Smartphones may be getting more powerful by the day, but they are also becoming increasingly thinner. Although the svelte frames of today’s mobile devices look good, they also result in the devices’ innards being packed together more closely. This increased pressure on the smartphones’ hardware can often lead to unintended (and often extreme) consequences, such as the sealed-in battery getting burst. And as Samsung’s infamous Galaxy Note 7 debacle has shown us, it’s never a good thing.
In a similar incident, a user’s Apple iPhone X smartphone reportedly exploded during the upgrade process to iOS 12.1. According to a report by Gadgets 360, the user is from the city of Federal Way in Washington, United States. He also tweeted some photos of the thoroughly destroyed smartphone to Apple (Support), who replied that this is not expected behavior (obviously) and that they’ll look into the matter.
That's definitely not expected behavior. DM us, so we can look into this with you: https://t.co/GDrqU22YpT
— Apple Support (@AppleSupport) November 14, 2018
When contacted by Gadgets 360 over the incident, the user – Rahel Mohamed – said, “This year early January I bought the iPhone and have been using it normally. He further said that during the iOS 12.1 upgrade process, he put the phone on charging, and that’s when it happened.
“Dark grey smoke started coming from the phone. The update was completed and as soon as the phone turned on it started to smoke and caught fire,” he said.
Rahel Mohamed claims that he was using Apple’s official (bundled) charger and Lightning cable to charge the smartphone. However, he’d disconnected the phone from its charger before the former exploded.
Watch: Apple iPhone X Review
“When I held the phone it was very hot and I drop the phone immediately. Then it started to smoke,” he added.
It’s very much possible that the incident was the result of a component going bad, or even a faulty battery. It’ll be interesting to see what resolution Apple offers regarding it.
