Extreme Iphone 4s overheating

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Level 1

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Extreme Iphone 4s overheating

Last night i experienced some massive overheating from my phone, not talking about it getting hot while browsing the internet, i mean hot to the point where it felt like it would melt or catch fire

Was a bit worrying as i generally sleep with the phone under the pillow

All apps were closed and i have autolock turned on however when i looked at phone it was stuck on unlock

Battery went from 87% - 36% in 2 hours and took a good half hour to cool down

If it makes any difference i did have it playing on the dock at work all day so would of been charging too

Any ideas what happened?

iPhone 4S, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Dec 8, 2011 3:26 AM

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Answer 1

HolmanGT

Level 2

205 points

Dec 8, 2011 6:56 AM in response to Turbobuddah

Turbo,

I wasn't going to respond to this because I couldn't figure out what you meant by all this "lock" stuff you mentioned. It sure would be nice if you expanded on just what you mean by all the lock, stuck on un-lock stuff.

That said taking any smart phone and wrapping it up in a towel, pillow, or any other thermal insulation is NEVER a good idea. Apple even makes warning about phones getting to warm in some cases and if you experience this take the phone out of the case and let the phone breath. Now if a case can cause some problems wrapping your phone in a pillow is just not a good idea.

Also if the phone temperature got as HOT as you claim, HOT being somewhat subjective, I would suggest that you call Apple support. It is my understanding that the phone has internal hi-temp shutdown circuits that should have kicked in and shut your phone down.

PS - putting any L-ion Polymer powered device in your bedding sounds like a great way to start a fire that you may never wake up from. OK - scare tactic but true but true none the less.

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Answer 2

Turbobuddah Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 8, 2011 8:27 AM in response to HolmanGT

Autolock being exactly what it says, it is a feature of the iphone

However let me explain, when i went to look at the time, on my phone, i found it to be very hot, both screen and the back of the phone, it had unlocked itself and was on the homescreen, as in autolock had not kicked

And the phones not in a case

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Answer 3

HolmanGT

Level 2

205 points

Dec 8, 2011 9:07 AM in response to Turbobuddah

Turbo,

OK - now we are talking 😉

I have absolutely no idea how your phone got itself out of "locked" that strikes me as a separate issue in regards to the excessive heat major problem.

The fact that the phone is not in a case is somewhat academic when it is buried under a pillow which is a darn good thermal blanket - IMHO not a good practice for your phone or you.

The iPhone when it goes into the reported "Heavy Battery Drain" mode it can consume copious amounts of energy (lots of heat) while locked and/or un-locked.

When you looked at your phone and it was thru no action on your part "Un-Locked" did it go back to locked after the timeout period, if not that is a problem that I have not yet heard of and have no suggestions for.

If you your phone is generally having issues with heavy battery drain wether under your pillow or not that is something that there are several possible fixes for.

Look here: Battery problems

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