An iPhone 7 exploded when charging according to a Chinese woman. Leaving the 4-month old Matte Black handset torn in two and smoldering. Fortunately, for the owner, she was not in the room when the incident occurred, she had gone for a walk. However, it is not yet known what caused the explosion, was it the handset, power supply, or the charger?
Apple iPhone 7 Exploded: The Details
Having gone for a walk, on returning, the owner, identified as Yin, from Suqian City in East China heard the explosion. And soon realized upon entering that her iPhone 7 exploded, which came as a huge surprise. After waiting for some time to be sure that it was safe to do so. She unplugged it from its power supply and took it to an Apple center.
Now, while this is not the first time we’ve reported about iPhone 7 explosions. It is the first time we’ve heard of one inspected by Apple engineers, here’s what their conclusion was.
Being only 4-months old, it’s clear that Yin’s iPhone was still under its Apple Warranty. So the work could be undertaken without any charge to herself. As such, unknown diagnostics took place upon it, which prompted a conclusion from the Apple employee’s. Apparently, it was the 1960mAh Lithium Ion battery which developed a fault, and as a result, the iPhone 7 exploded. Severely damaging its internal components and rendering it useless to Yin, even though she had only 4-month previously purchased it for 5,388 RMB ($781, £682).
Fortunately, Yin has likely had a replacement device already delivered, as for the explosive iPhone 7, it’s probably undergoing tests? Tests which will determine if this was a random event or something that relates to a particular batch of batteries. Whatever, the results, Apple will be sure to act quickly to preserve consumer confidence.
Previous Issues
As we mentioned earlier, Yin’s discovery that her iPhone 7 exploded is not an isolated incident. Back in September, and October 2016, and again in February, we reported on three other incidents of iPhone’s exploding. Here’s a recap of those events.
September 2016 Explosion
On Wednesday 28, September 2016, an image posted on Reddit showed a damaged iPhone 7, seemingly from an explosion. Reddit user, Kroopthesnoop, posted the picture and claimed it arrived in this condition.
However, not all was clear why or even how this iPhone 7 exploded, as pictures taken of the packaging revealed a puncture. And further investigation revealed a dent on the rear of the handset, which could mean a blow caused the explosion? But, further studies did show that the Lithium-Ion battery did at least catch fire. Although, the likely hood that it was the route cause is unlikely, considering the handset was powered down.
Ultimately, the cause of this incident was put down to damage caused while in transit to the owner. However, there are those who believe this to be a cover up, by Apple and AT& T.
October 2016 Explosion
Back in October, we reported about another owner who’s iPhone 7 exploded. However, this time he was not at home, nor was his handset on route to him. This time the incident occurred in New South Wales Australia, when on returning to his car. A surfing instructor found it engulfed in flames, apparently caused by his iPhone exploding.
On the matter he said:
“As I looked into my car, you could not see inside the car, all the windows were just black. Ash was just coming from inside my pants which once I unwrapped the pants the iPhone was just melting inside of them.”
What was the cause?
At the time of Apple’s investigation and even now Apple has remained quiet about its findings. However, the owner of the device did concede that he may have been placed it inside an unusually hot environment. Meaning, that, the explosion and subsequent fire could have occurred because the device that was susceptible to high temperature.
February 2017 Explosion
Earlier this year, we reported about Brianna Olivas from Arizona U.S.A, who tweeted when her iPhone 7 exploded. At the time the tweet and accompanying video went viral quickly amassing more than 24,000 retweets and 1.3-million views.
The video of the incident, (which you can see below), shows the handset’s case melting and smoke emerging from it. It goes without saying that Apple immediately launched an investigation. However, this didn’t prevent Olivas from tweeting further pictures of the event.
As for the cause, the investigation could be ongoing; we haven’t heard any more about this. Although, it later became apparent that Olivas had taken the handset to her local Sprint Store for testing. Upon running a diagnostic, no problems flagged up, even though the next day the iPhone 7 exploded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoR1BDYQ4YE
Final Thoughts
This won’t surprise you, but it seems as though Lithium-Ion batteries used in smartphones are both vulnerable to heat and pressure. So, the fact that the iPhone 7 exploded is probably expected, given that there are millions of them out there. The question is, will this technology continue to be incorporated into smartphones? And how much longer can Apple prevent itself from succumbing to a similar recall to the Note 7?
