iPhone 15 Pro Overheating Concerns Highlighted in Two More Reports

iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max overheating concerns continue to make headlines this week, with the topic highlighted by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.

iPhone 15 Pro lineup
Both of the reports document anecdotal complaints from customers, and outline potential causes, but it's unclear how many devices are actually affected. Bloomberg said the overheating could be caused or compounded by the iPhone's setup process, suggesting that the higher temperatures might sometimes be a temporary condition.

The Wall Street Journal quoted a customer who felt his iPhone 15 Pro Max remained hotter than his iPhone 13 Pro Max a few days after setting up the device:

Thomas Galvin, a 23-year-old from Cleveland, says his iPhone 15 Pro Max has been "super hot" and that he is considering returning it. Apple customer support told him the heat was a result of setting up the new phone, but even a few days later, it is still "way worse than the iPhone 13 Pro Max," he said.

The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern said her iPhone 15 Pro Max did heat up while charging and performing processor-intensive tasks, such as gaming, but she said her iPhone 14 Pro Max reached similar temperatures in the same test. During typical everyday usage, Stern said the temperature of both devices was in a normal range. Many customers on social media have also said their iPhone 15 Pro is not experiencing any overheating, and the lack of hard data makes it unclear if there is a widespread problem.

On Wednesday, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the titanium frame on iPhone 15 Pro models negatively impacts thermal efficiency. Kuo believes that Apple will likely address the issue through software updates, but he said improvements may be limited unless Apple lowers the performance of the A17 Pro chip.

Apple has not commented on the concerns, and it's unclear if the company will actually make any software optimizations in future iOS updates.

Related Roundup: iPhone 15 Pro

Top Rated Comments

Velin Avatar
26 weeks ago
The complaints are heating up.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrono1081 Avatar
26 weeks ago
I don't buy into "overheating" hysteria. 99% of the time people conflate "getting warm" to "overheating" because they don't understand that chips get warm when doing things and what sounds hot to a human isn't hot to a computer chip.

If it's truly overheating, the screen will dim, the device will stutter, and eventually shut off. That's overheating.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
motm95 Avatar
26 weeks ago
Although it got warm during setup and maybe for the first day afterwards while it was indexing and downloading messages and all that, my 15 Pro Max is now operating at normal temperature. No overheating issues here and it is a great phone.
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RalfTheDog Avatar
26 weeks ago
Step 1, pull the pin.
Step 2, count to three.
Step 3, throw phone at enemy and duck.

(I am not sure why you would want to throw an iPhone at a duck.)
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Skyscraperfan Avatar
26 weeks ago
And yet hundreds lined up in Dubai to get one. It seems it is more suitable for Alaska and Iceland.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macman01101 Avatar
26 weeks ago
I have a 15 pro max, 512gb, natural titanium, and I use without a case.

I’ve had it since launch day. It’s done indexing, etc.

My phone gets extremely hot when:
- updating apps in App Store
- using podcasts app
- charging with apple chargers and cables (both wireless and usbc)
- I was using safari last night trying to book a car and got the hottest I’ve ever felt. Had to close safari and heat dissipated. Wasn’t able to reproduce.


Gets noticeably hot during:
- normal phone call

Haven’t tried:
- FaceTime
- IG

I’m strongly considering returning it.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

Apple Releases iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Bug Fixes and Security Improvements

Thursday March 21, 2024 10:06 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1, minor updates to the iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 operating systems. The new software comes a couple of weeks after Apple released iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4 with app changes in the European Union, new emoji, and more. iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue Face ID Single Camera Hole

Seven Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Tuesday March 19, 2024 5:20 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models concurrently, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: Apple's Four Upcoming AirPods Models

Friday March 22, 2024 9:03 am PDT by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss Apple's rumored plan to refresh the entire AirPods lineup with a series of new models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos The fourth-generation AirPods will reportedly feature a new design with a better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C port. For the first time ever,...
iPhone Home Screen Gradient

Sources: iOS 18 Lets Users Customize Layout of Home Screen App Icons

Sunday March 24, 2024 1:33 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. Home Screen on iOS 17 While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the...
maxresdefault

Review: Two Weeks With the M3 MacBook Air

Friday March 22, 2024 12:16 pm PDT by
The latest 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models have been available for two weeks now, and MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been using the 15-inch version since it launched. Over on our YouTube channel, Dan shared a review now that he's been able to spend some quality time with the machine. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The M3 MacBook Air is a perfect...
combine images

Top Stories: iOS 18's Generative AI Features to Rely on Google?, Latest on New iPads, and More

Saturday March 23, 2024 6:00 am PDT by
We're getting closer to the launch of new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, while rumors about iOS 18 are continuing to ramp up with this week's surprise revelation that Apple has been talking to Google and others about potentially helping power the generative AI features expected to be a major part of this year's update. Other news this week saw the release of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1...
m1 vs m2 air feature toned down

Apple Silicon Vulnerability Allows Hackers to Extract Encryption Keys

Friday March 22, 2024 5:19 am PDT by
An unpatchable vulnerability has been discovered in Apple's M-series chips that allows attackers to extract secret encryption keys from Macs under certain conditions, according to a newly published academic research paper (via ArsTechnica). Named "GoFetch," the type of cyber attack described involves Data Memory-Dependent Prefetchers (DMPs), which try to predict what data the computer will...