How do I fix heating issue on my iPhone 16 Pro?

Some activities such as charging or a lot of computational activity (e.g., video), generate heat. Some warmth is to be anticipated.* "Keep your iPhone, the power adapter, and any wireless charger in a well-ventilated area when in use or charging."** Read this article about keeping your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch within acceptable operating temperatures - If your iPhone or iPad gets too hot or too cold - Apple Support

Changes in software such as upgrades may introduce new features which may add to power drain and heat generation. Check Settings > Battery to see if there are apps running that use a lot of power. If there are, decide if you can turn off a service such as Settings > General > Background app refresh when an app is in the background, or Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Read this support article to learn about the battery health feature —> iPhone Battery and Performance - Apple Support

For the iPhone 15 read posts about indexing in this thread: iPhone 15 overheating - Apple Community

If you think there is a problem with a device, have Apple inspect it. Go to this page to find your nearest Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) or Apple Authorized Distributor (AAD) --> Find Locations

How to make a Genius Bar appointment

1. Go to Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

2. Go to "Get hardware help".

3. Select your hardware and continue selecting options requiring replacing parts until you see "Bring in for Repair"

4. Sign in with your Apple ID

*"Your iPhone might get slightly warmer while it charges." - from: How to use your MagSafe Battery Pack - Apple Support

**Section about "Prolonged heat exposure" in this support article --> Important safety information for iPhone - Apple Support

It could also be if you first got it then it is doing some setting up, requiring a lot of computation. Give it a day or two and see if there's the same problem.

First of all, if it was really overheating, it would display a thermometer and say it needs to cool down before you can use the phone. Second of all, it's a NEW iPhone, and while you're likely trying all sorts of things out on your new iPhone, it's working VERY hard in the background, indexing millions of bytes of data. This process, depending on how much data you transferred over to the new phone can take a few days. So, don't push the phone hard and let it do it's thing for a few days. This is a very common complaint with new iPhones. After a few days, things settle in place and all should be good.

Your iPhone has many chores to complete after just being removed from the box.

See this article.

If your iPhone or iPad gets too hot or too cold - Apple Support

You have fourteen days from your original purchase date to exchange or refund your iPhone.

Let’s define “overheating”, which is always a hardware problem. If a device overheats it shuts down so it can’t be used, and displays a message saying it must cool down before it can be turned on, and it will probably be unusable for an hour or so. If you are seeing this it is a hardware problem and you should contact Apple support: 

• Click on “Support” at the top of this page
• Go to Contact Official Apple Support

Note that both of the above have options to receive a callback or chat

If you are not seeing this your iPhone or iPad has not overheated. However, if you fast charge your device it may get very warm, and may pause charging at 80% and display a message saying that charging has paused, and will resume when the phone cools down. This is NOT overheating, and is normal when fast charging. It also won’t prevent you from using any app you have on your phone.

If you have just updated allow a couple of days for iOS to complete its “housekeeping"

Some apps that use a lot of energy or that use cellular data rather than Wi-Fi can cause the phone to run warmer. Worst offenders are Meta products (Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc), interactive games, watching streaming videos, the Camera app and any other app that uses the camera (TikTok, Snapchat, etc). Charging while using apps will also generate a lot of heat. And having VPN installed, whether using it or not, can also consume a lot of energy. But none of these can cause “overheating;” iOS will limit energy use to keep the phone safe, perhaps by dimming the screen.

Lately there have been reports of the Amazon app and Words With Friends 2 using excessive amounts of energy, which, as already said, can cause the iPhone to heat up. And periodically other app releases may not have been thoroughly tested that will cause similar symptoms.

All of these are manifestations of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics.

I see that there is actually a warning about increased battery drain and higher thermal output. During initial setup, you can see this on the battery settings page. I set up my phone on Saturday, it is now 48 hours later on Monday, and this screenshot was taken just now:

might heat issues only lasted for the first hour or so after I set up the phone, very soon after the data transfer from my old phone to my new phone had completed, and the phone was installing over 120 apps. I haven’t noticed any excessive heat since those few couple of hours of setting up the phone.

