While rare, it’s certainly not the first we’ve heard reports of an iPhone catching fire or spontaneously exploding. Just earlier this month a student reported 2nd-degree burns from an iPhone 5c, and today we get the images above from reader that just had a similar problem with his iPhone 5s.
We don’t know the source of the issue yet, but it looks like the majority of damage is originating from where the battery is located. Of note: The phone was apparently not charging or using any unauthorized accessories but we can’t verify.
Update: Teh Falcon gives more details below
Some more images below:
I’m the OP.
1: The battery was starting to “inflate”, it pushed the TOP part of the screen up enough that I was able to grab ahold of it and rip it off from the bottom UP, of course the phone was getting hot at this point because of a malfunction in the battery so I pulled the screen off with quite a good amount of force. Doing so the screws just ripped out of the threads (they are small screws keep in mind..).
2: As for this, keep in mind, the venting was not some sort of 30 second thing. This went on for about 3 minutes, my home filled with smoke. I work on computers, I did have a phillips screw driver that I was able to take the EMI shields off while it was smoking, because it was too hot to move, So I was trying to disconnect the battery to remove to get it outside (later thinking I realized how this would have done nothing at that point). That is why there is no shielding or cables.
3: As for everyone wondering WHY I had a camera, well. I don’t use this iPhone as my Phone, I have a Moto X that I use for my main phone. I use the iPhone for everything else other then texting and calling, So I had my Moto X with me. My first instinct after seeing other iPhones batteries have malfunctions lately was to get a picture for proof.
ALL the other pictures AFTER the smoke I took for Apple as they requested. I have a Table and a counter near each other (kitchen).
I hope this answers everyones questions.. I realize the skepticism, I would too, but I can assure you, all this was pure instinct, the phone WAS NOT open, had no damage, and RIGHT before the accident was actually IN USE (on Facebook).
(Thanks Teh Falcon!)
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
… And they just happened to have the back off, with a camera handy. Interesting (BS) ….
On the 5/s it isn’t the back that comes off. I could believe this if it was a 4/s because you only need to take out two screws and slide the back off. On the 5/s you need to take off the screen (which has many connectors that you probably don’t want to deal with while your phone is on fire).
and the guy just had his camera on him when the explosion happened ?
thats very very lucky
I’m saying this because you still see the smoke coming out of the iPhone, so it happened seconds ago, and then to have the retain of finding your camera, turn it on and taking the photos… hmmmm ??????
AND open the iPhone!
I’m the OP.
I don’t use the iPhone as my phone, but rather more of an iPod Touch, I carry my Moto X around with me everywhere because I use that as my Phone. So yeah, I did have a camera with me. It takes 3 seconds to take a picture. Also the phone incident lasted about 3 minutes. I didn’t get a picture until the smoke started to die out. It was a lot thicker then what I got a picture of.
Your story is more full of holes than the battery in the picture.
Cool story bro!
Still lots of BS! What I don’t understand is the motives of wasting an expensive phone for some internet attention!! No one with a right mind would believe it though. It appears you had everything on place for this so called “incident”
Where is the rest of the phone? Or are we to presume that the phone was taken apart, most likely shorted and then it caught on fire?
Why does it appear to me that this isn’t an accident but a deliberate attempt to light the phone on fire?
It’s kind of odd that while the phone is catching on fire they have the time to grab the security screw driver and suction cup to take the display off, then remove the 4 screws that hold on the display cowling to unplug it properly before taking photos of it with an oddly handy camera.
This phone didn’t “explode.” Its obvious by the lack of screws and EMI shields, that the phone was being taken apart. The Screen was removed, then the EMI shields, then the ribbon cables were disconnected. Next step is to remove the battery. Interestingly, theres no pull tab for the battery in these pics, so my money is on him accidentally ripping the pull tab off, then trying to pry the battery away from the adhesive with a metal tool and puncturing it. When you puncture a lithium battery, this is what you get.
