Apple acknowledges iPhone X becoming unresponsive in cold weather, promises software fix

By Roger Fingas

The iPhone X can temporarily lose touch functionality in cold weather, Apple admitted on Thursday in response to owner complaints.

"We are aware of instances where the iPhone X screen will become temporarily unresponsive to touch after a rapid change to a cold environment," a spokesperson told The Loop. "After several seconds the screen will become fully responsive again. This will be addressed in an upcoming software update."

Apple didn't offer a timetable for the patch.

On Wednesday a Reddit thread emerged on the topic, with the original poster complaining that his iPhone became unresponsive just seconds after stepping into cold weather. Some other commenters reported similar issues.

Officially iPhones, iPads, and the iPod touch are only built to run in ambient temperatures between 32 and 95 Fahrenheit. Going beyond those limits can cause a device to "change its behavior to regulate its temperature," the company says, even shutting down completely.

Many Apple customers live in places that regularly become colder however, and the issue is particularly critical with the iPhone X, which doesn't have a physical home button to fall back on.