While we didn't notice anything to complain about in our iPhone 15 Pro review or iPhone 15 Pro Max review review, there have been widespread reports that these handsets get unusually hot unusually often – a problem that Apple has now admitted to.
In a statement shared with MacRumors, Apple says there are "a few conditions" which can cause the handsets to get warmer than they should: increased background activity during the first few days after setup, an unspecified bug in iOS 17 that's "impacting some users", and certain third-party apps that are "overloading the system".
The third-party apps specifically mentioned by Apple are Instagram, Uber, and Asphalt 9: Legends, although there may be others. The good news is that all of this can be fixed with a software update, which is now in the pipeline.
The Pro models of the iPhone 15 have the faster A17 Pro chip inside them, but according to Apple, neither this nor the titanium materials used around the handsets are contributing to the overheating. In other words, it's a software problem rather than a hardware problem we're dealing with here.
Getting fixed up
Apple says it's working with third-party app developers to make sure their apps behave themselves, while the iOS bug is going to be patched up in iOS 17.1. That update is now at the beta stage, so we shouldn't have too much longer to wait for it.
Previous reports from those in the know had suggested that Apple might have to throttle the performance of the A17 Pro in order to limit the instances of overheating, but that won't be the case, Apple says. The company also says that the overheating doesn't represent a safety risk, and won't affect phone performance in the long-term.
It's difficult to assess just how many people have run into this overheating problem: it certainly isn't everyone, but it's clear that some users definitely are seeing it (or rather feeling it when they put their fingers on the back of their iPhone).
Early iPhone 15 adopters have reported a couple of other issues as well. A setup bug affecting those upgrading from another iPhone was swiftly fixed, while the titanium frames on the Pro and Pro Max models have been getting discolored by fingerprints – something that Apple says is only temporary.
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