My iPhone 16 Pro Max overheats while using the Camera app

Make an appointment to have your local Apple Store look at it:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Or contact Apple Support directly:

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Warm to the touch especially during the beginning days after setting it up is not abnormal. Warm to touch in general is not abnormal depending on what all is running actively and in the background. Everyone keeps saying that their device is overheating but no one seems to actually be getting the overheating alert message that will display if it is truly overheating. If you are concerned though absolutely take it to your nearest Apple Store or authorized retailer to have it inspected. Or utilize the exchange/return period before the window closes. Understand that while you’re saying you’re not paying to be a demo tester if you choose to be an early adapter (purchase when anything new first comes out) you are indeed opting to be part of the consumers that experience any of the bugs first. When it comes to tech for those that want to be part of the experience of getting things first it’s the trade off. Doesn’t mean you should expect issues but realistically if issues are going to occur the early adapter group will be the ones to go through it while those that wait a few months before buying tend to avoid it all because updates and fixes will have already occurred.

I went in yesterday to the Genius Bar and they told me that they haven’t heard of any complaints about this happening and that since my phone is not giving an overheating warning on it that this is normal heating to touch and that if it happens to be the iOS 18 update and more people start to complain that Apple will work on the fix for that like they did with the 15 and I said well this isn’t normal because my 14 Pro Max didn’t do this in the two years that I had it even when I had a ton of apps open or when I was on the phone a lot and this is just happening now when I’m doing simple texting so he insisted I do a hard factory reset and reinstall everything while sitting there manually so I did. And it started to warm up while I was re-downloading things in the store and he said that that was normal and I said absolutely not. He told me to give it two days and set up a call to me this coming Friday to see how it’s doing but today is a day after and it’s still getting warm to touch and my 14 Pro Max never did this and I’m supposed to be sending that back as a trade-in and I’m not doing it yet because I might be returning this.

metsno1fan83 wrote:

In addition to becoming very hot while at rest, the camera is essentially unusable. Once I open the camera app and hit the button to take a photo the screen goes black and the camera app quits.

What happened when you installed iOS 18.1, which was released on Monday, which most people have commented fixed the camera issues?

Also, if your phone is in a full case like an Otterbox Defender, that may also keep heat inside the device.

I’ve had mine since the 20th. Same issues. No background tasks on. I spoke with Apple yesterday and they won’t admit others are having issues but told me to return the phone or swap it for a new one. It can’t be we are all having this problem coincidentally. I’m wondering if it’s the new update too or just this phone

I have had this issue since getting the phone. I’ve been to Genius Bar for a reset and have spoke With support more times than I should have. They won’t admit there is a problem with overheating. They are now replacing it through apple care. I have tried every which way even to get the store to replace and they won’t so this is my last resort. I’d call apple care.

Unless it shuts itself off, what you interpret as "heating up" is normal.

If for whatever reason you find it unacceptable, you have 14 days to return your phone for a full refund, and can instead purchase something else that better fits your needs.

It may be warmer than you are used to but it is not overheating unless it shuts itself off.

If you're concerned, make a Genius Bar appointment:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Or contact Apple Support directly:

Contact - Official Apple Support

Akki_menia wrote:

iPhone 16 Pro having same issue of heating while using camera

any solution on this ??

Using the camera on your iPhone is one of the most battery intensive things you do. If you use the camera long enough, your phone will heat, which is normal, because you are pushing the battery harder. And when you push a battery harder, it generates heat as ALL batteries do when pushed harder. If you are not seeing a thermometer on your phone or you phone isn't shutting down with a warning on the screen it needs to cool before you can use the phone, your phone isn't overheating.

Are You shootings video or stills? In my experience video produces considerably more heat than stills. I too live in a warm climate (Florida) but haven’t had it outside with temperatures above 90 F. But it’s only normal for the iPhone temperature to rise as the ambient temperature rises.

iPhones don’t have any active cooling so I’m going in knowing that newer models will be warmer and warmer as processors are clocked faster and faster. Everything about these compact marvels produces more and more heat with each new generation. I’ve adjusted my expectations to dealing with warmer iPhones.

iPhones aren’t the only devices that may heat up and turn off. My Canon dSLRs have heated up to the point of shutting down. I’ve chalked it up to living in warmer climates and adjusted my photography to be within the limitations of my gear.

Same I went in yesterday for a Genius Bar appointment and they said that I am the first one complaining about this and I said absolutely not because do a Google search and you can see many people complaining about this and they said because no warning signs are coming up about the phone being overheated or anything that it being warm to touch is fine and that if it’s the iOS 18 update and many people start to complain then they will fix that update so they did a factory reset on my phone a complete hard reset and I had to reinstall everything by hands, which was really annoying And they told me to give it two days and that they would follow up with me on Friday, but it’s still getting warm to touch and I’m not happy

16 ProMax Overheating. During **** near anything and everything. Text for a few minutes? Lose 20% battery power. Take a picture and edit it? every time you do it'll drop the battery by 10%. FaceTime for an hour? Battery goes from 100% to 46%. I did notice that photos was also going like 90% in the background all. the. time. Phone is hotter than **** and won't charge because its temperature is too high and needs to cool down. Also frequent errors during charging that the phone can't continue to charge until the temperature lowers. I have contacted Apple, submitted diagnostics, worked with engineers, so far the only solution is every time the phone heats up to do a reset it. This means I'm resetting the phone multiple times in most hours of the day, and several times while charging to get it to 100%. If the phone is doing that much background indexing, I really FEAR what the inclusion of AI is going to do to this thing. Apple says the phone isn't the issue, and if they're right, I'm not convinced but if they are it seems like this 18 a stinker of an iOS...

spoke with them several times and went to Genius Bar. Did a factory reset. The heating got better. Still warm but since no warnings on the phone they claim it’s normal. I still complained and apple care sent me a remanufactured (which to me is weird that they already have remanufactured ones) and I have a few days to decide if I want that or to just stick it out with this and I don’t. Know what to do

I’ve been using the 16 Pro Max since launch day and initially complained about the heating issues and unimpressive battery life. The random heating up mostly stopped a week or a bit more from purchase, so if your phone is still very new, don’t despair. About 1,5 weeks ago my battery life had also suddenly significantly improved. For reference, my iPhone is fully updated. I noticed the battery life improvement some time after installing iOS 18.01.