Apple is blaming a software program bug and different points tied to well-liked apps resembling Instagram and Uber for inflicting its lately launched iPhone 15 fashions to warmth up and spark complaints about turning into too scorching to deal with.
The Cupertino, California, firm stated Saturday that it’s engaged on an replace to the iOS17 system that powers the iPhone 15 lineup to stop the units from turning into uncomfortably scorching and is working with apps which might be working in methods “inflicting them to overload the system.”
Instagram, owned by Meta Platforms, modified its social media app earlier this week to stop it from heating up the system on the most recent iPhone working system.
Uber and different apps such because the online game Asphalt 9 are nonetheless within the means of rolling out their updates, Apple stated. It didn’t specify a timeline for when its personal software program repair can be issued however stated no issues of safety ought to stop iPhone 15 homeowners from utilizing their units whereas awaiting the replace.
“We now have recognized a couple of situations which may trigger iPhone to run hotter than anticipated,” Apple in a brief assertion offered to The Related Press after media reviews detailed overheating complaints which might be peppering on-line message boards.
The Wall Road Journal amplified the concerns in a narrative citing the overheating drawback in its personal testing of the brand new iPhones, which went on sale every week in the past.
It’s commonplace for brand spanking new iPhones to get uncomfortably heat throughout the first few days of use or when they’re being restored with backup data saved within the cloud — points that Apple already flags for customers. The units can also get scorching when utilizing apps resembling video video games and augmented actuality expertise that require a number of processing energy, however the heating points with the iPhone 15 fashions have gone past these typical conditions.
In its acknowledgement, Apple confused that the difficulty isn’t associated to the modern titanium casing that homes the high-end iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max as an alternative of the chrome steel used on older smartphones.
Apple additionally dismissed hypothesis that the overheating drawback within the new fashions is likely to be tied to a shift from its proprietary Lightning charging cable to the extra extensively used USB-C port that allowed it to adjust to a mandate issued by European regulators.
Though Apple expressed confidence that the overheating concern might be shortly mounted with the upcoming software program updates, the issue nonetheless may dampen gross sales of its marquee product at time when the corporate has confronted three consecutive quarters of year-over-year declines in total gross sales.
The downturn has affected iPhone gross sales, which fell by a mixed 4% within the 9 months coated by Apple’s previous three fiscal quarters in contrast with a yr earlier.
Apple is making an attempt to pump up its gross sales partly by elevating the beginning value for its top-of-the-line iPhone 15 Professional Max to $1,200, a rise of $100, or 9%, from final yr’s comparable mannequin.
Investor worries about Apple’s uncharacteristic gross sales funk have already got worn out greater than $300 billion in shareholder wealth for the reason that firm’s market worth closed at $3 trillion for the primary time in late June.
