Apple says it's not to blame for 'exploding' iPhones

Apple's iPhone may be the darling of the mobile-phone industry right now, but some users in France aren't singing its praises, claiming that the device explodes or cracks without warning.

(Credit: Apple)

However, after conducting an internal investigation into the cause of the broken touch-screen glass, Apple denies that there is an underlying iPhone flaw. In fact, Apple said that in all cases it investigated, some kind of force was applied to the iPhone, causing the glass to break, according to a BBC report Friday.

"The iPhones with broken glass that we have analyzed to date show that in all cases, the glass cracked due to an external force that was applied to the iPhone," Apple said in a statement cited by the BBC.

Last Tuesday, in response to a European Commission investigation into accusations of overheating and exploding iPhones, Apple referred to its internal investigation, saying, "We are waiting to receive the iPhones from the customers."

As part of its investigation, Apple also looked into complaints of the iPhone battery overheating but again said it found no problems. "To date, there are no confirmed battery-overheating incidents for iPhone 3GS, and the number of reports we are investigating is in the single digits," according to the statement.

The investigation's findings don't mean much to France's Frank Benoiton, a consumer who said his wife's iPhone cracked, and it "was not dropped and experienced no unusual shock," he told the Associated Press.

France's trade minister declined to comment on a meeting with Apple about an investigation that the country's consumer protection agency is conducting into the reports, according to Bloomberg.

The European Commission also issued a warning using its rapid-alert system, Rapex, which warns of dangerous consumer products.

[Galen20K]

It's rather sad really that APple just always Refuses to take responsibility for their Mistakes or even Acknowledge they exist. Yes, very sad how they Revel in their Ignorance.

[Splashes]

Yes, IgnorAnce iS vEry SAd indeeD.

[topgunb2]

@Splashes, didn't believe you would support and apple basher

[Galen20K]

Isn't it tho?! ; D lol It's not bashing if it's the Truth or do you apple fanboys not believe in the Truth, ehhh Splashes? AHaHahaaa<br /><br />Ignorance indeed!

[biggstuu]

Hmmm, so they ask the "victims" for the "exploded" item, investigate it thoroughly and find that it was misused/abused/etc., share their findings and Apple is still in the wrong? Wow guys, it may be time find and enjoy the pleasure that is a woman because anyone that passionate about hating a company that makes computers, clearly hasn't had one in a while.

[professionaladventurer]

Right, I am pissed because my wife said she didn't drop the phone!

[Perry_Clease]

"clearly hasn't had one in a while"<br /><br />Neither a "company" or a woman

[manualfunky]

I can honestly say i've never met an idiot that's broken a consumer item and then was quite happy to tell the manufacturer the truth about what happened instead of lying in order to gain a new item free of charge...

[brian.lee]

Remember that guy that claimed his power adapter caught fire and he conveniently left out in the initial report that his cat has Pee'd on it causing it catch fire?

[fortyonejb]

@biggstuu<br /><br />Not that this couldn't be user error, but look into Apple's history of covering things up. They take your phone, do their tests, and then let no third party analyze the phone. Apple could say unicorns and fairies broke the phone and no one could have any proof otherwise. Admittedly it is odd that these seem to be isolated events, but I'd like to see someone else do the tests. We don't let car manufacturers certify their own products for safety, why do we trust Apple?

[dowell100]

@# alen20K<br /><br />Exactly!

[chinamambo]

I normally live in the US and have never had a problem with my iPhone, but this week on vacation in France, I connected the iPhone to the electric outlet and noticed a malfunction and a short-circuit-like sound. Since then, even when not being charged, when I switch between silent and regular mode, it kinda short-circuits. The problem must have to do with the different electric system in France.

[djstewpac]

ya think?

[tektaktyks]

lol

[classicvibe]

lol &gt;_&gt;<br /><br />do universal adapters fix this kind of thing or no?

[inverse137]

No, it's the french cellular system...must be.

[CJG--2008]

Most people don't understand the exploding iPhone situation. It's not a bug, it's a feature. If you get into a desperate situation, you can use your IPhone as a hand grenade.

[everydaypanos]

?????

[everydaypanos]

(5 stars that was, but CNET "coverted it to 5 question marks, They have an Apple fanboy over there)

[everydaypanos]

@CJG--2008 That is a comment for the Hall Of Fame, next to Plato's, Aristotel's and Eucledes' sayings.

[tektaktyks]

is there an app for that?