5S uses a command strip style glue for the battery, so no tab. The rest of your theory is sound.
it doesn’t look like the 5s has a pull tab for the battery (http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+5s+Teardown/17383) but the screen looks very difficult to get off. Not sure how that’s possible while the phone was still hot and smoking.
EDIT: My bad. There is no pull tab on the 5S as Apple switched to newer, much stronger, adhesive strips under the battery. Which makes it even more likely that he was prying the battery up when the incident occurred.
I’ve seen this happen to an iPad 2 battery. A tech punctured the battery with a metal pry tool.
I’m the OP.
1:
The battery was starting to “inflate”, it pushed the TOP part of the screen up enough that I was able to grab ahold of it and rip it off from the bottom UP, of course the phone was getting hot at this point because of a malfunction in the battery so I pulled the screen off with quite a good amount of force. Doing so the screws just ripped out of the threads (they are small screws keep in mind..).
2:
As for this, keep in mind, the venting was not some sort of 30 second thing. This went on for about 3 minutes, my home filled with smoke. I work on computers, I did have a phillips screw driver that I was able to take the EMI shields off while it was smoking, because it was too hot to move, So I was trying to disconnect the battery to remove to get it outside (later thinking I realized how this would have done nothing at that point). That is why there is no shielding or cables.
3:
As for everyone wondering WHY I had a camera, well. I don’t use this iPhone as my Phone, I have a Moto X that I use for my main phone. I use the iPhone for everything else other then texting and calling, So I had my Moto X with me. My first instinct after seeing other iPhones batteries have malfunctions lately was to get a picture for proof.
ALL the other pictures AFTER the smoke I took for Apple as they requested. I have a Table and a counter near each other (kitchen).
I hope this answers everyones questions.. I realize the skepticism, I would too, but I can assure you, all this was pure instinct, the phone WAS NOT open, had no damage, and RIGHT before the accident was actually IN USE (on Facebook).
I just flat out don’t believe this story. It’s as full of holes as the battery ended up being.
For starters, how does the inflating battery “push the top up” unless the two (very strong) screws that hold it down (at 90 degree angle to the force being exerted) were first removed? That just doesn’t happen. And if they were removed, then the phone *was* in fact being disassembled at the time.
And after he “ripped” the top off with his fingers while it was hot and the battery fuming and swelling (showing immense stupidity if true), he takes the time to get out a screwdriver and take of the EMI shields?
At best, we aren’t hearing the whole story here.
Well, this is a blatant lie. In response per your answers:
1. You claim to have “pulled the screen off with quite a good amount of force. Doing so the screws just ripped out of the threads”. LIE – regardless of the size of the screws, the ribbon cables that actually connect to the logic board from the display are far more frail and thin and would have easily torn long before the screws would’ve “ripped” out as you say. The phone enclosure is made out of aluminum. Had you held the phone in such a way that allowed you to actually “rip” the screws out, you would’ve risked burning your hand (the one that held the phone as your other hand was pulling the display), and it would’ve bent the enclosure as well. Secondly, the posts that the screws actually screw into would’ve broken off of the logic board rather than the screws themselves stripping out as you pulled the display.
2. Either A: you’re an idiot, or B: you’re a blatant liar. I’ll give you the fact that you’re only 17 (young and dumb) if that’s even true, but no one who knows anything about lithium polymer batteries would take the time to remove the shielding to disconnect a smoking battery, all blasé and what-have-you. This could literally kill you. Not only that, but the shielding doesn’t just come right off, it’s stuck on there a bit and takes a bit of finagling to get off. You’re saying that you did this while fumes were pouring up your nose? Riiiiiight.
3. Really? Your first instinct was to quickly grab you’re Moto X and snap photos because of “all” the battery issues that Apple has been having? Once again… riiiiiiiight. Let me get this straight – you’re a “super smart” 17 yr. old computer techie, but you’re too much of an idiot to immediately throw the phone with deadly gasses pouring out of it outside in the yard where there is plenty of fresh air to breathe? And somehow as your house filled with extremely toxic gasses, you were able to power through it and just hang out, totally unaffected, just casually removing parts without a care in the world? No dizziness, shortness of breath, chest pains… you know, all of the common side affects from breathing just a minuscule amount of lithium fumes… yet as you said “my home was filled with smoke”?
