back to article Apple admits to iPhone 3GS heliophobia

Apple has finally admitted that the iPhone 3GS can suffer from heatstroke, kind of. In a support document on the its website, Apple has urged customers to use the iPhone 3GS “in a place where the temperature is between 0°C and 35°C”. It can be stored anywhere the temperature doesn't stray out of the -20°C and 45°C range. …

COMMENTS

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  1. Neur0mancer
    Jobs Horns

    iHeater?

    Come on, some mactard will justify this somehow.

  2. Andy 97
    FAIL

    Don't they have testing in dev cycles nowerdays?

    In a global market where your products could be used everywhere from a desert to an ice hotel, I can't believe this.

    Someone at Apple was penny-pinching, you wouldn't get this kind of product development cycle it Sony Ericsson were making it.

    Very bad work 1/10

    At least it'll silence all the bores going on about how great the 'new' video/mms/ability to make calls is.

  3. The Original Ash
    FAIL

    "listening to music while in direct sunlight"

    No iPhone on the beach, then?

    Epic, EPIC fail, Apple. If I had bought one of these devices, I'd return it as unfit for use.

  4. Paul Murphy 1
    Paris Hilton

    Oh great

    "Using certain applications in hot conditions or direct sunlight for long periods of time, such as GPS tracking in a car on a sunny day or listening to music while in direct sunlight," it added

    So no navigating myself to the local park and listening to music when the sun is out, that's Ok, I;ll just wait until it's dark to do my sunbathing.

    Is there any other normal usage for this product that will be discouraged? maybe the volume level will be restrained to avoid ear damage, or the battery will be non-removeable to avoid people playing with it, or maybe it won't take storage cards so that we can't lose them.

    What a great product - makes me want to go and get one.

    ttfn

    PH - can I get one of those to play with please?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Compact and sensitive hardware in sensitive to heat shocker

    This is news? Any piece of hardware that's small, compact, densely packed and has complicated precision components is going to suffer from an inability to dissipate heat. I wouldn't leave my Android or WinMo device in a hot car or direct sunshine for long either (although the Magic is white so may deflect heat better).

    Total iPhone-tard no-news story.

  6. Toastan Buttar
    FAIL

    There's an app for that !

    "GPS tracking in a car on a sunny day "

    Cos it's not like you'd ever want to do that on your summer holidays. Sheesh.

  7. Your alien overlord - fear me

    That's OK if the battery life is shortened

    you just swap out the battery for a new one. Oh no, you can't !! Send it back to Apple and be without your iPhone for two weeks ? That'll be good publicity :-)

  8. Danny 14
    WTF?

    35 degrees?

    That doesnt seem too high a temperature. It was 32 in the car yesterday when I got back in it. 35 will easily be hit by most cars in hotter countries I expect.

  9. RMartin
    Dead Vulture

    No sunlight?

    Apple have created a vampire phone! I've just thought of a great business idea - little "iCoffins" to keep your iDracula from bursting into flame. The I confidently predict the poloneck brigade will buy them by the ton.

  10. Georgees
    Thumb Up

    Feeling cold?

    There's an App for that.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    Someone contact David Icke

    Only lizards would design a phone that can't operate at body temperature.

  12. Ben Bradley
    Jobs Horns

    Not surprised

    Since they've had to put a Core i7 in there to power the Fisher Price iTard interface

  13. Michael Brown
    Dead Vulture

    So what?

    Hats off to Apple for simply being honest and transparent about an issue that affects any consumer electronics device. Move along now, nothing to see here.

  14. Ralphe Neill
    FAIL

    35 degrees??

    Earlier this year, in Melbourne, Australia, the ambient temperature hit 45 degrees. It was a time of major bushfires. Would the iPhone have failed? So much for emergency communications!

  15. Hedley Phillips

    Same story with iDog

    Leaving iDog in a hot car will also seriously shorten its lifespan.

  16. The Vociferous Time Waster
    Coat

    surely not the first to say

    iPhones die in hot cars

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Apple - It just works

    Except the sat nav when its sunny...

    Interesting that it doesn't note that it should have good airflow around the device...ie you should not put it under your pillow or in a paddedd jacket when listening to the MP3 Player...

    burny burny of course...

