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iPhone Overheating? Here's What You Can Do About It

It’s one of those things you feel right away: your iPhone overheating. We hold our iPhones in our hands so much that we’ve become very familiar with their “normal” or healthy temperature. Even though that temperature varies based on season and climate, you know when your iPhone is hot.


It’s not a huge problem, but it happens to old and new handsets alike: an iPhone 7 overheating is just as common as an iPhone 6 overheating, just as well as the 4, 5, 8 or even X. When you feel your iPhone heating up, stay cool and read on.


The ideal iPhone operating temperature

The ideal iPhone operating temperature is between 32° to 95° F. When within this range, your iPhone should be performing seamlessly. Your iPhone can withstand more severe weather conditions when it’s not in use. You probably won’t harm your iPhone if you keep it between -4° and 113° F. 

Leaving it in a parked car on a hot summer day or outside in the backyard on a cold winter night is not advised. Always try and keep your phone at room temperature and out of direct sunlight.


iPhone overheating symptoms & temperature warning


iPhone 7 overheating warning
Temperature warning in an iPhone 7 overheating situation.


When your iPhone is too hot for its own good, it goes into cool-down mode. This happens after you’ve kept your phone directly in the hot sun, forgot it in a parked car, or overused it continuously while it was in a hot environment.

In cool-down mode, you may experience one, some, or all of the following symptoms. They get worse as your iPhone keeps heating up and its temperature keeps rising:

1. The phone will not charge even when plugged in, or it may charge very slowly. This includes wireless charging.
2. You will have a weak signal, if any at all. You may still be able to make emergency calls.
3. Your phone’s overall performance will be slow. This is especially true about apps that are rich in graphics.
4. A black temperature warning will come up saying: "iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it".
5. If you’re using navigation, you will see this alert: "Temperature: iPhone needs to cool down." Navigation will continue with audio alone.
6. If you insist on using your camera, you will have no flash.
7. Finally, the display is dimmed. It may even turn black.


What can I do if my iPhone is overheating?

What we recommend in an iPhone overheating situation is to take the following steps:
1. Turn your hot iPhone off.
2. Stop charging it - wirelessly or with a charger.
3. Take it somewhere cool.
4. Take it out of its case.
5. Wait for your overheated device to cool down and reach its ideal iPhone operating temperature once again.  

person holding iphone 6 phone Your phone also deserves a break every once in a while.


When is it OK for my iPhone to get hot?

It’s quite normal if your iPhone is heating up in the following situations:
1. When you set up your phone for the first time.
2. When you restore your device from backup.
3. After a screen replacement, your phone heats up while your new screen is calibrated.
4. When you use CPU-guzzling apps such as augmented reality, graphics-intense apps etc.
5. After a software update.

It’s completely normal for your phone to heat up during these processes. Your phone will return to regular iPhone operating temperatures shortly after.


Why is my iPhone overheating?

An iPhone overheating is usually a side effect of the CPU (Central Processing Unit) overheating. The CPU is the heart and soul of your iPhone. It’s where all the calculations happen in super-speed, allowing your iPhone to function as a fast computer. When you set up your new device for the first time, the CPU is doing a lot of work in a short period of time.

The same is true when you restore your device or after a screen replacement. The CPU has to work extra hard to get everything in place. Once it’s done, everything goes back to normal, cool temperatures.

Extra overheating also occurs during day-to-day use, especially when you put too much strain on your CPU. Some common examples:
Problem: You have too many apps open in the background.
Solution: Regularly close the apps you’re not using.
Problem: You’re using heavy apps such as GPS navigation or graphics-intense apps.
Solution: Give your iPhone a break from time to time and let it cool down.
Problem: Your apps are dated and may have memory leaks, taking up extra CPU calculations for no reason.
Solution: Update your apps regularly.


Why is my iPhone heating up after update?

The iOS is the operating system that interacts with the CPU, using the processor’s calculations to orchestrate the entire iPhone experience. A common reason for CPU overheating is an iOS update.

The updating process demands many resources and revs up the CPU for a relatively long time. Since iPhones have no fans, there’s nothing to help the CPU to cool down.

Apple’s iOS 11 operating system. Apple’s iOS 11 operating system. (Photo Credit: Apple)



iPhone 7 overheating after iOS 11 update

When the iPhone 8 and X were introduced, they came out with the Apple A11 Bionic processor accompanied by the all-new iOS 11. Owners of older generations were encouraged to upgrade their iOS to the latest version. So if you feel your iPhone 7 overheating after iOS 11 update, it’s because the old CPU is running many calculations for the new iOS.

The same is true for your iPhone 6 overheating or iPhone 5 overheating problem. If they’re overheating after the iOS 11 update, that is perfectly normal. If you feel your iPhone 8 overheating after an update, it should probably cool down faster, as it is equipped with the new A11 processor which has superior speed and was designed specifically for the iOS 11.


Your iPhone keeps overheating regularly? Keep calm and call Puls

If your iPhone keeps overheating, or if your iPhone is overheating and won’t turn on, get a Puls technician to come out and help. Using your iPhone continually when it’s too hot may cause long-term damage to your device. We’ve taken care of iPhone 6, 7, and 8 devices with overheating problems, and will gladly attend to your iPhone as well.

The Puls team is incredibly passionate about our service and our customers. So much so that we want to share our insights on TV mounting, garage door repair, appliance repair and more with the general public. Look to The Beat for advice and tips on a wide variety of in-home topics, and hopefully you'll learn a thing or two.

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