Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Apple investigating claims of iPhone 8 splitting open while charging

Within a week of going on sale, the Apple iPhone 8 is again in news, and not for the best reasons. There have been a few reports of the iPhone 8 duo splitting up due to some alleged battery issue. There was one such case reported in Japan, and one in Taiwan. And earlier today, Apple has acknowledged the issue, and said that it is investigating the cause of the issue. Apple told The Independent, that it is “looking into” reports that customers in Asia have seen their new iPhones split apart while charging them.

In one case, the user was charging her iPhone 8 – using an official Apple adapter – when she said the phone suddenly snapped apart. In the other case, an iPhone 8 Plus owner tweeted photos of his new phone with the screen practically popping off due to a “swollen battery”. According to the owner, the phone was damaged before he even opened the box.

However, at this point, it is important to note, that the number of reported incidents is relatively small, which can be counted down to two as of now. This in turn is indicative of a possible manufacturing defects. And that is why it would be wrong to categorize these incidents as a larger design issue like the one that forced a recall of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 last year.

Interestingly, according to The Next Web, some unconfirmed reports suggest that Apple iPhone 8 Plus uses a battery made by the same manufacturer Amperex Technology Limited (ATL) as the Galaxy Note 7. Notably, no burn marks or wear and tear has been noted in the two cases.

Last year, post the launch of the iPhone 7 duo, and around the same time when the Galaxy Note 7 was reported of explosion, a bunch of iPhones were found to be catching fire too. Though that never came to be zeroed to a design and manufacturing issue. The iPhone 6 faced a more serious issue, when the reports of ‘bendgate’ went viral, wherein, the infuriated customers revealed that the device was susceptible to bending.