iPhone 15 overheating

For all of you:

Do a simple Forced Restart on your new iPhone by:

• Press and quickly release the volume up button
• Then immediately press and quickly release the volume down button
• Then immediately press and KEEP HOLDING the side power button and KEEP HOLDING it past the swipe to shut down and KEEP HOLDING it until the Apple Logo appears, then let go

Sign back in with your passcode when the phone prompt you and let the phone settle down over the next couple days. If you transferred a LOT of data, it can days for the indexing process to complete. There is likely NOTHING wrong with your phones.

Your phone is NOT overheating, unless you see a message on your screen it needs to cool down before you can use it.

A new phone will be warm while it indexes all the new data you have put on the phone. This is normal and not something to be concerned about.

KayleeMuyu said:

"Hey, if you don’t mind me asking what is indexing?"

Indexing is pretty much what it sounds like... it's your phone going through all of its content (media, email, messages, etc.) and creating an index so that when you search, it can quickly find all of the content that matches your search. If it didn't do this, searching would take a lot longer.

This happens when you get a new phone, and periodically after iOS updates when something changes that requires it. It can be pretty processor intensive, which means that your battery will go down faster and your phone may get warmer when it happens. Depending on how much content you have, it can take several days for it to go through everything. Once it's done, your battery life should get better and the temperature should go down.

All of that said, as I mentioned in my previous post, what I'm experiencing with my 15 Pro seems a little extreme to me to be indexing alone. I've never had indexing cause this much heat on any of my previous iPhones.

Update: My iPhone 15 pro max works fantastic - it took about 1 week to fix the overheating issue.

That's because I realized it's due to a lot of background activity, so I left the phone on charge overnight with WiFi on, and explicitly went through all icould images, so they'd all start downloading, and also everything else that needs to get done during initial setup.

Once it's done with all that - and this can take a long time due to the way it's only doing it when there is a demand - for example it left my photos on iCloud until I scrolled through them all, things like that - once it's done, everything is great.

I just used it to navigate on the bike, in full sunlight, GPS on, Maps on, everything worked totally fine - if anything this gets less hot than my previous iPhone.

Can we please get this answer to be accepted, since everyone has the issue, and they don't necessarily scroll down to where all the answers are that say you have to wait 2 weeks.

If it still overheats after 2 weeks, you probably actually have a bad phone. But my guess is, that's not a lot of people.

I personally faced this problem too, and here are some things that I did to solve it:

• I updated my iOS to the latest version, which is iOS 17.0.4. Apple has released this update to address the overheating bug in iOS 17.
• I turned off some of the features that I don’t use often, such as location services, background app refresh, and Siri suggestions. These features can consume a lot of battery and CPU power, which can cause the phone to heat up.
• Avoided using or charging the phone in direct sunlight or in very hot environments. Excessive heat can damage the battery and the internal components of the phone.
• Cleaned the charging port and the speakers of the phone with a soft cloth or a cotton swab. Sometimes, dust or debris can block the airflow and prevent the phone from cooling down properly.

[Edited by Moderator]

AndyAngler wrote:

Apple & O2 have been shocking, spent an hour on the phone to Apple whilst on speaker phone as its too hot to hold the phone to your face and their advice was to send it back to them with a turnaround of approx 28 days without a phone, the O2 shop that I purchased the phone from had a similar response although theirs was based on availability of a like for like model coming in which is late October and would also leave me without a phone, end o end shocking after buying a premium product from a premium manufacturer from a premium store, during both calls which took approx 1 hour 20 mins the battery declined by over 50%

You can take this advice or not:

If I were in your situation, I'd erase the iPhone back to factory. Then I'd sign in my Apple ID but NOT restore a backup to the phone. Let it settle, then see if you have any heating issue. There's a good possibility there could be something corrupt in your backup. Or in Cellular settings you could be set to 5G always, when you may not have a good 5G signal and the phone could be working too hard to stay connected to cellular. Set it to LTE and see if 5G services could be an issue. Turn location services off at first, then grant location services access ONLY where you need it.

If your phone works without excessive heat, the phone isn't defective and doesn't need to be replaced. Try it for two days (you have nothing to lose at this point). Assuming it's OK, move apps over little by little, testing for anything to not work correctly.

You may well wait a month or more to get a replacement phone and run into the same situation you have right now. And I have a friend who just did this over the weekend. Without installing the backup, the phone is running cool and without issue.

think I’ve found something that helps

I noticed that the phone was still restoring itself from backup over 24hrs later, saying that it had 200mb further to download when I went to the settings page.

i went into iCloud settings and cancelled the remaining restore, then hard reset the device.

since then this seems to have improved the temperature and battery drainage issue.

still seems to go down quicker than it should, but it does appear somewhat better.

Hallo,

i have same issue With iPhone 15 pro.

insane heat and batteri drain just by talking.

it seems to be software as i fixed it by retiré to factory from iTunes and pc.

i Also have Always on turned off.

no heat and 60 procent batteri after full day.

do not restore phone from a backup, start new.

What have you set your iPhone to for cellular? You can set it to 5G, 5G Auto, LTE, in Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options. If you don't have access to strong 5G you should change your setting to 5G Auto or LTE and then see.

I had a call with my brother last night on my 15 Pro Max. The call lasted 51 minutes. My phone didn't even get warm and I lost 2% charge in 51 minutes. But I live in a major urban area, where 5G service is strong. My phone is on 5G Auto.

I have same problem with my wife’s 15 pro. Which is odd because my 15 pro max is not having that problem, except that I don’t have “Always on Display” turned on.

Her phone was sitting on the counter and got very hot without any use. But, her “Always on Display” was on. When I turned it off, it immediately started cooling down.

Long story short. Turn off “Always on Display”

According to news article in MacRumors.

