges the phone in his cargo pants to keep warm on those cold nights. :D

Some people will always try to prove Darwin was correct.
Click to expand...
Vancouver is hardly cold, at least by Canadian standards. Edmonton, Winterpeg I mean Winnipeg, those are cold in the winter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FatLouie
I think I've charged my current phone overnight twice in the year I've had it. That probably makes me an outlier among iPhone users, but hey, I'm safer in my bed by the sound of it.
 
My iPhone 7 exploded while it was charging.
Went to a repair shop and got a fake battery. Now it just shuts off whenever it wants to.
 
ignatius345 said:
This is why I only sleep with my iPhone and all battery powered devices inside a fireproof safe, and I also shut off all my household circuit breakers at bedtime.
Click to expand...
And open all the doors and windows because trying to do that in an emergency can be confusing.
 
uacd said:
Well, while most people have not been in such situations (myself included), this is more than a likely scenario.

Older lightning-equipped iPhones were known to work properly only with MFI accessories. When regular person sees that after paying $$$$ for the phone itself they would need to shell some $$$ more on decent charger and/or cable after their breaks, obviously they would go for cheapest.

These cheap cables and charging bricks are often a reason for things like that. And Apple is fully aware because they have done zero precautions. It could have been a bad battery as well, so maybe the extent of this is much bigger.

This is why:

- batteries must be fully user-removable AND replaceable. So in case of bloat, battery would just lift a cover and not puncture itself from excessive heat and expansion;

- Apple must provide option for Bypass charging to decrease battery strain when using device during charging, so whenever person uses phone wired, charging would stop, PERIOD. OnePlus for example already provides that feature in their phones. It increases battery safety and health by A LOT. Imagine if this would have been on all MacBooks and iPads too?

- Apple must include option to force slow charging to prevent battery aging. Right in settings, so battery controller would not pass more than 5-10W during charging. Reduces heat, makes battery live longer.


But I guess considering there are still no such options, Apple is not really interested in users keeping using their older phones.

As for overnight charging it was likely NOT a cause of explosion since iPhone doesn’t care when to draw charge. It is all about battery, controller, wiring and brick. Anyway Apple should be found guilty, they should not get away with their utterly bad and low quality batteries that are worse than from budget Android phones
Click to expand...
OR, folks should just buy Android phones!?
 
  • Haha
Reactions: ignatius345
Fallforward said:
1. the article quoted a person employed by the Surrey BC fire department. Studies contradict that. For example the Canadian government funded study, "The Influence of Electrical Fires in Residential Homes" lists only batteries stored in garages as a hazard. What is typically said is to avoid charging under pillows, blankets, or on soft surfaces that trap heat - and avoid cheap uncertified chargers and cables.
2. the person waited 2 years to sue
3. remarkable that a room could fill with smoke and severely burn their leg before they notice what's happening unless they were perhaps passed-out drunk or on drugs
4. “In particular, the iPhone had the tendency to overheat, explode and/or release gas unexpectedly...” So, how many out of literaly billions sold is a tendency?
Click to expand...
Release gas… unexpectedly? This video was ahead of its time. THIS is how you properly release that gas, expectedly.
 
This has really bothered me, and now, it is a matter of national pride; I can't let the Canadians outdo their southern neighbor.

Tonight, I am sticking my MacAlly keyboard in my jammies and charging it while I sleep.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Unregistered 4U
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back