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iPhone 15: users of Pro and Pro Max models complain of overheating issues

theguardian.com

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Re: iPhone 15: users of Pro and Pro Max models complain of overheating issues

#51

Thermal Conductivity I wonder if this is related to the use of Titanium and the poor thermal conductivity of Titanium (17 W/m-K) vs. Aluminum (210 W/m-K). Aluminum dissipates heat more than 10x better than titanium. https://waykenrm.com/blogs/titanium-vs-aluminum/#:~:text=All... . --- EDIT: I no longer think it's thermal conductivity due to the change in metals. See below. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3770515…

> Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple analyst at TF International Securities, said any overheating issue was probably due to “compromises” in the phone’s design as the company attempted to reduce the product’s weight. > The iPhone Pro model has a frame made from titanium, a poor conductor of heat, which could hamper the handset’s ability to disperse heat. Previously, Apple has used stainless steel for its high-end phones.

> Previously, Apple has used stainless steel for its high-end phones.

I saw that too. I thought Apple mainly used aluminium?

Re: iPhone 15: users of Pro and Pro Max models complain of overheating issues

#52
post #20

I wonder how much of this is just caused by the higher workloads people put on their new phones just after purchase: restoring from backup, installing/trying new apps, testing out that new GPU, Photos doing a new classification pass on the existing library, and just a generally higher than average workload for the first few weeks of ownership. It seems like there are always a flurry of reports of issues like this on…

At least one post I found online talked about a direct corelation between talking over the phone and the temperature of the back rising to about 42℃.

I think this is a software flaw as well, but it's also probably more than just "new phone, heavy workloads". I'm sure an update or two will fix the issues most people run into, these things tend to happen when phones hit the market.

Re: iPhone 15: users of Pro and Pro Max models complain of overheating issues

#53
post #26

Why is weight even a concern? Thinness I get because that makes a real difference in your pocket, but what's the point of reducing the weight a tiny bit?

To be fair, some ways of holding the weight of the phone in one hand, e.g. resting the weight on your pinky finger along bottom edge, can cause hand injury/RSI. So weight isn’t a totally solved problem.

I started to use those stand cases, and I'm not going back. They Make the phone so much more thicker, but also make it so much easier handle.

Re: iPhone 15: users of Pro and Pro Max models complain of overheating issues

#54
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is irrelevant since the majority of the internal frame is aluminum. It's really just the outer portion that you hold that is titanium.

Since titanium covers the whole back and sides, wouldn't it act as a "thermal bottleneck" regardless of the aluminum?

[deleted]

Re: iPhone 15: users of Pro and Pro Max models complain of overheating issues

#55
So I have the iPhone 15 Pro Max. I have for sure had a few times that it got really hot, particularly when I was restoring it and it was doing a lot of background tasks.

BUT so has every other single iPhone I have had since at least the X but I am pretty sure going farther back.

There were always moments that it got hot and I remember it would always happen when I was first setting it up. For me at least I don't think it's happening anymore than it used too.

For (likely) important context, I don't have a case on mine and I have had the Pro Max line for as long as it has existed.

Re: iPhone 15: users of Pro and Pro Max models complain of overheating issues

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> GSMArena bought two iPhone 15 Pro Max from different retailers to test the overheating issue and they were unable to replicate it. Did anyone manage to "replicate" the explosion of a Galaxy Note 7 under controlled usage? Assuming no one did, what conclusion wiuld we draw from s failure to replicate on n=2?

Failure to replicate doesn't mean that it's not an issue. They even acknowledged that it has happened to other people. It's just another data point. IMO, it sounds like it's a real issue, but not one that affects the majority of users.

The way you handle inconsistent failures IRL is the same way you handle it in software:

Run a hundred instances of the test. Measure the failure rate. Make the change. Re-measure.

In bash it might be a for loop running the test a hundred times, in person it might getting a hundred phones.

Re: iPhone 15: users of Pro and Pro Max models complain of overheating issues

#57
post #20

I wonder how much of this is just caused by the higher workloads people put on their new phones just after purchase: restoring from backup, installing/trying new apps, testing out that new GPU, Photos doing a new classification pass on the existing library, and just a generally higher than average workload for the first few weeks of ownership. It seems like there are always a flurry of reports of issues like this on…

I kinda wish Apple and Google would work on this first-run case. It's especially bad when you buy a new phone and set it up on-the-go, only to find the battery is dead before all the apps have even installed. Not a great experience.

They could do all the app installs and setup on a virtualized iphone in the cloud, and then just copy over all the already-configured apps.

Re: iPhone 15: users of Pro and Pro Max models complain of overheating issues

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Normies care about the fact that it's uncomfortably warm to hold, not whether the CPU is hot or not.

I do think "normies" care about the CPU is hot or not, but they do so indirectly, as the phone will start throttling the CPU when it reaches a certain temperature, so the phone will start feeling laggy. If you've ever tried to play a game on the iPhone/doing something else CPU/GPU heavy while outside in the sun on a hot day, you'll know what I mean, the performance is much worse.

> If you've ever tried to play a game on the iPhone/doing something else CPU/GPU heavy while outside in the sun on a hot day

good excuse to put down the phone and enjoy the sun :)

Re: iPhone 15: users of Pro and Pro Max models complain of overheating issues

#59
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple analyst at TF International Securities, said any overheating issue was probably due to “compromises” in the phone’s design as the company attempted to reduce the product’s weight. > The iPhone Pro model has a frame made from titanium, a poor conductor of heat, which could hamper the handset’s ability to disperse heat. Previously, Apple has used stainless steel for its high-end phones.

> Previously, Apple has used stainless steel for its high-end phones. I saw that too. I thought Apple mainly used aluminium?

Well, it's not Thermal Conductivity then.

I just looked it up.

  Stainless Steel   15 W/m-K
  Titanium          17 W/m-K
  Aluminum         210 W/m-K
Effectively, Stainless Steel & Titanium have the same thermal conductivity.

https://www.hardrok.com.au/thermal-activity-in-stainless-ste....

Re: iPhone 15: users of Pro and Pro Max models complain of overheating issues

#60
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is irrelevant since the majority of the internal frame is aluminum. It's really just the outer portion that you hold that is titanium.

Since titanium covers the whole back and sides, wouldn't it act as a "thermal bottleneck" regardless of the aluminum?

Titanium is only the outer band. The back is glass.
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