Apple Investigating Reports of iPhone 8 Plus Devices 'Splitting Open' (9to5mac.com) 106
Apple is currently investigating reports of the iPhone 8 Plus splitting open while being charged with the included cable and plug adapter. The first claim comes from a Taiwanese iPhone 8 Plus owner, who posted photos which show damage consistent with a swollen battery. The second claim is from a Japanese owner who posted similar photos of his device, which he says arrived in this state. The Next Web reports: The phone belonged to a Ms. Wu, who recently renewed her phone contract and purchased a 64GB rose gold iPhone 8 Plus. The issue emerged five days after purchasing the phone. Wu placed her phone on charge, using the supplied cable and adaptor. After three minutes, she reported seeing the front panel bulge, and eventually lift completely from the device. According to multiple Taiwanese outlets, the phone was later recovered by the carrier, and has since been shipped to Apple for analysis. 9to5Mac adds: While any incident affecting a new iPhone model is bound to attract media attention, it's worth noting the usual disclaimers. First, any device manufactured in the millions will include some faulty models -- the real news would be if this were not the case. Second, investigations into charging-related incidents often reveal that a third-party charger was used, even when an owner initially claims to have used the supplied Apple one.
Re: Fire Tim Cock (Score:1)
Re: Fire Tim Cock (Score:1)
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Never mind that, what are we going to call this?
"Splitgate" doesn't really roll off the tongue. How about "burstgate"?
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bloatedgate
plumpergate
pillowgate
talkiepillowgate
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It is difficult to build a bug free product (Score:1)
Re:It is difficult to build a bug free product (Score:5, Funny)
It's just designed to be charged while in the freezer. Pretty simple fix. I expect Apple fridges soon with lightening connectors beside the ice tray so you can charge up the phone safely.
Re: It is difficult to build a bug free product (Score:1)
Battery swelling is less of an issue if the battery can be removed and replaced without disassembling the phone. I had issues with an iPhone 5 battery swelling, which can't so easily be replaced. I'm on a Galaxy Note 4 now, which despite being old, is a great phone. I've had a couple of batteries swell, too, but it's an easy fix to simply buy a new battery and swap it in. Because of the difficulty with getting a Samsung battery now that isn't counterfeit, I'm using a Powerbear battery. I've had no issues wi
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You don't need to put the phone in the freezer, you simply have to super-chill your electrons before charging. This also provides around 15% greater energy density within the battery - see Space-X's site for further details.
Right to repair? (Score:1)
I guess they listened to complaints and made those new models easier to open and repair.
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look at it this way
The Apple iPhone 8 comes equipped with a Fail Safe Charging Circuit in the event of a thermal runaway beginning the phone will breach the case to
1 indicate to the user the error has occurred
2 radiate the excess energy safely
3 disable further charging
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It takes courage to build a phone that splits open.
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Rose gold? (Score:1)
Impressive, seeing as the 8 doesn't come in Rose Gold.
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https://www.apple.com/iphone-8... [apple.com]
But still, piss poor journalism at its finest.
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Impressive, seeing as the 8 doesn't come in Rose Gold.
It does, however, occasionally remain available in the color pregnant.
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https://www.apple.com/iphone-8... [apple.com]
It's the primary color they are pushing. Shame to let facts get in the way of a snappy post, but still...
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Parent is totally correct. The batteries swell because they were overcharged. The charging circuitry is *INSIDE* the phone, not the charger. Even if a third party charger was used, it's still the phone's job to keep track of how charged the battery is. It's not like third-party 5 Volts is any different from Genuine Apple 5 Volts. Either way, it's still 5 volts.
Actually, LiOn/LiPo battery charge circuitry monitors battery temperature to determine when to start throttling-back in the initial phase of the charging profile. It does not monitor current or, for example, Samsung's exploding batteries (which were caused by internal short-circuits in the layers of the batteries, which would have naturally shown up as increased charging current) would likely have stopped at the "bulging" stage.
So, either this was a bad battery, or the battery temp sensing in this particula
Battery management chip (Score:2)
Actually, LiOn/LiPo battery charge circuitry monitors battery temperature to determine when to start throttling-back in the initial phase of the charging profile. It does not monitor current
The charging circuitry in the smartphone/laptop indeed does NOT monitor anything beyond temperature
(sometimes using a dedicated thermistor inside the battery using an extra conductor).
