Exploding iPhone 7 Plus Surfaces Amid iPhone 8 Rumors; Apple Confirms It Is Investigating Incident

Apple has already heard of the viral video of a melting iPhone 7 Plus, and the Cupertino giant has confirmed that it is looking into the incident. Samsung’s biggest rival is investigating what caused the meltdown of the device as it continues to work on its upcoming 10th anniversary iPhone, which is currently presumed to launch with the “iPhone 8” moniker.

On Thursday, Apple confirmed that it is conducting an investigation on the circumstances that caused its iPhone 7 Plus to release a billow of smoke while melting from the inside out. While it’s inspection is ongoing, however, the controversial video continues to circulate on Twitter and attract the attention of both fans and critics of Tim Cook’s company.

The video was uploaded by Brianna Olivas, who was also the owner of the problematic iPhone 7 Plus. In the clip, Olivas’ handset could be seen getting consumed by the heat on its battery pack that the back case conspicuously melts and releases smoke. The video of the melting iPhone has already been viewed over a million times, and it has been retweeted more than 22 thousand times as of writing.

Alarmed consumers gave various opinions on what may have caused the melting of the device. Twitter user @HausOfBriann commented: “If your case had that liquid thing it might of gotten inside … maybe that’s why it exploded.” Another user @LiveLoveLahtii chimed in: “It overheated causing the battery to expand. The same thing happened to me. It’s just mine didn’t blow up.”

Olivas spoke with Mashable about the incident, saying she bought the handset from Sprint just last month. The day before it blew up, the device wouldn’t turn on, so she decided to have it checked at an Apple store. However, the employees there just told her that nothing was wrong with her iPhone 7 Plus. Following that visit to the store, her phone worked just fine until the following morning when she found it burning.

Olivas also revealed that when her boyfriend tried to grab the phone, it was already flaming that the latter had to throw the handset in the restroom, causing it to blow up and release a billow of smoke. In a follow-up to the video, she provided pictures of what her iPhone looked like after it exploded.

Apple Insider claims the melting incident was clearly due to a problematic battery pack as proven by the white smoke it released. The Apple-centric news site also pointed out that the chemical stains present in the photos indicate that that there was a battery failure. Oddly enough, this sounds similar to what happened to Samsung’s now defunct Galaxy Note 7. Prior its discontinuation, the flagship phone made headlines after numerous complaints of it either exploding or catching fire became public.

Thus far, Olivas has surrendered her iPhone 7 Plus to Apple after the company’s Apple Support team reached out to her via Twitter.
A spokesperson for the Cupertino giant has also said, “We are in touch with the customer and looking into it.”

Meanwhile, rumors about the upcoming iPhone 8 continue to surface. The latest report claims the device’s wireless charging feature is being developed by five different groups. However, insiders have two different takes on what the teams could be working on: an inductive wireless charging technology that makes use of a charging pad, or a more advanced charging functionality with a long-range solution.