Apple to Address iPhone 15 Pro Heat Issues

Some iPhone 15 Pro buyers have reported that their new smartphones are overheating while others have had no issues. What’s going on?

There are many theories—including one from an analyst blaming assumed compromises to its thermal system and its use of a titanium outer frame—but these don’t address the inconsistent experiences that users report. Fortunately, Apple has finally piped up.

“We have identified a few conditions which can cause iPhone to run warmer than expected,” an Apple statement notes. “The device may feel warmer during the first few days after setting up or restoring the device because of increased background activity. We have also found a bug in iOS 17 that is impacting some users and will be addressed in a software update. Another issue involves some recent updates to third-party apps that are causing them to overload the system. We’re working with these app developers on fixes that are in the process of rolling out.”

So that all sounds very comforting, and hopefully that’s the full story. I can say that, in my own experience this past week with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, I did experience noticeable warmness when I first set it up, but that’s completely normal for any smartphone. (And I later read somewhere that an upgrade install that restores the contents of an old iPhone is much more likely to heat up the new iPhone than a clean install. I later did a clean install and never noticed anything in the way of heat.)

Since then, I received a protective case and belatedly configured my T-Mobile eSIM so that I could use the new iPhone regularly. And while it got warm when I installed the dozens of apps I typically used, it never got hot. I’m sure the case doesn’t help.

I will need more time using the iPhone 15 Pro Max to determine whether I can trigger any heat-related issues. But hopefully, Apple’s fixes will just solve the problem: No one will be happy spending $1000 or more on a new iPhone Pro only to find out that a coming software fix will have to slow performance to fix a heat issue that was of Apple’s making. But the inconsistent nature of the heat issues does suggest it’s not an endemic hardware issue.

I’ll cross my fingers just in case.