(and sometimes, it has also a very primitive "do not charge if battery undercharged under given very-low voltage" protection)
The battery management chip inside the battery itself DOES monitor current and voltage (both over/under).
(See the characteristic of any battery management chip).
It also exports these informations over th
Re: Bad EEs! (Score:2)
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Exactly. The problem is in the phone, and this is a just a rather brazen attempt of blame deflection.
Ode to an iphone (Score:5, Funny)
FUCK YOU IN THE LOO! (Score:1)
Glad to oblige you too!
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Re:So to sum up (Score:5, Funny)
First of all, do not leave your iPhone in direct sunlight. It'll kill it. Second, don't immerse it in water—not even to clean it. But the most important rule—the rule you can never forget—no matter how much it buzzes, no matter how red the charge indicator is, never charge it after midnight.
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First of all, do not leave your iPhone in direct sunlight. It'll kill it. Second, don't immerse it in water—not even to clean it. But the most important rule—the rule you can never forget—no matter how much it buzzes, no matter how red the charge indicator is, never charge it after midnight.
The rules for Fight Club were simpler.
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That's what you get when you buy your Gizmo from an Asian shop...
I see I'm not the only one that got the joke. Kids these days will have no idea what that means.
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Don't hold it the wrong way.
Don't do un-apple things with it.
Don't be creative.
Don't break out of the mold.
Not "Splitting Open" (Score:2)
They are not splitting open, just expanding to accommodate the new double tweets.
It's a feature, not a bug!
Can we rule out clones? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't think this is impossible, but I am pretty suspicious that both failed devices are from Asia - how to we know these are not some really good look alike clones? You'd think if this was really an issue there'd be at least one report from Europe or the U.S.
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I don't think this is impossible, but I am pretty suspicious that both failed devices are from Asia - how to we know these are not some really good look alike clones? You'd think if this was really an issue there'd be at least one report from Europe or the U.S.
That is a VERY good point!
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Sorry that is just discriminatory and unimaginative. It is totally possible either by pure chance or due to parts logistics sending more of the bad batches to one part of the world. Perhaps they were rushed to Asia to meet marketing campaigns, who knows. (Someone at Apple, not you or me.) Also, the Japanese text on the linked page does not suggest it being fake. The user reports Apple will replace it. Other users are telling him that appears to be a battery deformation like Samsung's, and not to further cha
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Sorry that is just discriminatory and unimaginative.
Ask me how I know you are retarded.
Also, the Japanese text on the linked page does not suggest it being fake. The user reports Apple will replace it.
Ask me how I *confirmed* you are retarded.
I mean, obviously it's real because the same possibly fake user that reported the issue, also reports Apple replaced it!
What a retard.
Like I said, it COULD be real, but for you to accept so blindly a single report... well lets just say you aren't too bright, what woul
A big problem (Score:5, Interesting)
At work I have lost two old macs because the battery swelled, but these were about four years old.
If this is a problem for the iPhone it is bad news, but I suspect they will replace it. If this is a problem for the iPhone, when it is new then I suspect it is going to be a widespread problem, like the watch.
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This is a not good, but it appears to be a benign failure mode, the way an engineer would design a consumer product to fail if it must. You could encase the battery in a sufficiently rigid capsule and failures would be less frequent but possibly more catastrophic.
Where is that new battery technology? (Score:2)
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These battery problems are really getting dangerous. Where is that breakthrough Li-ion battery technology from that "Goodenough" guy that would promise safer batteries?
These were breakthrough batteries :)
Six nines? Isn't that the gold standard? (Score:2)
First, any device manufactured in the millions will include some faulty models...
I'f I'm doing my math correctly, In 10M devices we would expect 10 problems, right?
With seven nines, just one problem.
Off hand I'd say Apple's doing pretty good.
Re: Six nines? Isn't that the gold standard? (Score:2)
STOP COMPLAINING! (Score:2)
That's just how you access the 3.5mm headphone jack!
Who here asked for a thinner phone? (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe instead of pushing the boundaries of battery size, they should make a phone that can fit a good sized battery safely with current battery technology.
While they are at it, they could make the screens and case thick enough to resist day to day use.
I'm not just complaining about Apple here either.
I call BS (Score:3)
What you call a "charger" is actually a power supply - the charger is integrated into the phone. It is therefore physically impossible to use a third party charger. And consequently, blaming the power supply is just a lame attempt to avoid liability.
Who knows, this could be Apples "Note 7" moment.