Comments on: iPhone heat issue much ado about nothing

Some reports on Friday claim that Apple admitted in a tech note to having heat issues with the iPhone 3GS, but that's just not true.

[The_happy_switcher]

And who spreads these ridiculous and bogus and unfounded claims? Usually some anonymous blogger with no credibility often with the sole intention of attempting to drive the stock down because he/she has a short position or has friends that do.

[S R]

Finally, some sensible article about the whole issue. Everyone seems to be relating to one picture and there's no evidence that it's such a rampant problem.

[jakemochas]

just as long as you don't forget your iphone in the car or else....

[play7]

Someone did post a photo of damaged iphone from over heating.......

[kaibelf]

Yes they left it in their dashboard like a moron and it discolored.

[Seaspray0]

I will hold judgement until I see a 3rd party actually test it and provide temperature readings (other than state a subjective "hot"). I won't place faith in the media's recent claims, nor will I place any faith in apples (especially after the 3G issue they claimed didn't exist but provided a patch for). I have ample reason not to believe either side.

[ikramerica--2008]

Some of the overheating issues will be caused by BADLY WRITTEN, THIRD PARTY APPS. This is just like a badly written, third party app using 100% of your computer processing power and causing your laptop fans to fire up to 6000rpms, or locking up altogether.

Are there going to be a few (1%) defective iPhones? Yes, there are, just like there are defective TVs, defective laptops, defective cordless razors, etc. These may get hot doing normal things because they are defective.

But the broader belief that because a computer gets hot, it's defective is false. Look at the software.

Any fix apple would release through software would be to limit the ability of third party apps to even use 100% of the processing power.

As for not using a device after letting it sit in a hot car or direct sunlight...

Check the warnings for any electronic device you buy. Do not use in direct sunlight is usually one of the warnings.

Electronics have two sets of temperatures. The storage temperature range, and the narrower use temperature range. Desktop computers aren't supposed to even be used in environments over 90 degrees in most cases, nor are laptops. That an iPhone can work at temps greater than that is a testament to it's design, and to the fact that phones need to place calls even in bad weather. But one can't expect that you can use it at 100% power for long periods in very hot weather. That would be foolish...

[ralfthedog]

All iPhones are defective. I tried to use my iPhone while it was soaking in napalm and thermite. Then I detonated about 40 pounds of TNT under it. My iPhone caused a dangerous explosion and was no longer operable. Apple should spend more money on quality control.

[shellcodes_coder]

I agree with you. All iPhones are defective. Even it's camera sucks

[Perry_Clease]

"by shellcodes_coder July 3, 2009 6:08 AM PDT
I agree with you. All iPhones are defective. Even it's camera sucks"

Grow up

[ckh1272]

"by shellcodes_coder July 3, 2009 6:08 AM PDT
I agree with you. All iPhones are defective. Even it's camera sucks"

Obviously you know nothing of sarcasm. I think it's time for someone to take their ritalin. Let us know if you ever get a clue.

[jakemochas]

poor battery life, bad camera, never really does good calls, jumps from 0 bars to 5 in one inch of airspace.... the list goes on and on apple fanboys

[kaibelf]

Jake, aren't 50% of the points you just made completely unrelated to the phone itself, and 100% about the network?
Also, what kind of camera do you honestly need on a phone? Are you using it for professional photography, or do you need hi-res pics of your friends sloppy drunk on facebook?

[gt1948]

amen lay the heat story and MJ to rest

[aadi2003]

I recently had the overheat issue with the 3GS. I had browsing for 20 minutes. It started heating up. I received a call and it was all heated up. Was not able to hold the phone near my ear. Planning to return the phone. I am the first time user and I like iPhone a lot. but the overheat in my case really make me think.

This issue may be only in few phones. Looks like mine is one of them.

[ddesy]

A lot of smart phones get pretty warm when surfing the web. My old Blackberry 8830 did and my Blackberry Storm does.

Still really much ado about nothing.