If you are actually stupid enough to think that this would work, you do realize that since you’ve decided to reach out to a media outlet and run a smear campaign that you’ll almost definitely be investigated, right? If I’m wrong then I’m wrong, but you know that I’m not and so does everyone else on here. Good job being an idiot looking for his 15 minutes.
hmm… how come areas around the battery doesn’t seems to get hurt?? oNLY IF it was being put in it after cooking the battery….
On one of the pictures the phone is sitting on top of a plastic bag while on top of a wooden surface which is exactly what I would do (to protect the phone and the surface) while fudging around with it. I call bs on this “malfunction”.
I think this ‘explosion’ has been sufficiently debunked.
As said by tons of other people, the iPhone display has been carefully removed – you can see that the numerous small shielding cover screws have been removed. If it was a panic fire, someone could more easily, quickly, and safely tear off the display connectors. That didn’t happen here.
This is fake. The claim has been debunked.
Now someone should look into why this person made this false claim: personal gamesmanship, or if an Apple competitor paid for this weak stunt.
1:
The battery was starting to “inflate”, it pushed the TOP part of the screen up enough that I was able to grab ahold of it and rip it off from the bottom UP, of course the phone was getting hot at this point because of a malfunction in the battery so I pulled the screen off with quite a good amount of force. Doing so the screws just ripped out of the threads (they are small screws keep in mind..).
2:
As for this, keep in mind, the venting was not some sort of 30 second thing. This went on for about 3 minutes, my home filled with smoke. I work on computers, I did have a phillips screw driver that I was able to take the EMI shields off while it was smoking, because it was too hot to move, So I was trying to disconnect the battery to remove to get it outside (later thinking I realized how this would have done nothing at that point). That is why there is no shielding or cables.
3:
As for everyone wondering WHY I had a camera, well. I don’t use this iPhone as my Phone, I have a Moto X that I use for my main phone. I use the iPhone for everything else other then texting and calling, So I had my Moto X with me. My first instinct after seeing other iPhones batteries have malfunctions lately was to get a picture for proof.
ALL the other pictures AFTER the smoke I took for Apple as they requested. I have a Table and a counter near each other (kitchen).
I hope this answers everyones questions.. I realize the skepticism, I would too, but I can assure you, all this was pure instinct, the phone WAS NOT open, had no damage, and RIGHT before the accident was actually IN USE (on Facebook).
Also, I’m 17. No one PAID me to have my phone blow up.. -_-
If this iPhone spontaneously combusted on it’s own accord, so why is the display module, display cowling and screws, Dock connector cowling and screws, battery cowling and screws removed and missing? In one of the pictures that shows the battery smoking when the phone show signs of unauthorized modifications indicates that the customer open the device unauthorized and likely punctured or tour the soft cell lithium ion battery which would have caused the battery to combust. Very unlikely for the battery to combust on it’s own accord.
So, where is the display. Was it removed (2 security screws from the bottom, display suction cupped off, and 4 cowling screws removed) while it was on fire?? Where are the LCI’s? Strange for sure…
“Just earlier this month a student reported 2nd-degree burns from an iPhone 5c”
It was a retarder girl who sit on her iPhone, if you broke the battery it can happens, this is why on battery there is caution alert about fire. We live in a world doomed by stupids.
What a horrible word – “retarder” – we would never use that word in England – “silly” or even “stupid” perhaps would be appropriate, but never that word.
That is the most bullshit story I’ve ever heard. If I were to 9to5mac I’d be embarrassed for publishing an idiots lies. Have you READ the description you published and looked at the photos? It is a complete lie.
Agree. And then he bothers to take our questioning and clearly makes up more stories.
I have worked to repair people’s broken phones and I have fixed a large number of iPhones. And yeah, after so many phones you’re bound to screw up a few.
