iPhone 15 Pro Overheating Concerns Highlighted in Two More Reports

iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max overheating concerns continue to make headlines this week, with the topic highlighted by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.

iPhone 15 Pro lineup
Both of the reports document anecdotal complaints from customers, and outline potential causes, but it's unclear how many devices are actually affected. Bloomberg said the overheating could be caused or compounded by the iPhone's setup process, suggesting that the higher temperatures might sometimes be a temporary condition.

The Wall Street Journal quoted a customer who felt his iPhone 15 Pro Max remained hotter than his iPhone 13 Pro Max a few days after setting up the device:

Thomas Galvin, a 23-year-old from Cleveland, says his iPhone 15 Pro Max has been "super hot" and that he is considering returning it. Apple customer support told him the heat was a result of setting up the new phone, but even a few days later, it is still "way worse than the iPhone 13 Pro Max," he said.

The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern said her iPhone 15 Pro Max did heat up while charging and performing processor-intensive tasks, such as gaming, but she said her iPhone 14 Pro Max reached similar temperatures in the same test. During typical everyday usage, Stern said the temperature of both devices was in a normal range. Many customers on social media have also said their iPhone 15 Pro is not experiencing any overheating, and the lack of hard data makes it unclear if there is a widespread problem.

On Wednesday, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the titanium frame on iPhone 15 Pro models negatively impacts thermal efficiency. Kuo believes that Apple will likely address the issue through software updates, but he said improvements may be limited unless Apple lowers the performance of the A17 Pro chip.

Apple has not commented on the concerns, and it's unclear if the company will actually make any software optimizations in future iOS updates.

Related Roundup: iPhone 15 Pro

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Top Rated Comments

Velin Avatar
11 months ago
The complaints are heating up.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrono1081 Avatar
11 months ago
I don't buy into "overheating" hysteria. 99% of the time people conflate "getting warm" to "overheating" because they don't understand that chips get warm when doing things and what sounds hot to a human isn't hot to a computer chip.

If it's truly overheating, the screen will dim, the device will stutter, and eventually shut off. That's overheating.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
motm95 Avatar
11 months ago
Although it got warm during setup and maybe for the first day afterwards while it was indexing and downloading messages and all that, my 15 Pro Max is now operating at normal temperature. No overheating issues here and it is a great phone.
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RalfTheDog Avatar
11 months ago
Step 1, pull the pin.
Step 2, count to three.
Step 3, throw phone at enemy and duck.

(I am not sure why you would want to throw an iPhone at a duck.)
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Skyscraperfan Avatar
11 months ago
And yet hundreds lined up in Dubai to get one. It seems it is more suitable for Alaska and Iceland.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macman01101 Avatar
11 months ago
I have a 15 pro max, 512gb, natural titanium, and I use without a case.

I’ve had it since launch day. It’s done indexing, etc.

My phone gets extremely hot when:
- updating apps in App Store
- using podcasts app
- charging with apple chargers and cables (both wireless and usbc)
- I was using safari last night trying to book a car and got the hottest I’ve ever felt. Had to close safari and heat dissipated. Wasn’t able to reproduce.


Gets noticeably hot during:
- normal phone call

Haven’t tried:
- FaceTime
- IG

I’m strongly considering returning it.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)