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Some iPhone 7 devices making ‘hissing’ sound while under heavy load

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As with most new iPhone models, there are bound to be a few launch day issues that emerge, most of which end up being minor in the grand scheme of things. Nevertheless, it’s still interesting to note the various annoyances. Today, some iPhone 7 users have noticed an odd hissing sound coming from their device while putting the new A10 Fusion processor to the test.

First noticed by Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels and then piled on by other podcasters, the iPhone 7 seems to make a noticeable hissing sound while under heavy load. Hackett uploaded a video to YouTube with a recording of the sound (below), which is similar to that of white noise or the hiss you get a poorly connected speaker.

Hackett’s complaints have been corroborated by others, including former Apple PR person and current TechCrunch writer Darrell Etherington, who noticed the hiss while his iPhone 7 Plus was going through the setup process.

The general consensus is that the hiss is somehow related to the A10 Fusion processor due to the fact that it only emerges when the device is under heavy load and emanates from the general area where the processor lives. While the sound is similar to a laptop fan according to folks with the issue, the iPhone obviously doesn’t have any fans inside of it which is what makes this a head-scratcher. Given the fact that the iPhone is a relatively lower-power device, it’s unusual for it to make a sound like this outside of speaker noise.

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At this point, it’s unclear if the hissing sound affects all iPhone 7/Plus devices or just a random selection. If it’s the latter of the two, then it could be a quality assurance issue related to the initial build quality of a random set of devices. If it affects all iPhone 7 Plus devices, then it theoretically could be some kind of cooling method implemented by Apple. However, that seems like something that would have emerged in early teardowns of the device.

AppleCare’s response to the issue to Hackett, however, also implies that it’s a defect. Hackett reached out to customer support concerning the issue and was told to go to an Apple Store and have the device replaced (despite the fact that stock is incredibly limited at this point).

In terms of power, the iPhone 7 Plus features a four-core A10 Fusion chip and an embedded M10 motion coprocessor. The Fusion chip features two high-performance cores and two high-efficiency cores that run at 1/5 the power for longer battery life. A new performance controller ensures in real-time that the correct processors are running, ensuring the best combination of battery life and performance.

Does your iPhone 7 Plus make this hissing sound when under heavy load? Let us know in the comments.

https://twitter.com/ismh/status/777149981421699072

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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to chance@9to5mac.com