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

3460169

Cancelled
Original poster
Feb 18, 2009
1,293
212
In short, I had a black 256GB iPhone 7 (AT&T) for no more than a day because it ran excessively hot, even while off charger and not being actively used (screen off). At one point its surface temp on the back casing was 112F (via IR thermometer) in a 65F room. By comparison, my wife's 32GB phone was 75F at the same time. At the time of this writing, I have a replacement phone (128GB) operating at 76F. (Screen off, not plugged in, doing nothing.)

I understand when the phone is first fired up it's going to run warm while iCloud stuff is going on; indexing is going on; so on and so forth (I did no backup restore -- set up as New). While at work today (18 hours after phone initialization), I charged up the device to 100%, unplugged it and let it sit with no usage except an occasional iMessage or SMS reply. The battery was dead in less than 6 hours.

I have DFU installed 10.0.2, left it sitting at the hello screen with SIM pulled and no WiFi -- 91F. Clearly a hardware issue on this device. I spoke with one of the reps at the Apple Store when I got my replacement and he claimed a family member with the same iPhone 7 256GB talked about it running much hotter than expected, but made no statement about battery performance.

Curious how others with the 256GB 7 (not Plus) are faring with the thermals.
 
I have the same phone you had (7 256 black) but on VZW and have not noticed that problem.
 
Multiple reports now of the 256gb phones getting excessively hot. iJustine did her video of her JB 7+ 256gb and said she was on the phone talking when it got so hot that she couldn't touch the back.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jgelin
JB 256 7+, no heat issues at all. It was only a bit warm during the restore, nothing since then

Which carrier? Not that it should matter as this issue seems to be narrowed to 256GB phones. Wonder if there are two different storage makers like previous phones?
 
So I saw in another thread someone's 32gb is overheating. So while this may be more of an issue with 256gb phones, all of the ones I've read that are overheating are AT&T phones.
 
Odd that the overheating would seem to affect only the AT&T phones. Perhaps there's a different internal layout that exacerbates the issue, or a particular part from a particular supplier that is the root of the problem. /ponder....

In any case, I've had the 128GB model running quite normal and chill for the past 10.5 hours standby since full charge, with 1.67 hours light usage. Battery is 84% and back casing is 75F in a 70F room. I guess this one didn't come with the "hand warmer" feature of the previous. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: got556
Tried a couple games on mine and noticed it ran a little hotter but nothing out of the ordinary - in fact very similar to my previous 6.
 
Data point: 256GB JB 7 AT&T here (A1778). Zero issues with heat. Got a little warm during initial setup/restore but nothing out of the ordinary. Cool as a cucumber since then.
 
  • Like
Reactions: got556
Data point: 256GB JB 7 AT&T here (A1778). Zero issues with heat. Got a little warm during initial setup/restore but nothing out of the ordinary. Cool as a cucumber since then.

Very cool, so to speak. And Jet Black, no less. Those things are like unicorns now.:)
 
  • Like
Reactions: got556
Had some heat issues once I was restoring and reimaging over again at the start (damn Ibackup issues) but after that... its been cool.
 
Does your heat up if you use Bluetooth

Not really - bluetooth is being used every time I drive since it connects to my car. Never felt that it was noticeably warmer than other times. I also use BT headphones when exercising and the phone is either in a pocket or arm band and it does not get hot during those times either.
 
My 256 Matt Black 7+ only got slightly warm when it forst came out of the box and I was updating and restoring AND charging it all at the same time. Now it only get slightly warm when I do like 60 minutes of FaceTime, as expected.

I can listen to music all day via my BT headphones and it stay cool as the room temp.

My battery is as good if not better than my 6S+ was. Excellent.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.