There is no way that all the shielding would have come off so cleanly. Trust me, those screws are small but have a lot of thread. Either the cable will release or the stud the screw is mated to will pull off. But for all the screws to pull off? Sorry, that’s now how physics works.
Furthermore, if the screen is to give way due to pressure from the expanding battery, then the screen anchors that the 5points screw into gave way too. Funny how he took the time to cleanly remove those difficult to remove screws.
This is one dumb story.
Fandroids are really nasty guys. One of them bought an iPhone and damaged it just to take some photographs that were meant to compromize the product. And he happened to be a student. Students are “talented”. I was one once and I know something about it.
That would make no sense at all, since Teh_Falcon is not even a Fandroid. I know him, I have friends who talk to him frequently. He is an Apple fan, he uses Macs most of the time, and the iPhone was pretty much his main phone for a while, having one Android phone doesn’t mean anything in this situation. Being as how he is an Apple loyalist, I HIGHLY, and I mean HIGHLY doubt he has any intention on sabotaging the product or Apple. Think about it.
Nah, I wager that he found an iphone at school and couldn’t use it since it was protected by iCloud. So he is selling off the parts. The used battery is worth zero so he toasted it in an oven and made up a story.
And what are you then? An Apple-Fanboy? Stop that clichés…
Nah, Falcon’s not a fandroid.
Holy crap, this is fanatical delusion bordering on insanity. You can’t fathom that a person doesn’t praise everything about Apple, but still likes Apple products, can you? Your level of delusion is shocking.
Please enlighten me how this is bullshit after reading what the OP said. Thank you.
because his story doesn’t add up, especially the 1st point. why in the world would someone rip open the display while the phone is burning hot? also, where is the shielding if the phone was burning up like this and he just ripped off the display? did the shielding all just come off cleanly onto the display (even though the inside of the phone was burning up and would cause at least some shielding to be left on the phone itself) and not a single bit was left on the phone itself? and as others have pointed out, the screws would not come off that easily by just forcing open the display. the display was clearly taken off before the battery was tampered with.
His story includes several points that lead me to skepticism. None of these points are absolute proof. However, after working for Apple at the Genius Bar for 2 years, I learned a few things.
1) The kid claims that, upon applying upward force, the screws holding the display down we’re “ripped out of the threads”. Not only is this not how that would work (from experience with damaged phones that we had to open for one reason or another), but it’s not how PHYSICS work. Either the screws would have been broken, or the tabs that they screw into would have broken. The only thing that could NOT have occurred is that the screws could have ripped out of the threads at a completely different angle than the force that was applied to them.
2) The kid claims that he works on computers, but doesn’t know to get OUT of the area immediately during a thermal event? That’s battery safety 101. Those fumes are toxic and he decides to open the phone instead?
3. The kid claims that the phone was too. hot to touch. However, it was not too hot to remove the display with his BARE FINGERS? Keep in mind that he claims he was able to get his fingers under there due to a slight separation under the display. That means that area would have the highest release of heat! Yet I don’t see any pictures of third degree burns accompanying this suspicious set of photos.
4. There is one thing that ANYONE and EVERYONE who works with electronics knows. If your device is under warranty (like ALL iPhone 5S are), then you NEVER open them at risk of voiding your warranty… Unless you’ve ALREADY voided your warranty by tampering with the phone. This phone would be covered under warranty and would have been fixed and/or replaced at no cost, but this 17 year old boy would rather void his warranty and pay money for a new phone (out of contract) at a minimum of $650? I don’t think so…
I fucking love how every commenter on this thread tries to find every way possible to disprove the legitimacy of this story. Apple products aren’t perfect just like the rest you morons.
Nobody likes to hear bad press about Apple, e.g.there biggest manufacturer Foxconn suicides, deaths, labor practices and how Apple (40% of there revenue) never did or has really done anything about it.