[classicvibe]

LOLOLOLOL<br /><br />reminds me of that one old commercial where someone demonstrates the utility of a cellphone in self defense

[inverse137]

It needs to be voice activated.<br /><br />iPod, initiate self destruct mode.<br /><br />or<br /><br />iPod, start App: grendae

[gggg sssss]

I still like my iED with a lower case i ( maybe a trademark or maybe not)

[jezzur]

A few lucky individuals get the wonka-golden-ticket-special-feature-unlock bonanza, and they cry. Sad.

[EvanSei]

I you break the screen on your iphone you sure don't want to pay for a new one so blame it on apple maybe they will replace it for free!<br /> As for the exploding part steve jobs is a part of al qaeda no he is osama bin laden in disguise and he is planning on taking over the nations overpriced cell phones cutting service to twitter and then because the feds don't take your iphones away when you get on planes he is going to use them to injure flight attendants and cut us with broken screen glass (but only on flights going to or connecting in france monday through friday 9am-5pm excluding major holidays other terms apply) haha what a perfect plan that will show us americans who is boss... or not ;)

[tektaktyks]

hey but if u break a screen u can keep dropping the phone untill it exploads and they will exchange it and u could sue them too ,lol

[Perry_Clease]

"hey but if u break a screen u can keep dropping the phone untill it exploads and they will exchange it and u could sue them too ,lol"<br /><br />In regards to things that are broken, when you are "u" getting your keyboard repaired?

[tektaktyks]

@Perry_Clease it aint broken,batteries R outta juice and i dont feel like changing them yet.theres nothing else u have to say but that i should type you instead of u? [CNET editors' note: Personal attack deleted.]

[Woopee123]

well of course apple would say they aren't responsible because i mean, they ARE apple. they are the perfect company that makes no design or manufacturing errors. everything they **** is perfect and always works and if anything goes wrong it's something the consumer did.

[dredlew]

@Woopee123 et al<br /><br />Yea, you know it all, don't you? Apparently, you don't know jack about mass-manufacturing in general. It's technically and physically impossible to manufacture thousands or in this case millions of any kind of product without some defective units. Apple certainly has their share of defective ones like everyone else, yet their percentages are one of the lowest in the industry. And in such a case, a product with manufacturing defect will be replaced, no questions asked.<br /><br />How do I know? I used to work at the Genius bar and have seem my share of actual defective and supposedly "defective" products trying to be returned. Let's just say, there are some really dumb customers out there that don't know how to handle an electronic product or probably any kind of product for that matter.<br /><br />And no, glass doesn't just break without external force being applied to it.<br />And no, none of the batteries have exploded as the investigation has revealed. Would be pretty obvious if they did...<br />And no, it cannot just be a "bad" batch of products in France. One batch/shipment is distributed into multiple countries in Europe. For some reason only in France are those "exploding iPhones" appearing...<br /><br />But sure, it's always Apple's fault. Wouldn't wanna blame (someone else) for breaking their "precious" device, right?<br />[CNET editor's note: Offensive language deleted.]

[tech_crazy]

@dredlew<br /><br />Then you must not have seen hot glass crack on its own. Lends more credence to the theory that the battery overheated and cracked the glass too.

[lazycat202]

time to watch a movie called "MIRRORS"

[gggg sssss]

used to work as a genius says it all.

[jezzur]

@dredlew.<br /><br />You overextended yourself there and sounded a bit silly. Still, I think most people agree with the overall sentiment - that you should expect a few mistakes in any mass production.

[setgo]

It's not that hard to believe that they are all hoaxes. I have seen all kinds of stories about people putting rats, fingers, roaches and nails in their food at popular food establishments in order to collect a paycheck. It's the way of the world!

[ikramerica--2008]

Just watch the movie "Strange Brew"<br /><br />"Here's how you get free beer, eh."<br /><br />Anyway, this sounds similar to the people claiming that they had overheating iphones in the USA that caused the white case to discolor. Apple investigated and found these people had third party cases that were insulating the phone, making them feel hot, and the cases were also poorly dyed, so the color would transfer to the phone under heat. Removing the case and cleaning the phone restored it to white, and leaving the case off kept it cooler.<br /><br />I don't put my iPhone in any case, and it never gets hot.

[o_7y_21]

Yep. An iPhone exploded and France immediately surrendered!

[Joe-Sixpack]

Now THATS funny!

[raybor]

Wait a miniute. I thought that France surrendered last year to that Nuns' tour buss that back-fired.

[Magallanes]

at least is way better to be a coward rather an impulsive idiot that start a fight with almost every single country in the world.

[Seaspray0]

We have a winner!

[jollygreenguy]

HAHA that IS funny

[tektaktyks]

lol,i didnt read the article yet but i just cant stop lol,come on,its never apples fault,its always att or somebody else s fault but everybody is picking on poor apple...

[ckh1272]

You should really read the response to joetesta70, because it would seem to apply to you as well. You don't like Apple. We get it. Now, go away and get a life.