[shellcodes_coder]

well there's a way out. While in your car always turn on your AC and do the samething when you are in a room and when walking in a hot, carry an AC with you LOL. Then you won't have to worry about it HEATING UP. Dude there are much better smart phones out there. This is just another Apple crap

[ddesy]

Even though I have used other Smartphones and have a Blackberry, the iPhone really is a superior device. My issue is the network.

Apple is really not "crap."

[ckh1272]

"Apple is really not "crap."

I agree. It's mostly certain posters that are "crap" by having absolutely nothing productive to say about anything.

[CupertinoBill]

Last night on most of the local TV news shows (SF Bay area) they had their newscasters standing holding an iPhone pretty much exclaiming that the iPhone gets sooooo hot. Idiots. I am on my third generation iPhone, my grandson has my first, my wife my second and have had one incident. With my first iPhone I laid it on the console between the front seats of my car. We were in Palm Springs and temp was 110. I had the top down and the phone was getting direct sun. My wife picked it up and it was very hot. She pushed home button but could not see anything on the screen. I thought it was a goner. Twenty minutes later it worked just fine, still does. That must be why it is called the Jesus phone.

[terminalblue]

this is a silly "BLOG". the iphones are over heating under normal use. there are eve reports of them glowing from the heat. I am not saying that apple should rush to a recall without identifying the problem, but telling you not to leave your phone in the car is just silly, its like Obama telling people to inflate their tires.

i know its not best to send people into a panic about it, but they will let someones house burn down before they even acknowledge there is a problem. they sound like every other company that has had to have a mass recall and been afraid to admit it. They hope that they run damage control now and hope that people will stop talking about it or treat it like its a non-issue.

[ralfthedog]

"...there are eve reports of them glowing from the heat."

That is silly. The iPhone has a plastic shell. It might melt. It might even burn. It can't glow from the heat. The batteries among other parts would explode long before that.

PS. The one action everyone can do to reduce oil consumption is keep their tires inflated. It also helps to change your oil and spark plugs. (Spark plugs are less of a deal now than in the past). Also get rid of any excess weight you are lugging around in your car.

When a very small thing like tire inflation can have a very big effect on US oil consumption, it is stupid at best not to do it.

[SlimGem]

"... reports of them glowing from the heat."

That's not from heat. It's just the normal effect of the plutonium core.

[El_Segfaulto]

I hate pointless stories about the iPhone as much as anybody else, but when I'm doing a lot of surfing, talking, and texting my G1 gets painfully hot too. Without an internal means of moving air there's only so much heat dissipation that can go on in such a small space. The more powerful the processor, the more heat waste needs to be dealt with.

[mathue_tax]

Glowing from the heat?

Care to cite these?

[RighteousSoutherner]

What a bunch of hooey! I don't need to be told about how Apple handles crisis management when it screwed up, especially by an Apple Apologist. This is pure whitewash by an Applehead.

[ddesy]

No, it isn't. It's a general smartphone thing.

[ckh1272]

"by RighteousSoutherner July 2, 2009 5:23 PM PDT
What a bunch of hooey! I don't need to be told about how Apple handles crisis management when it screwed up, especially by an Apple Apologist. This is pure whitewash by an Applehead."

Just flat out ignorant!!

[RighteousSoutherner]

Chk1272. Get a grip and get educated:

whitewash

whitewash (hwìt´wòsh´, -wôsh´, wìt´-) noun
1. A mixture of lime and water, often with whiting, size, or glue added, that is used to whiten walls, fences, or other structures.
2. Concealment or palliation of flaws or failures.

I rest my case!

[ckh1272]

"by RighteousSoutherner July 3, 2009 12:11 PM PDT
Chk1272. Get a grip and get educated:

whitewash

whitewash (hwìt´wòsh´, -wôsh´, wìt´-) noun
1. A mixture of lime and water, often with whiting, size, or glue added, that is used to whiten walls, fences, or other structures.
2. Concealment or palliation of flaws or failures.

I rest my case!"

If that is resting your case, then please don't ever try to be a lawyer, because you have yet to provide proof of anything. You just "whitewash" by providing conjecture and innuendo. Educate yourself.

