Apple CEO Tim Cook greets customers purchasing Apple’s latest iPhone 15 during a launch event on the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in Recent York City on Sept. 22, 2023.
Alexi Rosenfeld | Getty Images
Apple said on Saturday that it’s going to issue a software update that may address customer complaints concerning the latest iPhone 15 models, released just over every week ago, running hot.
Apple said that the brand new iPhone models were running hot due to a mixture of bugs in iOS 17, bugs in apps, and a brief set-up period.
An Apple spokesperson told CNBC:
“Now we have identified a couple of conditions which could cause iPhone to run warmer than expected. The device may feel warmer in the course of the first few days after establishing or restoring the device due to increased background activity. Now we have also found a bug in iOS 17 that’s impacting some users and might be addressed in a software update. One other issue involves some recent updates to third-party apps which can be causing them to overload the system. We’re working with these app developers on fixes which can be within the strategy of rolling out.”
After Apple released the brand new iPhone 15 models earlier this month, user complaints on Apple’s forums, Reddit, and social media suggest that every one 4 models can get hotter than expected during use. CNBC’s review of the brand new iPhone Pros also noted the iPhone 15 Pro Max got hot.
“I just got the iPhone 15 Pro today and it is so hot i can not even hold it for very long!” wrote one commenter on Apple’s forums.
Apple’s latest high-end models, the $999 iPhone 15 Pro and $1,199 iPhone 15 Pro Max have a redesigned titanium enclosure with an aluminum frame to make them easier to repair. The issue with the brand new models overheating was not related to the titanium chassis design, Apple said.
As a substitute, Apple points to bugs with specific apps and a bug in iOS that might be fixed with software updates. Apple said that a forthcoming iOS 17 update to handle the problem won’t reduce the performance of the devices.
Apple’s website says that users may notice phones feeling warmer once they’re arrange from a backup, once they’re wirelessly charging, using graphics-heavy apps or games, or streaming high-quality video. Apple says that it’s normal for devices to be warm once they’re being heavily used, and if iPhones don’t display a temperature warning, they’re secure to make use of.
Still long lines
People wait in line to enter an Apple Store in Recent York, because the iPhone 15 is introduced, September 22, 2023.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Thus far, the brand new iPhones look like selling well, with ship times for the devices sometimes stretching out for weeks, and long lines appearing in front of Apple stores on launch day.
“Interestingly, lead times for the 15 Pro Max, 15 Plus and 15 are tracking more elevated relative to their predecessors (e.g., iPhone 14 Series), and the 15 Pro Max is boasting the best lead time we’ve seen historically across all SKUs since we’ve been tracking lead time data,” JPMorgan analysts wrote in a note last week.
But one notable Apple supply chain analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, said last week in a blog post that the iPhone 15’s heat problem could hurt sales.
Apple has faced high-profile launch issues prior to now but they have not seriously impacted the corporate’s long-term outlook.
The iPhone 4, launched in 2010, had a design flaw that may lead to calls being dropped. Apple offered free cases to ameliorate the issue. In 2012, shortly after the launch of the iPhone 5, Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for Apple Maps being buggy and unreliable. The iPhone 6 released in 2014 was criticized for bending under pressure.