Yeah, Apple isn’t as pure as fanboys would like to believe, well, neither is any company all that pure really
I am sorry but if you believe this story you believe anything really. I am not saying Apple products are perfect but com on!! This is one of the dumpiest attempt to create a story I have ever seen.
Stay in denial then.
You’re insane, Bardhok. It’s a completely plausible event. I had my first gen Intel MacBook Pro batter do something similar, but I was able to take the battery out.
You fanatics will never believe anything bad about Apple is real.
I think his story is plausible, I had a iPhone 5 and the exact same thing happened, took about an hour before the battery expanded enough to break the screen clean off, took it to Apple and 3 Geniuses questioned me thoroughly and asking me questions off there iPad about if I received any burns and such, they then took down all my info even asked for my ID and everything, in the end they exchanged the phone and never contacted me about the incident. Afterwards it hit me, it seems that the battery overheating or exploding is so common that they actually created a questionnaire for it for the Geniuses to ask people.
Do you really think its so common, or do you think that maybe it’s more of a legal thing? Hmmm…
I worked at the Genius Bar for over 2 years. That’s just standard protocol for ANY safety issue (and standard for pretty much any company). It’s Apple’s way of finding out if there are any legal implications to the event. If you had reported any injuries, they wouldn’t have taken your phone. They would have told you to keep the phone and the legal department would have contacted you. That policy was created for legal liability and protocol reasons, not due to a bunch of phones catching fire.
That amount of toxic battery smoke and they just have it on the counter in the kitchen.
Everybody on this thread is incredibly ignorant. I know Teh Falcon personally, and i saw pictures afterwards and everything. The iPhone was used as a device for iMessage and other things. While he was using it after charging it, the phone started to bulge from the front, so he yanked off the screen and set it on the counter in his kitchen. (he was sitting at his dining room table btw.) He had his Moto X with him, so he did a quick gesture to open up the camera and started to take the pictures. I have no idea how anybody could fake any of this honestly. The battery itself was bulging in the pictures and it was smoking bad. Not all apple products are perfect, and batteries can malfunction in any product. And for chargers and such, it was all OEM stuff that came with his iPhone.
His story includes several points that lead me to skepticism. None of these points are absolute proof. However, after working for Apple at the Genius Bar for 2 years, I learned a few things.
1) The kid claims that, upon applying upward force, the screws holding the display down we’re “ripped out of the threads”. Not only is this not how that would work (from experience with damaged phones that we had to open for one reason or another), but it’s not how PHYSICS work. Either the screws would have been broken, or the tabs that they screw into would have broken. The only thing that could NOT have occurred is that the screws could have ripped out of the threads at a completely different angle than the force that was applied to them.
2) The kid claims that he works on computers, but doesn’t know to get OUT of the area immediately during a thermal event? That’s battery safety 101. Those fumes are toxic and he decides to open the phone instead?
3. The kid claims that the phone was too. hot to touch. However, it was not too hot to remove the display with his BARE FINGERS? Keep in mind that he claims he was able to get his fingers under there due to a slight separation under the display. That means that area would have the highest release of heat! Yet I don’t see any pictures of third degree burns accompanying this suspicious set of photos.
4. There is one thing that ANYONE and EVERYONE who works with electronics knows. If your device is under warranty (like ALL iPhone 5S are), then you NEVER open them at risk of voiding your warranty… Unless you’ve ALREADY voided your warranty by tampering with the phone. This phone would be covered under warranty and would have been fixed and/or replaced at no cost, but this 17 year old boy would rather void his warranty and pay money for a new phone (out of contract) at a minimum of $650? I don’t think so…
I love when people try to discount what someone says by calling them “kid”. It makes you sound like an ass.
17 years old = Not old enough to vote, smoke, drink, serve in the military, or even go into Dave and Busters without a guardian… He’s a kid. =)
Yeah, it is just such a condescending way to talk. In this case, he still is underage, but a lot of times, people will call a 30 year old person a kid when they’re trying to dismiss the person.