[twistatech]

It is common for bigger sheets of tempered glass to just shatter from time to time for no reason but, as the glass size becomes smaller the tendency of that to happen does also. The weakness of tempered glass is the edge and that is the only place it is inferior to annealed glass. Glass does occasionally break mysteriously for no reason but apple would be able to tell if there was trauma or not. It is not a fault of the iPhone, the fault is the glass which is undoubtedly not made by apple. Make 17 million sheets of glass and see if a few break once in a while....

[tektaktyks]

they will deny everything,ther r greedy basterds

[roboraider]

@tektaktyks <br /> <br />And Microsoft isn't greedy at all... <br />I'm not an Apple fanboy, but your comments just ooze ignorance. <br />I hate to break it to you, but most companies only care about money (gasp!?), which would technically define them as being greedy. <br /> <br />@twistatech <br /> <br />Thanks for the information. I did not know that tempered glass could spontaneously shatter.

[tektaktyks]

i agree,ms is greedy too,but i think apple is worst,thats all,imagine if microsoft would start selling pc's,picked few hardware components , wrote drivers for them and told the rest to go away.apple is just The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle of computers ,bunch of phonies with bunch of **** followers

[ckh1272]

"by tektaktyks August 29, 2009 9:54 PM PDT<br />i agree,ms is greedy too,but i think apple is worst,thats all,imagine if microsoft would start selling pc's,picked few hardware components , wrote drivers for them and told the rest to go away.apple is just The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle of computers ,bunch of phonies with bunch of **** followers"<br /><br />You mean like what Microsoft does with the Xbox 360 ad Zune. I am not saying it's right or wrong, but once again, you need keep your facts straight. Your ignorance is really showing right now. That is the way a lot of companies operate. Look it up.

[twistatech]

I am also going to have to add that this glass is probably more heat strengthened then it is tempered. Which is a process that produces a product in between raw and tempered glass. I would also guess that it is somewhat laminated so that almost nothing should come off the phone when the glass breaks. Heat strengthened is even more unlikely to randomly shatter then tempered. The benefit to heat strengthened glass is the added strength but it is not fragile on the edge and when it breaks it doesn't shatter into a million pieces like tempered glass does. Tempered glass doesn't crack it shatters, all or nothing with tempered. Anytime that you modify glass with heat it becomes more unstable, stronger but more unstable. It is possible for the glass to break by its self but my guess would be the user broke it.

[gggg sssss]

so automobiles have windshields made of tempered glass 1000 times as large - and they just spontaneously shatter? ROTFLMAO

[UnoriginalUninspired]

I think they should let someone who isn't an Apple employee investigate the phones.

[Perry_Clease]

Yeah, but even if an independent lab found that it was the user's fault the trolls wouldn't believe it.

[tektaktyks]

i agree with unoriginal,the thing is that if theres something that will tell them that the phone was dropped they will say that the abuse was the reason for it,even if the glass didnt break when the phone was dropped but few months later,same with liquid damage,if the indicator tells them that the water was there they will blame it on that even if the liquid didnt cause any malfunction to the phone,any excuse is good.

[gggg sssss]

maybe the guy who killed himself at Foxconn discovered something and he was in fact MURDERED? Maybe.

[jollygreenguy]

I think we should let Microsoft investigate the phones!

[Open Outlet]

This is a real and serious problem. My iPhone exploded just the other day. I doused it with gas, and tied some fireworks to it before tossing it into a roaring campfire. I can't believe Apple. They are criminals and produce some real poopy phones. Now can I have a new one for free please?

[ckh1272]

Same thing happened to mine. I don't understand. Real freaky! LoL!!

[gggg sssss]

Ia that what you call an i ED?

[electricTwo]

The problem is that the glass is positioned too close to the edge of the iPhone. Though the front of the iPhone may be strong enough to resist tapping all day, it's impossible that the side can withstand even light impacts. Glass is extremely fragile to side impacts. For this reason, most cell phones position the glass several millimeters from the edge of the device. Too bad for the consumer, Apple treasures form over function. It looks good, but breaks easily.

[wimpytx93]

u geeks r 2 funny w/ all this bickering.

