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Don't be confused. And please use your brain.

My 3G is also black and performed this task in all conditions. A phone that can not be "used in a convertible (with top down) in direct sunlight, on a hot summer day" is defective.

Do you think it might affect sales if the box read:

"WARNING: Avoid prolonged exposure to direct sun"

or

"CAUTION: Phone will become inoperable when used in beautiful weather"

or perhaps:

"The new 4G incorporates a magical, enchanting, thermostat that prevents function during daylight."

Get some sense.

You mean something like this genius?

Environmental requirements

* Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F
(0° to 35° C)
* Nonoperating temperature: -4° to 113° F
(-20° to 45° C)
* Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
* Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)

http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

It's been in the mid 90's all week in DC, I sure as hell wouldn't leave my phone in the direct sun in my car.
 
It's been in the mid 90's all week in DC, I sure as hell wouldn't leave my phone in the direct sun in my car.

And I guess that's just it... the phone is incompatible with my lifestyle and the 3G was better suited to my needs.

I took it to the Apple Store in Clarendon last night after getting several straight-to-voicemails and they confirmed the phone was screwed and gave me another.

I'm hoping the temperature sensor was part of it, but I don't think it was. I will continue to test drive my second 4G...
 
Find a shady spot in your car to hold the phone. Do you have a center console (that's where I put mine when it's plugged in). If you want to be able to operate the phone while driving, though, you could get one of those holders that keeps the phone in front of an A/C vent. I used to use one of those years back with a Treo and my phone was kept very cold.
 
When I exchanged my iPhone 4 in the Apple store yesterday due to yellowing issues getting worse I was warned not to use it outdoors in direct light on hot days.

The genius asked me why I was using it outside on a hot day in direct light. He suggested that might be causing the yellowing issues to get worse. He was even questioning how long I was using it for outside. Geez@!
 
I once had my iPhone 3GS in a zippered compartment with a clear cover on the tank bag on my motorcycle. The air temperature was about 45 degrees, but it was a bright, sunny day (this was in the mountains).

After about 45 minutes of riding, I stopped on the side of the road to check Google Maps, and pulled the phone out of the bag. It was so damn hot, I had to put it down. Of course, the temperature warning screen was up, and I couldn't do anything.

Sitting in the tank bag, it had been exposed to direct sunlight, but absolutely zero airflow. Any black object will heat up in conditions like that, it's not something unique to the iPhone. Air temperature has basically nothing to do with it - black objects absorb solar radiation. A white iPhone would probably fare much better.

I ended up getting back on the bike and driving about a mile at 60 mph, holding the phone up in the airstream with my left hand, and it cooled down pretty quick.
 
The genius asked me why I was using it outside on a hot day in direct light. He suggested that might be causing the yellowing issues to get worse. He was even questioning how long I was using it for outside. Geez@!

I don't understand...you can't use your phone while being outside on a hot day? That is just ridiculous. A phone should operate in these conditions! I have never heard of phone issues due to moderate exposure to heat.
 
Well it is 88 out and your car is out in the heat. It is going to be hotter than that inside of your car, how much hotter I dunno but your care is going to act like a convection oven, that is till it's cooled off.

Now you took the top down but before then it was covered. The car is going to be hot.
 
I don't understand...you can't use your phone while being outside on a hot day? That is just ridiculous. A phone should operate in these conditions! I have never heard of phone issues due to moderate exposure to heat.

Charging generates heat. Usage generates heat. Absorbing solar energy generates heat. These phones don't have active heat dissipation, so leaving them in the sun is simply a bad idea. I had my 3GS overheat once while running a GPS app and sitting on the passenger-side seat. The car was air conditioned, but the combination of the heat from the sunlight, the lack of circulation, and the load from the GPS caused the poor thing to shut down.

Recommendation to the OP: If there's no cool, shaded place in your car, at least position the phone in front of a vent. You can sweat to cool off, your phone can't.
 
gloss said:
Charging generates heat. Usage generates heat. Absorbing solar energy generates heat. These phones don't have active heat dissipation, so leaving them in the sun is simply a bad idea. I had my 3GS overheat once while running a GPS app and sitting on the passenger-side seat. The car was air conditioned, but the combination of the heat from the sunlight, the lack of circulation, and the load from the GPS caused the poor thing to shut down.

Recommendation to the OP: If there's no cool, shaded place in your car, at least position the phone in front of a vent. You can sweat to cool off, your phone can't.

Yes such activities generate heat...but the poster said the genius asked if he was usung his phone outside...
 
I had same problem

I've had my iPhone 4 lock up twice because of heat, once it was in my pocket in a comfortably air conditioned room. The screen went totally black and it was scorching hot and wouldn't turn on for about 20 minutes.

The second time was earlier today. I was driving in my car for about 3 minutes with the map and compass going before I got the temperature warning screen. I set it in the shade under my seat but it wouldn't turn on until I was indoors for a while.

This doesn't seem to be the typical put something in the sun and it gets hot, this phone seems VERY prone to overheating. I hadn't even driven a mile before it died.
 
Yeah... I know that. Unfortunately I didn't have a mercury thermometer handy. My point is it's not even hot out. It's actually beautiful.


Outside temperature doesn't matter. Ever get into a car thats 90+ degrees when its only 60 out?

Don't lay your phone out in the sun.
 
iPhone 4 Heat Caution

I had my I phone sitting in a 72˚ bedroom face down and when all call came in it just displayed the caution that the phone was over heated and I couldn't use the phone. I turned the phone off and when it restarted it was fine. Im hoping this isn't going to be a constant issue. I have already noticed my i4 battery is losing charge faster than my original 16GB iPhone with Edge network. My original lasted as long as the new i4 after being close to 2yrs old.

I love the phone and really think the issues with the antenna have been blown out of proportion, but I'm glad Steve addressed the issues today!
 
Mine gets very warm, but only while charging from my car charger, and never so warm that it stops working. Perhaps my car charger (in the cigarette lighter socket) works at a higher output than normal.
 
I was wondering if the iphone 4 would do this, my 3g has never had an issue but I got the warning on my ipad after 5 mins of use outside in sunlight the first day I used it outside.
 
I disagree with the OP's notion of what constitutes a "FAIL". To me, a true fail would be that there is no automatic temperature sensor, you use the phone when it's too hot and it dies because of the overheating issue.
Heat issues with chip design is a critical piece of the engineering. Since the heat build up appears to be greater with the newer, faster chip, it makes sense that there be a warning. As someone else posted, the operating temperature guidelines are clearly stated. And we have no real way of knowing how hot your phone was on the 'beautiful day', but obviously too hot to operate. I'd rather get told to cool down my phone than have it die.
And I live in a very hot climate (109°f today) , use my phone a LOT outside and have yet to have the Temperature issue.
I also think the Apple Store employee who asked you why you were using the phone outside on a hot day isn't the shiniest star in the galaxy! I mean, let's try to inject a bit of common sense here.
I wouldn't buy a product that could only work in Saskatoon in January. But when it gets hotter than the hubs of hell, there are electronic devices that one is better off cooling down before using. I had a Motorola phone a while ago that had the same issue and you couldn't even read the display when it got too hot.
 
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