While I realize that it is within the spirit of the Internet to insult one another, that was not the case with my post. I was merely referring to him as a kid (a young person) as an accurately descriptive term, in the same way that one would refer to a person as “the guy” or “the girl”. Would I have been condescending and sexist if I had said “the guy”? This is not a case of trying to “dismiss” a “30 year old person” and I will dedicate no more time to defending the syntax of my post. Lol. However, referring to someone as “an ass” based on improperly drawn conclusions makes you sound like… Well… you get the idea… =)
The purpose of this post was to present my reasons for doubting the evidence that the original poster presented. Your post was just a red herring. I find it amusing that, although I listed many reasons for my doubt, the only thing that you felt necessary to put in a comment was an inaccurate accusation based on your own biased inferences. If you have any relevant comments to make on my post, I’d be happy to hear them! Otherwise, I think we’re done here. =)
I think you misinterpreted my second post, sorry about that. My second post wasn’t directed at you in any way, and was more a generalization. I apologize for saying you sound like an ass, as I didn’t know the person was, in fact, a child at the time of posting.
I don’t think this person was doing anything malicious to make Apple look bad, like many posters here are saying. I still find it odd that a lot of Apple fans will attack children (in this case a 17 year old, and in the other case, a 12 year old) as a means to protect their precious. And this is coming from someone who owns multiple Apple products but isn’t a fanatic like lots of people here.
P.S. Again, the second paragraph was a generalization about the comments section here, and not directed at you.
Thanks for the apology thejuanald. Sorry for the misinterpretation on my end. I agree with you whole-heartedly on the insanity of insulting children over one’s choice of technology brand! lol.
Just an update on the situation, Apple is requesting the phone at the Apple Store, and I will be getting a replacement.
All I have been told is that it MAY have something to do with this: http://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/29/apple-says-manufacturing-defect-is-responsible-for-battery-issues-in-a-some-iphone-5s-devices/
Clarifying APPLE did NOT tell me it was correlated to that issue, but I have been told by other people it would make sense, and it does.
It’s amazing how so many just don’t/can’t believe a reasonable account – it’s almost as if “Apple phones cannot be faulty, therefore the story must be false —”
In any situation the simplest explanation is usually the correct explanation – so it happened; and not a complex conspiracy.
i don’t think anyone here is arguing that Apple phones cannot be faulty. if you make millions of devices, there are bound to be a few that have manufacturers defect during production and/or other issues. i don’t care if its samsung or google or apple hardware, they are all bound to have a few defective pieces in mass production. the question is about his story. i just can’t fathom that someone would put their bare hands (fingers) inside a burning up phone to rip open a display and risk getting burned. it makes zero sense. just ask yourself if you would risk getting burned while the phone is burning up just so you can see what is going on inside? only a dummy would do that.
I’m calling bullshit on this one… as if your going to unscrew the cowling off the display and off the battery while it’s igniting and smoking…
I work on iPhones and when a battery ignites it’s only about a 30 second experience, I’ve seen it three times.
It would be much more believable if you said you took the screen off after the ignition
Nice try though buddy… I’m sure your goign to milk it for all it’s worth
Mr Falcon – alas so many just do not want to believe you, and thus you are, without any real evidence, branded as being economical with the truth. Nothing would convince some of them unless they had been present at the actual event.
I could pick holes in the statements of some of your detractors, but it would only ignite further useless
argument – you need an expert independent examination, – but if Apple do it sadly we will never hear their opinion or see their report.
I discount his story due to flaws in his evidence, as I noted above. I think he made it up.
I am no Apple Apologist. Read my other posts if you imagine that I might be and weigh my postings using whatever methods you choose.
All said, I generally do know what I’m talking about when it comes to failure in electronic devices as it is the basis of my engineering career. This one doesn’t make sense to me. If it is true, then the person presenting the story is doing such an awful job explaining what happened, because the photos, in totality, fail to match his story. Let the young man provide more photos with better clarity and a more accurate description of what he did and I’ll reconsider.
