Battery Issues Likely Causing iPhone 3GS Overheating

Just a week after the release of Apple’s new iPhone, a few users have complained about the handset’s high temperatures, which in some cases are high enough to start browning the white plastic on the back of the phone. Only a small number of iPhone 3GS customers have reported their handsets are reaching very high temperatures. But because more than a million iPhone 3GSes were sold in the first weekend, the issue could put tens of thousands of new iPhones at risk, a component specialist told Wired.com. Aaron Vronko of Rapid Repair, which performs teardowns of iPhones and iPods, said overheating is likely an issue due to faulty battery cells, and said he expected it could spur a recall of up to hundreds of thousands of iPhone 3GS units. “My guess is there’s going to be a whole lot of batteries affected because these [iPhones] are from very large production runs,” Vronko said. “If you have a problem in the design of a series of batteries, it’s probably going to be spread to tends of thousands, if not 100s of thousands, and maybe more.” Apple has not returned phone calls and e-mails requesting comment on the reports. Of all hardware-related failures, overheating batteries have historically posed the greatest safety risks — in extreme cases causing fires, exploding and even killing consumers. The issues of overheating batteries are typically traced to faulty battery cells provided by a component supplier.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/06/overheating-iphones/