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Another iPhone 7 battery blew up, but this time the phone didn’t go up in flames

Published Sep 30th, 2016 9:45AM EDT
iPhone 7 Plus Battery Explosion
Image: Jonathan Geller, BGR

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An iPhone 7 exploded a few days ago, according to images posted online by the phone’s owner. It’s not clear at this time what caused the incident, and you shouldn’t worry about it just yet. The iPhone 7 doesn’t appear to have widespread problem like Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7, but isolated incidents will always happen. Phones do explode, and most of us go about our daily lives without even noticing them. It’s just that the recent Galaxy Note 7 recall has risen awareness about gadgets and their batteries.

With that, a second incident involving an iPhone 7 is now making the rounds, but this time the phone did not go up in flames. Instead, the battery simply “inflated,” which is something you may recall having seen before with faulty batteries in Apple devices.

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The device in the images below is an iPhone 7 Plus, and the display is clearly dislodged from the rear shell. And yes, a malfunction that caused the battery to blow up internally is the culprit. As teardowns have shown, it’s not very easy to remove the screen from the iPhone if you don’t have the proper tools. Many drop tests have also shown that the display can withstand some serious drops thanks to the phone’s sturdy build.

So what happened in this case? The phone may have been dropped in a way that somehow damaged the battery, MyDrivers reports, but that’s just a working theory at the moment. Apple will probably examine these damaged units closely, especially given the context. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 fiasco is still making the news almost a month after Samsung recalled the device.

A couple of photos of this damaged iPhone 7 Plus follow below, and you can expect to see more cases like this pop up in the near future. As we said, incidents like these happen all the time and no one bats an eye. Following Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 debacle, however, everyone is on high alert.

iphone-7-plus-battery-explosion-2Image source: MyDrivers
iphone-7-plus-battery-explosion-1Image source: MyDrivers
Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.