iPhone 3GS Too Hot to Handle - Hot Pink Scorch Marks

By Contributor Wireless and Mobile News on June 30, 2009 11:32 AM

There have been reports that the new iPhone 3GS is too hot to handle, the super-fast processor's temperature is so very warm, owners claim it can hurt.

Photos of white iPhone 3GS posted in forums show heat scorch marks, like the kind you see when the iron stays too long on a shirt, except this one looks reddish pink.

The Journal de Geek in France shows a photo of a hot pink mark in the shape of a battery, with the metaphorical question "Isolated case or what?.

PC World's Melissa J. Perenson reported that her Apple iPhone 3GS "became very hot. Very, very hot -- not just on the back, but the entire length of the front face, too." While she was playing the Oregon Trail game and surfing the web browser via a Wi-Fi connection. "Toasty doesn't even describe how surprisingly hot it got. It was too hot to even put the phone against my face."

A MacNN staffer has encountered the "hot"problem independently, with discoloration noticeable on the back of a white 32GB unit.

Aaron Vronko of Rapid Repair, Apple iPhone repair specialist, told us that the overheating is likely due to faulty battery cells which could spur a recall.

"The safety concerns of this lithium ion battery in the Phone 3GS is less likely to pose as great a risk of fire or danger as with larger cells in a laptop battery."

If you notice this problem, if your iPhone 3GS is not too hot to touch, shut off the iPhone immediately. Charging or using current will exacerbate the reaction. (There is no way to turn off an iPhone without touching it with bare skin or using a specialized stylus like the Pogo.)

Vronko advised "Don't leave your iPhone in very hot places such as the car in the summer where it can get as hot as 120 degrees which will degrade the battery life."

If you expose the iPhone battery to extreme temperatures, regularly, your battery could need to be replaced in a few months. The same is true for very cold weather, below 40 degrees F, it will degrade battery life.

Apple recalled the iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 notebooks because Sony cells in batteries could cause explosions.

Ben Patterson at Yahoo Tech wrote "Still, you never know, and the problem might blow up in Apple's face--literally--if someone's iPhone 3GS battery explodes."