AppleInsider Staff
The woman, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said she took her story to tech website Mashable in order to spread public awareness over the reported issue, claiming that Apple has been reticent to acknowledge the alleged incident.
The unnamed source claims that she awoke in the early morning during a recent trip to the east coast to find her year-old white iPhone 4 making "sizzling" and "popping" noises. After an unspecified amount of time there was “not quite an explosion, but an immense crackling,†and smoke plumed from the device creating "an awful, putrid smell, almost like you were ingesting plastic of some kind.â€
Inspection of the provided pictures yields no clues as to which components were heated to the point of creating smoke, though it a bulging battery is clearly seen to have expanded enough to force apart the iPhone's casing.
According to the report, the iPhone was connected via an Apple-branded charger to a power outlet that was later inspected and found to be working normally.
The woman goes on to say that when she asked Apple to be upgraded to a replacement iPhone 4S, the company furnished her with another iPhone 4.
Pictures of the alleged iPhone 4 combustion. (Note that images are flipped horizontally) | Source: Mashable
“I would have liked to have seen them say they understand this might not be something that affects everyone,†the Colorado woman said. “But, because it happened here, [they should] put up a precautionary statement to make people aware that if their battery becomes too hot to be wary.â€
The alleged incident is reportedly the first of its kind in the U.S., though there has been at least one similar instance in Australia involving the iPhone 4.
This is not the first time Apple has seen problems with overheating batteries as it extended a replacement program for its first-generation iPod nano in 2011 due to a defect that caused the device's battery to overheat. The Cupertino, Calif., company first acknowledged the problem in a 2008 press release that stemmed from an investigation by the Japanese government.
There have been no reports of severe overheating issues with the iPhone 4S or any other products in Apple's current lineup.
Malcolm Owen
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68 Comments
Why she goes on a media campaign insisting Apple making a public statement of wrong doing - rather than just getting a free replacement iPhone - is a mystery to me.
"Warning, your iPhone may explode while charging. Please charge responsibly and unplug it when it's done."
The current Apple disclaimer has this covered completely:
WARNING: Shit happens. Get over it. Consequences will never be the same.
Combustiongate....
I think one of two things may likely be the cause of this situation:
1. There was some sort of over-amp, or power surge, or uneven voltage at the charging site which caused too much electricity to be pumped into the device, resulting in battery failure. Also, possibly a faulty charger could have been the problem.
2. More likely -- the device had been previously dropped or sustained internal damage to the battery in the device, causing leakage or damaged components which failed when the device received electrical charge, causing the battery to combust. If the device had been dropped and received internal damage prior to this incident, it could have likely caused a failure in the charging mechanism(s) and/or battery which would cause fire. Such damage could involve damage to the internal power inverter, damage to the battery compartment, or damage to the Lithium Ion cells. Even a drop from a height onto a carpeted surface could cause internal damage which could cause leakage or result in failure on charging, or fire.