BackApple to Address iPhone 15 Overheating Issues in iOS 17 Software Update
The company says the new titanium design has no impact on heat and attributes the issue to bugs
PremiumApple is responding to the heat—the iPhone 15 heat, that is.
After new buyers—and my own review—found that the new phones were getting very warm, the company on Saturday said it plans to release an iOS 17 software update to improve the issue. Or at least part of the issue.
“We have identified a few conditions which can cause the iPhone to run warmer than expected," an Apple spokesman said. Those conditions include:
Typical set up — Yes, iPhones do typically get warm in the first few days after setting them up as they download data. (In my case, though, I experienced heat on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max days after setup was complete.)
An iOS bug — Apple says it has found a bug in iOS 17 that “will be addressed in a software update." The software update won’t reduce performance, the company said.
Third-party apps — The company says that updates to recent third-party apps “are causing them to overload the system" and that Apple is “working with these app developers on fixes that are in the process of rolling out." Some of those apps include Uber and Instagram. Instagram issued a fix earlier this week.
Apple’s also being clear on what’s not causing the issue: titanium. While some analysts and experts suspected that the new material in the frame of the Pro models may be a reason for the heat, Apple says titanium is better for heat dissipation than the previous stainless-steel Pro phones.
These fixes don’t mean your new iPhone won’t ever get warm. Intensive gaming, wireless charging, streaming high quality video all may cause your phone to heat up. “These conditions are normal," according to an Apple support page.
Charging your phone with a higher wattage USB-C charger, those above 20 watts, may also make the devices toasty. The company says the new USB-C charging port—included in iPhones for the first time this year—isn’t to blame for any excessive heat. And it says the higher temperatures won’t impact the long term performance of the phones because of protections Apple built into the devices.
Still, it wouldn’t be an iPhone launch without some hiccups. Last year, we had roller coasters setting off crash detection in the iPhone 14 models, and years ago, there was Bend-Gate and Maps-Gate.
Apple didn’t say when it will issue the software update.
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Write to Joanna Stern at joanna.stern@wsj.com
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