[Static-X-Machina]

an u sir R kwite funny w/ all ur prfect grammar. <br />pls tell me how ur post fits N w/ dis topic. <br /> <br />Feh. **Heads straight for the bathroom to scrub his hands down with peroxide, acetone, and PURE BLEACH for the grammar based crimes against humanity he just commited.**

[kevinish]

Anyone who would select a barely 32-bit OS like Msoft over a 64-bit UNIX system is a clueless putz. I have spent the last 16 years administering Novell, UNIX, and MSoft servers from cloud to the RBDMS tier for the F500. This includes years deploying wireless enterprise data apps as well; and the types of problems the EU are attributing to the iphone are hardly unique, or even surprising. Anything with a battery can pop, and i've yet to see PDA that's indestructible. I don't carry an iphone, myself...RIM still has the edge on phone performance and security over pretty much anything on the market. Still, Apple has a major target on their back, and as the EU is nothing more than a protectionist oligarchy, this kind of 'investigation' harassment of a US technology provider is hardly new. Apple, however, is too agile, and in the enviable position of controlling both hardware and software, and integrating content management with hardware is simply too much of an advantage. Technology wannabes can play with assembling hardware and fussing with drivers and firmware to make their applications function, but without an integrated solution, the result is always a half assed kluge. Idiots who keep playing at that level never leave it, and no system of any size runs on some piecemeal basement job. So keep carping about how overpriced Apple, or AIX, or Oracle, SAP, Informatica, Cognos, Sybase, Solaris, or HPUX is-and how great your $300 kluge job is, or the FoxPro data storage system...blah, blah, blah. I don't know how many times i see DBA's that can't do a simple database trim, or manage a simple ip network, but they're geniuses, really.

[stockyjoe]

How does your comment relate to this story? And by the way, SAP is an over complex piece of ****. I've dealt with various companies who have migrated to it and all the IT people who have to deal with it want to blow their brains out. <br /> <br />And who says windows isnt 64bit or that OSX isnt finally 64bit bit with Snow Leopard? Get out of the unix cave.

[gggg sssss]

XP has been 64 bit for 3 years.

[jezzur]

@kevinish = what a guy... just a complete champion. A UNIX champion, 16 year veteran.... what can't he do.

[deniceels]

Jezzur: What can't he do? sleeping on the keyboard like it's a bed and not rollover? or try typing with hair/s or liquid without damaging it? Eitherway, it's a comment not applicable with the story here it seems.

[aback56]

Of course Apple is not to be blamed for this. It surely must be Microsoft's fault.

[stockyjoe]

lol

[Magallanes]

No, it is not microsoft fault but a group of (evil) manufacturer that build devices with serious flag.<br /><br />You knowns, chinese are still commies ;-)<br /><br />Apple is 110% innocent.

[Turkish_March]

We just returned an iphone purchased four days ago because the battery barely held a charge and the phone was really, really hot all of the time despite limited usage. If you have these issues and the phone is relatively knew go to the iphone store right away. Ours was replaced right away. We have another phone which was purchased a month ago and haven't had any problems. Honestly, after being a devoted apple fan for the past 5 years, I think they are getting sloppy. I am not happy with either of the laptops we purchased 2008, they are both much slower than the one I purchased in 2004.

[ikramerica--2008]

So, you got a phone with a defective battery, and they replaced it immediately with no questions asked, and now you have two working phones with no problems, and yet you think that is BAD SERVICE?<br /><br />You are aware that the cost of a phone that has 100% quality control would be about 10-100x the cost of an iPhone, no? Why do NASA projects cost so much? Because they try for 100% reliability, which is expensive, and they STILL routinely fail.

[sythara]

@ikramerica--2008 <br /> <br />Finally someone with some common sence. Defects happen. Doesen't anyone remember the whole Lenovo fiasco with IBM few years ago? <br /> <br />Or any other defects? This stuff is made by humans, therefore it will always be imperfect.

[Seaspray0]

It wasn't just IBM. There were several PC makers affected by defective batteries. All the defective batteries were traced back to the source manufacturer... Sony. Does anyone know who makes the battery for the iphone? It's not like you can pop it out and check, but I figured someone might know.

[stockyjoe]

You know in defense of Apple, you could look back at the Dell scenario or Toshiba when some manufacturers were having issues with laptop batteries that had similiar problem. Perhaps its the batteries being used thats causing this problem. One reason why again, it would be nice if you could actually replace the battery yourself. I never understood why Apple does that with the battery.

[baconstang]

Might not be the battery, could be power mgt.

[gggg sssss]

course, Macs were catching fire at athat time as well.

[LaTene_Man]

It's simple, stockyjoe. Apple uses non-user-replaceable batteries so that they can cram as much battery in the device as possible. It's the same as with the 17" MacBook Pro. Bigger cells means longer life and longer charges. Adding a mechanism for docking a battery and ejecting it would take up precious space.

[MaLvaDo39]

SAD how two iPhones out of millions speak for them all. And then it turns out the kid broke the iPhone himself. This is a non-story and frivolous.

[blafouille]

let's call it the breaking news...

[blafouille]

hello can you hear me....Kaboum....!