Widespread reports of iPhone 15 Pro handsets overheating probably don’t stem from the new 3nm manufacturing process for the A17 Pro chip but from shortcuts Apple may have taken with the thermal system, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Tuesday.
He also noted software updates may address overheating.
iPhone 15 Pro overheating may come from ‘compromises’ in thermal system design
User reports that iPhone 15 Pro (and even non-Pro) handsets seemed to get hot while fast charging and under other circumstance arose Tuesday, reported by outlets like 9to5Mac and elsewhere. Temperatures rose as high as 116 degrees Fahrenheit.
Here’s a worried post:
My iPhone 15 Pro Max has major overheating issues after a few mins of use
Things are not looking good so far… pic.twitter.com/aGNYGOK3Kg
— Apple Hub (@theapplehub) September 24, 2023
Reliable Apple analyst and tipster Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in Medium and X (formerly Twitter) Tuesday that “compromises made in the thermal system design” are the likely cause of overheating.
A software update may fix it, but there might be repercussions if that doesn’t happen.
He wrote:
My survey indicates that the iPhone 15 Pro series overheating issues are unrelated to TSMC’s advanced 3nm node. The primary cause is more likely the compromises made in the thermal system design to achieve a lighter weight, such as the reduced heat dissipation area and the use of a titanium frame, which negatively impacts thermal efficiency.
It’s expected that Apple will address this through software updates, but improvements may be limited unless Apple lowers processor performance. If Apple does not properly address this issue, it could negatively impact shipments over the product life cycle of the iPhone 15 Pro series.
The iPhone 15 Pro series overheating issues are unrelated to TSMC’s advanced 3nm node / iPhone 15 Pro系列的過熱問題，與台積電的3nm製程無關https://t.co/8dngejSnhM
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) September 26, 2023
And some other commentary and testing on iPhone 15 Pro handsets overheating proved interesting, too:
Here are the temp differences between iPhone 15 Pro Max and S23 Ultra using a thermal camera!
The S23 has an even distribution of heat thanks to the vapor chamber cooler. iPhone doesn’t do as well because it lacks good cooling.
iPhone ends up cooler because of throttling… https://t.co/h8ZiGVm8ti pic.twitter.com/WspakxGdWT
— Vadim Yuryev (@VadimYuryev) September 25, 2023