[jb_iphone]

I know my 3G would get hot after playing a 45 min Diggnation episode plus a 5 min CNET Buzz Report. Plus living in Houston - leave anything in direct sunlight for more than 5 min and it will burn up and stop working. I have left it in the car in glovebox and it must have been over 140 in the car. It worked right away but it was hot enough I used it in bluetooth mode with the car - would have burned my ear.

My new 3GS does not get nearly as hot (so far).. watched 2 Diggnation shows back to back and it was even fairly cool to the touch. Maybe because I was inside in 73 degree air conditioning.

[faceless128]

this is news?

i mean., i'd never personally use and iProduct, since they're overpriced, underfeatured pieces of garbage, but that's just m opinion.

the fact is, as electronics get more powerful, their operating temperatures rise, this is not exclusive to the iPhony.

i <3 WinMo, HTC 4 Life!

[CDubber]

WinMo? LOL!

[shellcodes_coder]

All those iProducts are a bunch of crap wares

[ddesy]

Real mature...

[yay_4_me]

I have a 3GS and have noticed it getting hot...well, warm...and at that point I just quit doing what I was doing on it (a game, browsing) and let it rest.

I would like to know what EXACTLY constitutes "hot", and what should I watch for? I agree that some devices may be faulty, but CERTAINLY not ALL of them.

So, if one determines they have a faulty 3GS iPhone that heats up excessively, what should one do? How does one go about fixing the problem? Do we return the phone to the Apple store and get a new one. How easily is this done? Are they going to require it to be tested or spend time "in the shop"? If that's the case....um, NO! IMMEDIATE replacement should be the answer to this problem.

LOL! Apple can say the earth is flat and fanboys will believe it! How does one explain the overheating factor for the person that had a it under their pillow. Over the person's phone that got hot in their pocket? Lemme guess? The person had a temp over 98.6?

[purcell429]

Under a pillow? Ok, try this...take your laptop, turn it on, start watching a video and then cram feathers into all of the vents. It should be fine, right? How dare my phone not work in the absence of air!

[shellcodes_coder]

LOL well when iPhone heats when talking then maybe iPhone users should stop talking and then continue after it cools down. WOW that's cool. Never saw a phone like that before. Another innovation from Apple

[ckh1272]

Hey everyone, it's "shellcodes_coder", the Michael Richards of posting trolls!!

[play7]

"by purcell429 July 2, 2009 10:22 PM PDT
Under a pillow? Ok, try this...take your laptop, turn it on, start watching a video and then cram feathers into all of the vents. It should be fine, right? How dare my phone not work in the absence of air!"

OMG this was too funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Vegaman_Dan]

The CNET story is only about the Apple Tech note. It doesn't have anything to do with the current rash of 3GS thermal issues affecting approximately 10% of the production run- that is before Apple pulled down the discussion threads dealing with the problem. They haven't stated why they are deleting complaints or references to the problem from the forums, but it's something they've done before. :/

Google or Bing or whatever you use and look for thermal issues on this model. There are plenty of photos of discolored cases caused by the problem, as well as thermal shutdown notices on the screen. There are even screen captures of the Apple notice suggesting end users should avoid using the cell phone radio or wifi for extended periods. Apple can try to bury the issue and probably will succeed, but there is plenty of proof out there if you just search for it.

For more fun, go look at the threads about screen quality- the demo models in the stores are NOT what people are getting in the production run and are running into poor quality screens with a yellowish tint to them. That's another story thread that keeps getting axed by Apple, but fans are starting up new ones nearly as fast as Apple can delete them.

[The_happy_switcher]

Glad to see you're on the case Sherlock, to help crack the great Apple Conspiracy.

[ckh1272]

The Apple discussions are still up.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9730116

Good luck with that conspiracy theory.<sarcasm>

[Vegaman_Dan]

I see another thread on the Apple forum has started. Excellent. The ones I referred to previously have been removed since I posted the comments originally. I'd say go search for them- but Apple pulled them so they don't exist and you can't prove what isn't there anymore.

