With many users now with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max in their hands, some have noticed that these phones are overheating. While we have seen cases of the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro overheating on chargers or in hot weather, it seems this issue might be well-spreaded with the new series.
While some have pointed out that the new A17 Pro chip might have caused this issue, a top Apple insider says this isn’t the new processor to blame.
In a blog post, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo indicates that the overheating issues are unrelated to TSMC’s advanced 3nm node. “The primary cause is more likely the compromises made in the thermal system design to achieve a lighter weight, such as the reduced heat dissipation area and the use of a titanium frame, which negatively impacts thermal efficiency,” Kuo explains.
BGR‘s Chris Smith, when reporting about overheating issues for iPhone 15 Pro users, note that Apple designed these phone with a Grade 5 titanium band bonded to the aluminum frame inside the phone, which Apple says the new metal structure helps dissipate heat. Besides that, these iPhones do not feature any extra cooling aside from graphite sheets that should move heat from the logic board to the rear-facing glass.
With that in mind, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says it’s expected that “Apple will address this through software updates, but improvements may be limited unless Apple lowers processor performance.”
If the company decided to lower processor performance, this would be a first for Apple, which is one of the reasons why it ditched Intel processors for the Macs due to these issues. Kuo states that “if Apple does not properly address this issue, it could negatively impact shipments over the product life cycle of the iPhone 15 Pro series.”
BGR will follow Apple’s next steps regarding overheating issues on the iPhone 15 Pro models.