Apple plans to release an iOS 17 update to address a bug that may contribute to the reported iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone Pro Max overheating issue, according to a statement the company shared today with MacRumors and Forbes reporter David Phelan.

Apple also says some recent updates to third-party apps have overloaded the system and contributed to the overheating issue. The report notes that some of these apps include Instagram, Uber, and the racing game Asphalt 9: Legends, and

Apple is working with the developers of these apps to address the issue. The report adds that Instagram already introduced a fix as part of an update to the app released on Wednesday.

Apple says iPhone 15 Pro models may run warmer than expected during the first few days after setting up or restoring the device due to increased background activity. This is standard behavior for new iPhones and only a temporary condition.

Apple's statement:

We have identified a few conditions which can cause iPhone to run warmer than expected. The device may feel warmer during the first few days after setting up or restoring the device because of increased background activity. We have also found a bug in iOS 17 that is impacting some users and will be addressed in a software update. Another issue involves some recent updates to third-party apps that are causing them to overload the system. We're working with these app developers on fixes that are in the process of rolling out.

The bug should be fixed with iOS 17.1, which is currently in beta and is expected to be released in late October. It's quite possible that Apple might also make a bug fix available sooner with a smaller software update, such as iOS 17.0.3.

According to the report, Apple will not be reducing the performance of the A17 Pro chip as part of the temperature-related bug fix. Apple also said the issue is not a safety risk and will not impact the long-term performance of affected iPhones.

Apple said the iPhone 15 Pro's titanium frame and aluminum substructure do not contribute to the overheating issue, ruling out a hardware problem.

Not all iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max users have experienced overheating, and it's unclear how many customers are affected by the issue overall, but it should be resolved soon.

I recently posted this on a different but smaller thread I was following on here. Not sure if someone else has posted these steps already in this thread, but I’m not going to read 38 pages to find out…

Potential fix that seems to have worked for me. I've factory reset my 15 Pro Max and fresh installed all apps manually rather than restore from icloud backup. I heard that there can be problems with icloud backup migrations to a new phone where software gets corrupted. This manual install process was slow and miserable. But, it seems to have fixed my battery drain issues. Phone drained 4% overnight rather than 20%. And lasts a full day now. Battery still doesn’t last as long as my 13 Pro Max did, but it’s much better at least.

For those that dont want to wait for if/when Apple fix this, maybe give this a try. Especially as the 14 day returns window is coming up.

Make a new full phone icloud backup to be safe.

Make individual app backups where possible, like Whatsapp, apps with APIs/keys/config files.

Factory reset iPhone 15x.

Don't restore from backup, but sign into Apple ID when prompted.

Manually install all 3rd party apps from AppStore.

Hope for the best.

My battery drain since doing the steps above

Maybe read through a thread before just posting to the original poster. Apple has publicly said they will NOT need to reduce the processing power of the new chip. And you can find plenty of videos which demonstrate the back glass is no easier to damage than the phones preceding these new phones. If you want to destroy a phone, it doesn't take a lot of effort. Not with an iPhone. Not with a Pixel. Not with a Samsung. Any phone ensconced in glass can be broken.

It would seem incomprehensible you'd spend this much on a phone and not put it in a good quality protective case? And if you do, you really have little to fear if you accidently drop your phone.

A few pages back are Apple's official words on the topic this thread addresses. You can take your own time to look through the thread.

EDIT: In case you find the posts I reference, I did the research for you:

In a statement to media outlets, Apple is confident that the issue is related to software rather than the A17 Pro chip or titanium enclosure. The company has targeted three possible reasons for the overheating in some iPhone 15 Pro models:

・Apple says iPhones “may feel warmer during the first few days after setting up or restoring the device because of increased background activity.” That’s a fairly common issue with new smartphones but appears to have been exasperated with the iPhone 15 launch.

・Some apps (including Instagram and Uber) that were recently updated to support iOS 17 have been overloading the A17 Pro chip’s CPU. Apple says it is working with affected developers on fixes that are in the process of rolling out.

・A bug in iOS 17 that is “impacting some users” will be addressed in a future software update.

Apple insists that the overheating issues aren’t related to the A17 Pro processor, iPhone 15’s titanium chassis, or its updated internal design. The company also squashed a report from Ming-Chi Kuo that it could limit performance to keep the system-on-chip cool under heavier loads, saying it “will not be lowering the performance of the A17 Pro chip” as part of the planned fixes.

microbians.com wrote:

it start not so good... still warming, the only way it cools down is using the low power mode... I'm thinking in returning it :(

Did you Force Restart your iPhone after you installed the update? This is something recommended after EVERY iOS update.

Follow the directions in this link to Force Restart your iPhone --> Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

Also keep in mind that when you install an update, there's a whole lot indexing going on again as a natural part of an update. Give it a couple days, then see. I wouldn't expect instant results at all.

I never said people can't share their experience. And yes, if a phone is uncomfortably hot to hold, that shouldn't be. The use of the word "overheating" is somewhat abused though. A phone is overheating if its operating temperature exceeds the level Apple has determined is within normal range and if a phone does that, it is designed to put a warning on the screen, with a temperature symbol and the phone will be unusable until it cools down. If that's not happening to people, their phone may be running warmer than they are accustomed to, but it is not overheating.

For anyone who is concerned about their phone, complaining here is really not going to help them. We are all users on this user to user only forum and Apple doesn't actively participate here. So they should take their phone to Apple and have it tested. And if their phone is found to be defective, Apple will replace it. Doesn't make more sense to get ones phone tested, as opposed to being a "me too" poster on a forum of just other users? I can certainly if either our 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max had any heating issues, I'd be visiting my Apple Store Genius Bar. Fortunately, neither of our phones had any heating issues out of the box.