Apple analyst says iPhone 15 Pro overheating problems due to thermal design, not the A17...

[midian182]

A hot potato: The new iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max arrived last week with plenty of positive reviews, but it seems that Apple's latest handsets aren't without their issues. There have been several reports of the devices overheating. According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the problem is due to its thermal design and not the new SoC hardware.

There have been several reports of buyers finding their iPhone 15 Pro series getting unusually hot, with temperatures reaching 115 degrees Fahrenheit in some cases. 9To5Mac writes that some said the issue was present while charging using a wired connection; one person said their iPhone 15 Pro Max was too hot to touch while fast charging.

Many people have questioned whether the overheating issues are related to the iPhone 15 Pro's all-new A17 Pro SoC, the industry's first 3nm chip. But in a post yesterday, Kuo argued the problem is unrelated to TSMC's advanced node.

The analyst believes the most likely reason the iPhones are getting unusually toasty is the compromises Apple made to make the phone lighter. Kuo says that these include a reduction in the heat dissipation area which, combined with the more heat-conductive titanium frame, negatively impacts thermal efficiency.

Kuo thinks Apple will be able to address the overheating problem via a software update, but making any significant improvements will involve limiting the phone's performance, which won't go down well with buyers.

The overheating question was raised during early tests of the iPhone 15 Pro Max's ability to play AAA games. Apple called the device the "next generation of mobile gaming," able to run the likes of Assassin's Creed Mirage and Resident Evil 4 natively. However, the phone gets very hot (118F) during these sessions, and thermal throttling causes at least a 25% drop in performance.

Kuo also warned that Apple's failure to properly address the issue could impact the iPhone 15 Pro series' shipment numbers.

It's worth pointing out that phones can get very hot during the first day after setup, though this problem is still present days later. And not all of the new iPhones appear affected by overheating, which is a bit strange if the problem really is related to the same thermal design found in every handset. Expect to find out more as time goes on.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100302-apple-analyst-iphone-15-pro-overheating-problems-due.html

 

[jonny888]

I feel like the rest of the world would enjoy this article more if we could get some Celsius values on the go. Thanks.

 

[noel24]

I feel like the rest of the world would enjoy this article more if we could get some Celsius values on the go. Thanks.

I came down here to write the same thing.
Techspot as an internationally read tech publication should be brave and embrace SI.
Besides, Apple enthusiasts from US will be glad to hear Its just 46°C rather than 115°F.
Which is still hot, but looks better.
;-)

 

[oasked]

47°C?

That's not bad considering the temperatures that most modern (albeit laptop or desktop) CPUs get to

 

[polord]

Ah, 319K, that’s hot..

 

[ScottSoapbox]

I feel like the rest of the world would enjoy this article more if we could get some Celsius values on the go. Thanks.

The metric system is a fad that will be gone soon so why bother?

 

[adamtony159]

The metric system is a fad that will be gone soon so why bother?

why will it be gone?
what will replace it?

 

[hahahanoobs]

why will it be gone?
what will replace it?

 

[kinetix]

The metric system is a fad that will be gone soon so why bother?

yeah.... right....

 

[RandomWAN]

I came down here to write the same thing.
Techspot as an internationally read tech publication should be brave and embrace SI.
Besides, Apple enthusiasts from US will be glad to hear Its just 46°C rather than 115°F.
Which is still hot, but looks better.
;-)

Then that would be 319.26° K. The rest of the world could just learn to convert between commonly used units and get over themselves.

 

[wildfirede]

Hmm some but not all, are they putting too little thermal paste, deliding you iPhone in 3.2.1.

 

[Bobbydpue]

The metric system is a fad that will be gone soon so why bother?

It's literally the best measurement system in the world. Doubling a recipe using imperial takes so long with tsp, tbsp, ounces, pounds, etc...while in metric it's super easy you just double it.

 

[PEnnn]

The metric system is a fad that will be gone soon so why bother?

Are you talking about the precise and more practical system that 99% of the civilized world uses??

Nah, it will stay longer than those few nations who are not using it!!

 

[Ben Myers]

I feel like the rest of the world would enjoy this article more if we could get some Celsius values on the go. Thanks.

Authors need to know that TempCelcius = 5/9 * (TempFahrenheit - 32).

115 F = 46 C

 

[Ben Myers]

47°C?

That's not bad considering the temperatures that most modern (albeit laptop or desktop) CPUs get to

Almost too hot to the touch. Maybe Apple needs to design and market an expensive all aluminum cellphone case for the iPhone 15 Pro. All copper would be better. And some iPhone 15 owners would be attracted to a gold or platinum cell phone case, to match other accessories one wears. Aluminum looks a little cheesy despite its light weight and excellent thermal conduction. I sense an excellent market opportunity here for Apple, making lemonade out of lemons.

 

[kukoljaleksandar]

47°C?

That's not bad considering the temperatures that most modern (albeit laptop or desktop) CPUs get to

That is temperature on phone case / surface. That means inside temperature is at least double. Even for modern CPU, reaching almost 100 C is no-no. For mobile device, next to battery, it is unacceptable.

Of course, this is just baby steps most probably, because it does not appear on all phones... So, some mistakes in production lead to this, not design.

 

[ChrisH1]

"iPhone 15 Pro overheating problems due to thermal design, not the A17 Pro SoC" - Seriously? Really??? You mean, if they had designed it to not overheat, it might not have overheated? Well who would have thought, good to know.

I would say that even if the the A17 Pro SoC runs red hot, overheating problems would be due to thermal design. You design the thermal characteristics of the device to deal with the heat generated by the components under the normal operating profile; if that is not technically possible you use different components or decide you can't build the device.

 

[Darkmatter]

Sorry, but if I'm reading this right, Apple is saying that it isn't the chip, it's their own bad design of their phone? Is that what they're saying? lol