I worked at the Genius Bar for 2 years! I am more aware than most people of how possible it is to have a defective Apple product. I saw plenty of them! Lol. If this really happened, it’s probably the only case of someone opening up their phone in the middle of a thermal event. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen…
If you told me your DOG got hit by a car, I would be sad for you and wouldn’t doubt you for a second. If you told me your GOLDFISH got hit by a car… I’m going to ask a few more questions before I start to comfort you for the loss of your aquatic friend. =)
His account is a little more extraordinary than most and, for that reason, is just harder to believe.
That pic is a lie
must be aftermarket junkolla from China
A real Iphone battery has silkscreening on it like this:
http://images.tmcnet.com/tmc/misc/articles/Image/2012/iphone5b.jpg
his doesnt have anything on it, and the heat wouldnt remove it, much less all of it
iPhone 5s dont have a battery pull tab, They have adhesive tabs at the bottom of the battery tucked in between the battery and charge port that you pull out from under the battery which removes the adhesive and releases the battery. That picture above is of an iPhone 5 not an iPhone 5s.
Look at this, Apple fanatics at it again. Anytime something not wonderful about an Apple product comes out, they scream that the guy is a liar and is just trying to defame Apple. On this website people even resorted to talking crap about a 2nd grade girl. Wow.
You didn’t exactly blame apple for the “student reported 2nd…” why not complete the story by stating the facts? She had the phone in back pocket and then the phone snapped in half. In this case, it was not apples fault and you should be clear before writing such rubbish. What you say can scare people – and you have the power to protect people by teaching them how to protect themselves against a battery malfunction from any similar electronic device.
That’s my two cents worth…
2 Weeks ago, my wife and I were out and her phone was almost burning HOT. The screen wouldn’t turn on so we “thought” it was off. I took it out of the case thinking that was the reason for it to be hot. It seemed to cool off and she put it pack in her purse. She took it out about 25 minutes later and it had gotten HOTTER! The screen was still not coming on (I thought it was their temperature sensor preventing it) so I did a hard reset (power and home). The screen reset and it came on (still hot as ever). Now we can power it off. Once this happened it cooled off. After reading this, I’ll be heading to the Apple store to get a new one. The device was hard to hold when it was hot. I could see it getting to this point.
You should definitely take it in to the Apple Store, because your phone does have a problem.
However, you can take solace in the fact that you are probably not facing the same thing as the phone in this post. A thermal event (when the battery “explodes”) doesn’t occur gradually over a long period of time. It is typically a sudden event that occurs within minutes. =)
they look very much like lithium polymer batteries which I use in R/c models they have certain safety guidelines for charging and use they must always be charged inside a tin or in a special metallic bag none of which seem apparent inside the iPhone above, don’t the designers learn anything at all especially as a passenger jet recently had a fire in the cockpit using similar batteries? The phone should be able to vent any fumes in at least 30 seconds a safety standard when using these cells for electronic hand held devices. obviously there are no safety standards in china where the iPhone is knocked out for an amazing price of £3 each. fortunately I have the good sense to know I will never buy an iPhone I see it as a massive rip off so what if it is reliable to most you can buy a Samsung galaxy 3 phablet for a lot less money and its got 3 gig of ram installed to with a quad core processor.
I have had my new iPhone 5s for a few weeks now and mine hasn’t exploded but for the last week my battery life has started to get worse and one side of my screen has started to lift up. My hubby works with electronics and told me it’s probably the battery expanding in my phone. Safe to say it’s been turned off and going back to the apple store before something like this happens
I believe him, this same thing just happened to a friend of mine. Instead of looking for ways to discredit him, take the warning and appreciate the time he took to post this and educate you.
Thank you for your post!
I woke up this morning to find out that the screen of my Iphone 5 was off its frame on top. I didn’t remember I dropped somewhere and I was puzzled. It was hotter than usual and the SIM card had an issue. Finally I found out battery has inflated and was very soft, almost in liquid state. It melted down.
I replaced the battery with a brand new one but I know that its life won’t be longer than the previous one with a real risk of fire.
I used to have this Iphone for main use since the end of 2013.