Conspiracy? Nah, just SOP for Apple. You can make up your own mind why they delete negative threads like that. They certainly aren't going to say.

[The_happy_switcher]

Did your pea-brain ever consider they may have been pulled because they violated posting rules? Nah, that would have been too obvious. You keep going Sherlock, ya hear.

[pcgeek79]

God I hate Apple fanboys. Your iPhone could spit at you, hit you in the face and steal your car and somehow you would find a perfectly good explanation for it. *******.

[shellcodes_coder]

agreed

[ddesy]

Your bias is showing...

[ckh1272]

"by ddesy July 3, 2009 10:09 AM PDT
Your bias is showing..."

and their idiocy as well. I'll be glad when grade school starts back up.

[The_happy_switcher]

@pcgeek79: Yours must be a lonely and sad existence if you spend a good deal of your time hating others for using a product that you apparently don't use. So do you also curse at other drivers on the road for driving a better car than you do? You're probably a road-rageaholic.

[Chameleon008]

OMG, don't play music in direct sunlight for too long. I guess I need to stop jogging then. I don't wanna burn up my phone. Again I say OMG. And side note, I have upgraded my 3g 16gb to OS 3.0 and mine seem to get lot hotter than it used to.

[shellcodes_coder]

dude it might blow up...so be careful

[johnqh]

Which part of "under direct sunlight" don't you understand?

So, you run with your iPhone tied to your head? I would love to see that.

[Perry_Clease]

"by johnqh July 3, 2009 7:39 AM PDT
Which part of "under direct sunlight" don't you understand?

So, you run with your iPhone tied to your head? I would love to see that."

The trolls would have to get out of their parent's basement before they could get direct sunlight, that rarely happens.

[AgentSTS]

c|net has quickly degraded in to a second-rate blog (along the lines of Perez Hilton) since changing hands and that's a crying shame.

I'm one of those affected by this overheating issue and if by simply using my phone causes it to overheat then it's an obvious design flaw, despite what lies the ****-sniffing hippies at Apple spew. [CNET editors' note: Prohibited content deleted.]

[AgentSTS]

The common four-letter word for the expulsion of intestinal gas from your rectum is now considered prohibited content? And, the made-up term 'iHole' is now as well? Thought police and incompetent reporting all in the same site... impressive!

[Leliep1]

[Apple recommends that you don't: ...Use certain applications in hot conditions or direct sunlight for long periods of time, such as GPS tracking in a car on a sunny day...]
You can't be serious, are you? So when navigating on a summer day you gotta stop every other hour to put the device into a refrigerator to let it cool down? LOL, I guess I better stay with my HTC smartphone...

[shellcodes_coder]

I agree with you. Well what else can you expect from the world's most advanced smart phone?

[johnqh]

The key words are "on a sunny day".

You don't need to run anything. Leaving your iPhone (or any smart phone, or camera, or camcorder, or PDA) under direct sunlight for hours is not a good idea. That's just common sense.

[ckh1272]

That is just for frivolous lawyers out there. Seeing how just about any car has AC, it is a non-issue. BTW, all similar devices get quite warm with extended. Do some DA-- research for once trolls.

[shellcodes_coder]

uggh, why not just a better smart phone than this crap. There are much better smart phones out there and you don't have to worry about leaving it in the car on a hot etc

[ddesy]

Okay sure... so what is a better device? None of the Windows Mobile devices since that OS is clunky and crash prone. Not Blackberry devices since they run slower.

Name a specific unit.

[ckh1272]

So you're the idiot who leaves his melting devices in his Chevy Vega!!

[Maclover1]

I dont own a iPhone, but I remember some 6-7 years ago, leaving my BB phone in the center console of my car for a few hours on a hot day. When I came back it was vibrating like crazy and it was locked up. I pulled the battery and threw it in the glove box. 15min later is was fine.

The iPhone is no different. Direct heat or something running it at full speed will.....I dont know heat it up?