Apple’s latest iPhone literally too hot to handle for some users

The iPhone 15 is Apple’s hottest product yet – but not for the reasons the tech giant would like.

Social media, message boards and random corners of the internet were alight last week with talk of overheating issues surrounding the latest iPhone and the temperatures it reaches.

And there were plenty of comedians around to come up with memes to poke fun at the situation. It started with a thermometer reading of the iPhone, which reached more than 45 degrees.

Another posted an image of the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s rear camera with a cooking pot on it, as if it were a stove top. “Let Tim Cook,” quipped one wag on Reddit.

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[ Tech review: iPhone 15 Pro Max - No more iPhone charger as USB-C becomes standard ]

Jokes aside, this is an issue that Apple needs to take the heat out of, and quickly.

There was talk of the hardware issues with the new A17 Pro chip; Apple says there is nothing to suggest the chip is the problem. There was also talk of the company reducing performance to stop the phones heating up too much, but Apple also quashed talk of that.

Users are, understandably, concerned. It wasn’t that long ago that Samsung found itself having to recall its flagship smartphone after the Note 7 overheated and, in some cases, caught fire.

[ Tech Review: Apple iPhone 15 – the time is right to upgrade from your older phone ]

Over the weekend, Apple said it had found the cause. Third party apps were in part to blame, including photo-sharing site Instagram. The company has since updated its app to address the issue. Other apps known to have caused problems were mobile game Asphalt 9 and transport app Uber.

It turns out there is also a software bug in iOS 17, the latest version of the mobile software. So it isn’t just a problem with the iPhone 15, but rather one that could affect any phone capable of running the software. At the very least, that isn’t good for the long-term health of the battery.

Apple has promised a fix. In the meantime, users are finding their new phones are literally hot stuff.