I deliberately had the phone on charge the whole time, so that the phone could draw power from the charger, rather than the battery, because draining a lithium battery hard will increase the actual batteries thermal output, further compounding heat issues for the phone itself. Having the phone at 100% charge (or whatever maximum you’ve configured in the battery optimisation settings) and connected to a charger, will keep it cooler during high demand periods.

[Edited by Moderator]

See my earlier reply where I explain about many aftermarket third-party MagSafe cases that are poorly designed and have a misaligned MagSafe ring, causing excessive heat generation and slow charging. TL;DR: take your case off and see if the phone still gets hot during charging

Hi try doing any updates straight away.

allow a day or two for the phone to finish downloading all the data in the background.

mine settled down and I don’t have any heating problems now on my iPhone 16pro

I’ve got a 16 Pro Max 512GB and I tried Birds and then several other 4K movies I’ve downloaded. I can’t even come close to making it get even warm.

You need to have Apple perform diagnostics on your iPhone. It can be done in person at an Apple Retail Store or at an Apple Authorized Service Provider. You can also contact Apple Support and request remote diagnostics.

If you’re in the US please call 1-800-MY-APPLE or outside the US, consult the support articles below.

Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Explore Service Locations

Contact Apple Support.

Ayiz wrote:

Hey people the heating issue is for the whole of the iPhone 16 line. I bought a iPhone 16e yesterday and it heats up very fast. I played on it for an half hour and had to stop because the phone was so hot. never had that problem whit my phone 11. really hope they fix it., because expect for the overheating issue im pretty satisfied whit the phone

If you got the phone yesterday, what you're describing would be normal. While you're pushing your new phone, trying out things, like playing games, streaming music/video, etc., it's working in the background to index millions of bytes of data. You need to give it a few days to finish the index process, then it should be cooler when used. The ONLY time you need to be concerned is if you see a thermometer on the screen with a warning the phone HAS to cool down before it can be used again.

I had the same problem on iPhone 16 pro max 1 tb. Overheating and touch screen low sensitivity. I found out that low quality screen protector causes this. Removing the screen protector solved this issue.

For the first few days after getting a new iPhone, while you're doing things like you said you were doing, the phone is working behind the scenes to index millions of bytes of data. This is normal, so what you're seeing isn't concerning. Give the phone a few days to finish its housekeeping chores, then you can push it harder. But remember that when you push a battery it generates heat, which is also quite normal. As long as the phone doesn't show a thermometer on the screen and shut down with a notification that you can't use the phone until it cools down, it's not overheating.

I think I found the solution, at least it worked for me.

Restoring the iPhone via PC or Mac, not via settings.

That way the iOS gets deleted and installed again.

Battery life has improved and no hot temps so far.

I got my Samsung galaxy S22 ultra switched iPhone 16 pro a week ago for a vacation trip. It got overheated quickly while playing downloaded YouTube video on the airplane. No temperature warning. But it was super hot and I cannot use YouTube. Later I turned off every option from “Apple Inteligence& Siri”. The overheating problem is gone. Then I found out Battery was draining quickly and my phone is low in battery in the middle of the day. So I turned off “Apple Inteligence & Siri” and location service for all apps. Battery stays longer. After 10hrs of charging, there are still 20% left. My friends never need to change anything on iPhone 14 Pro Max and there is no any issue at all.

RMFenwick wrote:

I agree...but my iPhone 16 Pro is, in fact displaying the thermometer saying it needs to cool down. In the house. At 72 degrees. In my very humble opinion, at this point in the iPhone's history overheating at any scale is ridiculous. It's odd how so many people give it that old "don't push it." Apple needs to address the problem; iPhones have been around way too long to spend $1100 and simply be told "it's really working hard." It was built to do that, or should have been.

Then you have an issue with your phone and you should schedule an appointment at your Apple Store Genius Bar for evaluation. Suggesting Apple needs to address the problem, when most people out of the millions upon millions upon millions who own an iPhone 16 Pro model aren't having overheating issues doesn't make sense. You have an issue, so use the warranty which came with your particular phone and take it to Apple.