iPhone Xs Max Heat Issue

Heating up does not mean anything is wrong, it means the phone is getting computational work done.

Unless your phone shuts down from the heat, it's not defective per se, but you're more than welcome to have it checked at your local Apple Store's Genius Bar.

Different phones, different battery technologies.

If your phone is shutting down because it's getting too hot, it may need repair.

If your phone is just getting warm, that's normal.

If you feel there is an issue, your Apple Store is always happy to check your phone for anything abnormal.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Then you are using your device in a rather strange way to cause this to occur; certainly normal usage does not cause this.

Do your Battery settings report any abnormal usage by any other applications?

Yes, a replacement will do the same thing because it is normal.

Real time apps use a fair amount of CPU horsepower, and so the device will heat.

The easiest way may be to target which apps are showing the highest amount of battery consumption in the Battery Preference pane.

if we compare with iphone 8 plus , the XS max is over heating even we use simple application like whatsap, Imessage..etc ( i am not talking about games, i know if we play for sure phone will heat up), so we all hope it will be solved by next iphone software upgrade ( IOS 12.0.2 )

Does the phone shut down from the heat? If not, it's within operating parameters.

Older phones used slower processors and different screens with a different heat profile.

Faster, more powerful chips generate more heat.

Got my Max a few days ago. I got nervous with the temperature too. I notice it happened mostly with using Animoji/Memoji.

Which, once again, is just about the most processor-intensive thing the iPhone can be called upon to do - real time matching of what the camera sees to a generated animated character.

Most desktop computers wouldn't have had the power to do that a few years ago.

Thank you, I know you meant your information to be helpful but it’s ridiculous that Apple‘s latest devices require an ice pack.

My XS Max overheats to where it dims the display at least 2X/week – while doing routine tasks (Twitter, Mail, Safari) with very few apps set for background refresh. No excessive loads are required for the overheating issue.

Support acknowledges this “heat throttling” problem and claims an iOS update one day will fix it. Didn’t say when. Until then, they advised minimal display usage (shorter auto-lock time setting), which strikes me as a horrible workaround.

Yes, I also use an ice trick. I wrap my $1100 device in a towel and place it in the freezer for a minute. Shades of 1993 and my Handspring Prism PalmOS device.

i just bought the Iphone XS max 512 GB but it is heating up even if i run a small applications, i am wondering , i am using Iphone since 6s plus but first time i am facing this heating issue, its annoying me...hope it will be solved by next upgrade of the software. ( heating back side of the phone/ near to camera)

True. But another issue is the processing requests from certain apps not fully optimized or worked out. It’s the processor that’s heating up.

I undrestood, why i am annoying , it is heating even i send voice messge over whatsap ( like if i use small application) i already replaced the phone last week and the new replaced one also same issue has)

I have the iPhone XS and mine did this tonight and it’s the first time I’ve noticed it since I bought the phone almost a month ago, which is what gave me pause and I’ve had way more going on such as games or streaming videos. Tonight I think it was just a Facebook article or something, I’m not even sure.

After reading some some of the comments, I have one theory, which may or not have been already mentioned (I only read a third of the comments). Anyways, my theory is that It’s probably (hopefully) true about the high temperature being “normal” at least under certain conditions and the reason we feel it with this phone and not the older models is because this phone has a glass back, which if I’m not mistaken (which I could be, I don’t stay up to date on the specific materials and super specific details of the various models) glass handles temperatures differently than the previous materials. Let’s hope it’s something simple like that and not an actual internal issue! Also on the bright side, it’s a good problem to have if and when your hands get cold😉!