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Very bad in cold weather

eclipse01

eclipse01

macrumors 68030
Original poster
May 16, 2011
2,844
404
Eau Claire, WI
Do iphones have sensor to turn off when its too cold? I have had mine die at like 20% and have left my phone in sub zero degree (almost fully charged) and have brought it in warm temp after about a half hour to see my phone shut down.

I know it has sensors for heat, but why cold?
 
eclipse01 said:
Do iphones have sensor to turn off when its too cold? I have had mine die at like 20% and have left my phone in sub zero degree (almost fully charged) and have brought it in warm temp after about a half hour to see my phone shut down.

I know it has sensors for heat, but why cold?
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Technology is not impervious to temperature fluctuations. They all have nominal operating temperatures. See this link - http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/specs/ 3/4 down the page -


Environmental Requirements

Operating ambient 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
Operating altitude: tested up to 10,000 feet (3000 m)
 
Did it actually give you a cold warning or just shut down? Extreme cold can decrease battery performance. Try reading up on the matter.
 
I had a friend get a temperature warning from the cold and then her iPhone shut down. So yes they have sensors that will shut it down if it gets too cold. I've found that it works fine in very cold temperatures though as long as you keep it in a pocket close enough to your body to keep it somewhat warm when you aren't using it.
 
mrkramer said:
I had a friend get a temperature warning from the cold and then her iPhone shut down. So yes they have sensors that will shut it down if it gets too cold. I've found that it works fine in very cold temperatures though as long as you keep it in a pocket close enough to your body to keep it somewhat warm when you aren't using it.
Click to expand...

more or less this was my question, I have seen the hot phone warning message, but never caught a cold one.

Thanks
 
eclipse01 said:
more or less this was my question, I have seen the hot phone warning message, but never caught a cold one.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Never seen or heard of a cold warning sensor. What kind of temps are you leaving your phone in? It will greatly decrease battery capacity until warmed up.

I suggest you do not leave it in a car, overnight, in temps less than freezing. Bring your baby in.
 
Lucille Carter said:
Never seen or heard of a cold warning sensor. What kind of temps are you leaving your phone in? It will greatly decrease battery capacity until warmed up.

I suggest you do not leave it in a car, overnight, in temps less than freezing. Bring your baby in.
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left it outside for about an hour in -12 degrees, others I have noticed it shutting down in my coat outer pocket (the pocket for putting mp3 players in) in about 15 degrees.

Yay Wisconsin weathers :rolleyes:
 
I've shoveled snow in -25~C winds with my iPhone in my pocket while listening to music. I took it out a few times to check messages and it was pretty cold but was working normally.
 
Macalway said:
If that's the case, the airwaves must be relatively free of iPhones today.:eek:
Click to expand...
It applies to batteries/electronics in general--more or less basic physics--so certainly not something iPhone/Apple related specifically.
 
Cold will kill you battery but when you have battery left and it's to cold your phones suppose to give you a nasty message telling you to take your phone some where warm.
 
I've had my iPhone5 shut off while skiing many times on very cold days. When I bring it indoors and it warms up, it still shows plenty of battery life left; thus I'm sure it's the cold causing it to shut down. Once, I was taking a cool 360degree picture using Stitch in a beautiful glade, and the phone just shut off in my hands - it was about 15 degrees F outside.
 
eclipse01 said:
left it outside for about an hour in -12 degrees, others I have noticed it shutting down in my coat outer pocket (the pocket for putting mp3 players in) in about 15 degrees.

Yay Wisconsin weathers :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I know all too well as my family lives in Wildrose Wisc not to far from Appleton! I visit to play on the snow machines! TOO much horsepower for a vehicle of which TOO many drive from bar to bar! :eek:

It is minus 17F in Appleton right now. Very few things work after being left in those temps!:p

Stay warm my friend!
 
I've had it shut off in really cold weather, and I mostly don't use it in the extreme cold. I make sure its in a pocket that's close to my body to hopefully get some of the warmth from my body heat.
 
Pants pocket

I agree with previous posters. Keep it close to your body. When out in really cold weather Sunday night, my iPhone stayed functional because it was in my pants pocket. My wife's shut down due to the cold because she was keeping it in her purse. Once we got back into the car, her phone warmed up again and worked fine.
 
I have an older 3gs under IOS 6 that shuts down in cold weather and tells me that it is TOO HOT and must cool down before I can use. I warm with body heat and then it works.
 
I've had the heat warning message but never had the cold warning message. My old 4s sometimes cut off at 50% battery when it was cold but i thought it was because it was old and needed new battery.
 
sviato said:
I've shoveled snow in -25~C winds with my iPhone in my pocket while listening to music. I took it out a few times to check messages and it was pretty cold but was working normally.
Click to expand...

Your body temperature was keeping the the phone warm :p
 
To me I heard that the temperature sensor on ipads and iphones will trigger the shutdown with no notice if it gets extremely cold to protect the electronics... Limpolo
 
havent seen any cold warning msg... my iphone have just shutted off without saying anything. and iphone is the only phone doing this. other phones have been working fine..
 
There is no reason for apple to shut down the phone in cold temperature as compared to when it is too hot.


The reason the phone just dies is because of how lithium ion batteries operate. A battery could have 80% charge but when left in the cold, the electrons start to move slower and are not able to operate properly so the voltage dramatically drops. This results in the iPhone thinking the battery is almost drained and that is why it shuts off. Theoretically speaking you could keep your phone in -50 and it would work as long as only the battery is kept warm that is why there is no reasnon for a cold warning. As opposed to a hot warning, when things get too hot they start to break.
 
the odd part is that it seems to happen everytime when the battery is around 40%. when you try to turn iphone on, it says the battery is empty, but back at home, the battery has 40% left.
 
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