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Chaos After The Storm
iPhone 15 drama & beyond.
Brandon Butch
September 29, 2023 • 📖 Read time: 7 minutes
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Good morning! ☀️ *Tim Cook voice*
Last week was hectic, but we’re back in business. I hope you caught all of my videos! We’re talking iPhone 15 drama, iOS 17.1, and more.
Estimated reading time: 2.3 minutes
📊 Poll
In the last poll, I asked: Did you pre-order the iPhone 15/15 Pro?
Here were some of my favorite replies:
No - “I'm waiting for a more drastic change from my 14 Pro Max because the new features added to the 15 Pro I wouldn't ever really use. I also wouldn't be able to connect the USB-C to my car because my car only has regular usb ports.”
Yes - “Ordered an iPhone 15 pro max. I see not a lot of people talk about the 3nm A17 Pro chip, wonder why. Also the first time they used the Pro moniker for an iPhone SoC, next year’s iPhone is getting A17, not this one exactly. Also the 5x makes it a better purchase than the standard Pro and worth couple extra hundred bucks. For me, it’s a one time investment and don’t plan to upgrade for next 3-4 years, so shelling out a little extra is okay.”
This week: Did you update to iOS 17? If so, how is it running so far?
Did you update to iOS 17? |
🔥 iPhone 15 Drama
I don’t think there was a single corner on the internet this week where you didn’t hear about the iPhone 15’s “heat gate” aka the overheating “issue” with 15 & 15 Pro’s.
As someone with 4 iPhone 15 Pro’s and all of the iPhone 15’s, I have tried to get my phones to heat up more than normal and I could not. I might even run a thermal test just to show the results.
So, is this just another typical iPhone “problem” that is essentially just made up from thin air?
Every single year, within the first 2 weeks of a new iPhone dropping, there is some type of issue with it. Every year like clockwork. And then after those 2 weeks pass, there’s never another word about it.
..Not So Fast
And while all of the above is my opinion and my personal experience, I cannot speak for everyone. And there have been several trusted publications/people reporting on this issue.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a customer’s iPhone 15 Pro Max was hotter than his previous 13 Pro Max, after a days of usage.
Bloomberg reported similar stories/experiences
Ming-Chi Kuo said the titanium frame on iPhone 15 Pro models negatively impacts thermal efficiency & that Apple could address the issue via software updates. However, he also said improvements may be limited unless Apple lowers the performance of the A17 Pro chip
Dxomark test
Dxomark also did a temperature test for the iPhone 15 Pro Max compared to other models and take a look at that - the iPhone 15 had a higher peak temperature than the Pro Max!
So, where do we go from here?
I would assume Apple will attempt to address/fix this with a software update, but who knows when that will be. It could be iOS 17.1 in October, or it could be a much longer “fix” that takes multiple updates to get right.
But as Kuo said, the issue likely lies within the iPhone and that A17 Pro chip that is too powerful for its own good.
If you have an iPhone 15 or 15 Pro, have you experience any abnormal heat?
Does your iPhone 15 heat up more than normal? |
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