  18. Dr Richard
    Flame

    Old news ...

    That Apple support document has been out for months (see http://www.macworld.com/article/140541/2009/05/iphone_heat.html) and only recently updated to mention the 3GS.

    All consumer tech kit suffers badly when ambient temperature is to high or too low or if the pressure is too high or too low or humidity too high etc ... get over it, read the manual and use it as proscribed or buy a military spec one instead.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Ralphe Neill etc.

    Bruce: "Quick Sheila, there's a fire about to burn down our house. The barbie's already on fire and it's getting very hot."

    Sheila: "What do I care about that, my iPhone has just stopped working so there's no longer any reason to live"

    RE: using iPhone GPS in car:

    Don't know about you lot, but I don't drive around in a car at 35 degrees. I put the aircon on or open a window.

    Perspective people, perspective.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Dear Dr Richard...

    Please list any item from your inventory of 'All Consumer tech kit' that fails at or below the 35C of the iPhail

    looking forward to your reply. (would be particularly interested in a device in this class.)

    what none? perhaps now you understand that when the boundries of 'acceptable' are reduced to this degree it becomes newsworthy.

    I really feel sorry for those people who live in hot climates who have to: [get over it, read the manual and use it as proscribed] and keep there phone in the fridge...

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    @lee

    next time its hot in your car put your hand on the dash.. its whats absorbing the IR from the sun and creating the heat that you need to open the window for... the problem with the iPhone as a sat nav is that it would be mounted on the dash in the sun and also (especial the black version) become an IR absorber... It will definatly be hotter than you (whom I presume is able to sweat to cool off)

  22. Joel
    Paris Hilton

    Compliance

    "Apple said the iPhone complies with key safety standards in the US, Europe and Down Under."

    roughly translated as..

    "it's legal bitches, we don't care."

    Paris: because she changes colour in the sun .. ?

  23. teaboy
    Flame

    underground

    the tube has been in the low 40's this week, so its now all most a iphone free zone

  24. Greg Marshall 1
    FAIL

    Comparing with the Sony Ericsson C905

    I'll let the numbers do the talking:

    Direct from the user guide:

    For optimum performance, the product should not be operated in temperatures below -10°C(+14°F) or above +45°C(+113°F).

    Do not expose the battery to temperatures above +60°C(+140°F).

  25. Michael Brown

    @AC 12:49

    The iPhone does not "fail" above 35C. I live in a hot climate (Portugal) where the temp is regularly well above 35C in the summer. I take my iPhone to the beach, carry it around in my pocket, use it in the car and take no special measures to keep it cool. It's never had any overheating issues and I've never seen any overheating warning. It's a non-issue, and certainly not newsworthy, but El Reg does love feeding the irrational Apple-hater commentards like yourself.

  26. ffrankmccaffery

    @michael brown

    do you take your iphone where the sun doesnt shine too?

  27. My New Handle
    WTF?

    A quiet day at the news desk

    That must mean time to recycle non-news shock horror avoid situations that may cause device to overheat.

    Really people, the way serious tech is used and abused defies logic. Some plonker even posted on YouTube a video of him dropping his 3GS into a pool (it survived by the way, show me any smartphone that would do that!).

    All Apple have done is like any other manufacturer and posted a set of recommendations about use avoiding overheating that is bad for any electronics and battery tech. Like any guidelines they are conservative.

    So I'm afraid that all of you regular nay-Tards are going to be sadly disappointed and have to go elsewhere for your satisfaction. You won't be reading legend tales of iPhones spontaneously combusting or giving up the ghost any time real soon now.

    Time to get your coats chaps, nothing at all to be seen here.

  28. Ascylto
    Gates Horns

    Works fine here

    The iPhone works just fine here in Reception,

    Well, of course we take all mobiles off people for recycling when they 'move on' as it were.

    More Microtards on burner 7 please!

    Lou Sipher.

    CEO Hell Inc.

  29. Michael Brown
    Happy

    @ffrankmccaffery

    It's always nice to have someone resorting to childish insults as a way of confirming that you've won the argument. Cheers.

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