Just two days after Apple launched its eagerly anticipated iPhone 15 and 15 Pro Max, the tech giant has come under fire over claims the handset overheats and becomes too hot to hold.
Expectations over the iPhone 15’s capabilities were high, especially among the gaming community, thanks to Apple’s A17 Pro; a new System-on-Chip (SoC) which allow the new handset to boast faster speeds than M2 MacBooks.
This particular SoC is currently the only 3nm chip in the industry, and while there’s no doubt it has impressive capabilities, it has been receiving mixed reviews so far.
A Chinese technology reviewer, who goes by the handle Geekerwan, has just released an extensive review of the new iPhones and more specifically, the A17 Pro chip, putting them through various different tests and gaming sessions.
He found that the A17 Pro can overheat during intense tasks, reaching up to 48°C, BRG reports. Not only that, the chip is also reported to ‘throttle’ performance when under particular stress.
Geekerwan was playing Genshin Impact for 30 minutes with high graphic settings in a room that was 25ºC when the device is said to have reached the soaring temperatures.
He then went on to sideload Resident Evil Village on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and noticed the performance levels were starting to falter as the A17 Pro dropped from mid-40s to 30 fps.
Meanwhile, Canadian tech content creator RJey took to X, formerly Twitter, to say the iPhone Pro Max ‘gets so hot sometimes, that if you’re using it caseless you can’t even hold it’.
Meanwhile, another user responded: “Heat issues horrible, this is not what I was expecting (15 Pro Max).”
Another X user wrote: “I knew I wasn’t tripping. Immediately noticed as soon as I turned it on. ‘Hot core’ just keeps getting hotter.”
However, Apple has acknowledged the possibility of the device getting very hot in an interview with IGN, where president Tim Millet said the iPhone 15 Pro has the power to ‘burn a hole’ through the back – but insisted there are protections in place to prevent this from ever happening.
Bear in mind, there’s a lot of jargon going on this one…
He said: “[Developers] could in theory take this amazing GPU and try to burn a hole through the back of the phone.
“We wouldn’t let that happen, but they could definitely do something that was probably not optimal for the experience.
“But we give them tools like MetalFX that allow them to really burst up in maintaining an experience for a lot longer if they want to. And they can dial that in and out, depending on the experience that they want to go deliver.
“But it’s all about giving them the tools to build that sustainable experience. And it starts with a super-efficient and performant SoC, GPU and the associated software that runs with it.”
LADbible has contacted Apple for a comment.
