The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have been out for a week now and, so far, we haven’t heard about many issues regarding the devices. Of course, with glass on both sides of the body, the devices are pretty fragile and very prone to shattering or cracking when dropped. That should come as no surprise and it’s an issue that can be prevented with a good protective case. However, the internet is buzzing with a new rumor that the iPhone 8 Plus’ battery is expanding and devices splits open while charging.
Obviously this is a pretty isolated case as we haven’t seen a lot of reports regarding major iPhone 8 issues but news reports saying, “The iPhone 8 Plus Explodes!” definitely bring back memories of the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco from last fall.
So, what exactly happened? According to Taiwanese media, a women plugged in her new iPhone 8 Plus to charge on her car charger. The report claims the vehicle charger is an original Apple product so we can rule out bad third party hardware as the culprit. The iPhone was apparently at about 70% battery life and only charging for 3 minutes. This is when, she claims, the iPhone 8 Plus burst and splits open.
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The media has been sharing images of the “exploded” (this is what the reports are calling it: iPhone 8 Plus exploded) device but the photos only really show one angle where the panel appears to have separated from the body. Take a look for yourself:
To me, it almost looks like how you would see the panel come detached (splits open) after a bad drop or fall. However, you don’t see any scuffs or dents that would indicate the smartphone took a hard hit. This definitely isn’t as gory as the Galaxy Note 7 images we saw last year which showed charred remains of what was once a flagship smartphone that now looks like a piece of charcoal.
Taiwanese media also claims that the device has been taken for testing which will hopefully clear up why this occurred and alert other iPhone 8 Plus users to any potential issues with their device. There could be a variety of reasons why this happened that have nothing to do with a build issue. For example, the woman could have left her iPhone in a hot vehicle for an extended period of time or used a third party charger despite claiming she was using an official Apple charger. We will have to wait and see if the investigation turns up any results. Until then, we will refrain from screaming, “the iPhone 8 Plus explodes while charging! Run for your lives!”
Of course, some folks at Apple have to be stressing out a little bit right now. After last year’s Galaxy Note 7 debacle, people are ready to assume that this is the same kind of situation. We will give them the benefit of the doubt but also be keeping an eye out for any other similar issues that may pop up as more and more people upgrade to the new iPhone 8 Plus.
Let us know your thoughts. Does news like this change your willingness to buy a new iPhone 8 Plus at all or are you okay to write this off as a one-off issue or customer-caused incident?