iPhone 7 Bursts Into Flames, Destroys Vehicle

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Apple's response will probably be: "The car was holding it wrong." All kidding aside, it's getting to the point now where I don't even want to carry a cell phone in my pocket unless it is in a bomb-proof case.

Mat Jones says he had left the phone under clothes in his car while taking a surf lesson. When he returned, he was shocked to discover the vehicle filled with smoke. The tech giant Apple wouldn’t comment but said they were aware of the complaint and they are investigating.
 
It seems to me that these batteries aren't terribly happy.

I wonder if it's making them thinner and thinner that's the problem.
 
It's interesting taking apart a lithium ion battery. I did it wearing gloves using my old cell phone battery (dead of course). It's just a thin rolled up sheet with electrodes on each side and a sprayed on lithium and carbon field. If the edges of this paper roll aren't properly isolated and it was bent just right, or the battery was punctured, I can see how a short would develop, leading to a failure.
 
He said he left it in the car. Was it a hot day, cars get hot in the sun. But its playing russian roulette with these phones, will you be next to get exploded. Will apple pay medical or insurance bills when your phone explodes?
 
Seems Apple is buying the same discount batteries as Samsung. Might want to shop someplace else besides China.
 
Galvin said:
He said he left it in the car. Was it a hot day, cars get hot in the sun. But its playing russian roulette with these phones, will you be next to get exploded. Will apple pay medical or insurance bills when your phone explodes?
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Are you saying they are safe for the general public?
 
hot car(had to be, he was surfing), in the sun and phone under a pile of clothes. totally apples fault that he didn't rtfm and catch the warning about the battery+excessive heat=boom...
 
DigitalGriffin said:
It's interesting taking apart a lithium ion battery. I did it wearing gloves using my old cell phone battery (dead of course). It's just a thin rolled up sheet with electrodes on each side and a sprayed on lithium and carbon field. If the edges of this paper roll aren't properly isolated and it was bent just right, or the battery was punctured, I can see how a short would develop, leading to a failure.
Click to expand...

My asshole never clinched so hard then the time I was taking apart my iPhone 4s in my house. I got the screen off and following a YouTube instructional went to carefully pry the battery off. It's very bendable and half way through I must have been a bit rough and the battery let out a tiny plum of smoke with a sizzling noise.

I dropped it and grabbed a pot as quick as I could and threw the phone in it. thankfully nothing happened but after that I felt like I was handling a bomb, since I've seen what happens when you puncture a battery. I took it outside to finish and had to dispose of it later.

They're definitely volatile. this is not surprising.
 
You know its funny... my buddy and I had a talk about how something could "happen" to the iPhone 7 in order to try to divert some of the bad media circling around Samsung and the Note 7.

Just about every big name company has played some dirty tactics one way or another.
 
samsung is going to sue for infringement. This 'technique' is intellectual property.
 
Think it's time for fans on both sides to stop attacking the brand and start placing the blame on lithium ion batteries. The current tech can not keep up with manufactures design requirements.
 
The big problem here is that it was left in a car. Put a Li-ion battery in a hot situation, and it will build up hydrogen gas. This will cause the explosion and fire. It would be fine in a pocket. Whoever left it in the car was the idiot.
 
More likely the bogan spilled his bong water and shorted the phone or did an insurance job lol.
 
Soon Apple will claim that the Note 7 infringes on their design patent for the exploding phone, eventhough Samsung demonstrated the feature first!
 
aaron33 said:
Soon Apple will claim that the Note 7 infringes on their design patent for the exploding phone, eventhough Samsung demonstrated the feature first!
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Not before they sue the Islamic Extremists for the patent on IED's. :)
 
dgingeri said:
The big problem here is that it was left in a car. Put a Li-ion battery in a hot situation, and it will build up hydrogen gas. This will cause the explosion and fire. It would be fine in a pocket. Whoever left it in the car was the idiot.
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Nope.

The big problem is that an unsafe device was sold to the public.
Are you saying that the public should be aware that accidentally leaving a phone in a warm environment can cause a fire or explosion and have control over this?
Or that the technically unaware should not own it?
I dont recall hearing those requirements in the advertising.

The device is not fit for purpose because it is unsafe.
 
pendragon1 said:
hot car(had to be, he was surfing), in the sun and phone under a pile of clothes. totally apples fault that he didn't rtfm and catch the warning about the battery+excessive heat=boom...
Click to expand...

what does surfing have to do with a hot car? Being hot outside doesn't mean your car is 150 inside. I have parked in places while at the beach that where in the shade, or just had a car that didn't feel like it was an oven. Being under a pile of clothes would have kept it out of the sun and this probably kept it cooler.
 
dgingeri said:
The big problem here is that it was left in a car. Put a Li-ion battery in a hot situation, and it will build up hydrogen gas. This will cause the explosion and fire. It would be fine in a pocket. Whoever left it in the car was the idiot.
Click to expand...

So we can add to the list,

Don't leave your baby in the car on hot days
Don't leave your pet in the car on hot days
& for god sake don't leave your precious cell phone in the car on hot days.

Oh, brother.
 
One is not a big deal. If we get up to a dozen or so in the next few weeks, then yeah there is prolly a problem.

That said, that battery type is dangerous plain and simple, and just about all of our modern mobile electronics use them. There is a reason I charge my large R/C Lipo batteries in a metal bucket sitting on a couple of bricks.
 
This is going to keep happening till they get around to fixing it with new battery technology. Heat is the biggest issue with batteries but yet every new generation device gets more powerful thus runs hotter. Every person wants faster charging so batteries have to run hotter to charge faster. The fact this happened while on standby (I assume) in a hot car doesn't mean the phone wasn't doing something in the background that generated a bit of heat that got amplified by the car heat. No matter how you cut it phone manufacturers have to slow down their yearly releases till battery technology catches up IMHO.
 
Exavior said:
what does surfing have to do with a hot car? Being hot outside doesn't mean your car is 150 inside. I have parked in places while at the beach that where in the shade, or just had a car that didn't feel like it was an oven. Being under a pile of clothes would have kept it out of the sun and this probably kept it cooler.
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did you watch the video in the article? it was obviously a hot day(mid 20Cs) so the cars internal temps would have been hot. then the phone wrapped up in clothes would compound the heat of the car and what is being generated by the phone itself. it all adds up. if the heat in a car can get high enough to kill babies and dogs...

How hot can the interior of a car get – and how quickly? : HeatKills
 
Exavior said:
what does surfing have to do with a hot car? Being hot outside doesn't mean your car is 150 inside. I have parked in places while at the beach that where in the shade, or just had a car that didn't feel like it was an oven. Being under a pile of clothes would have kept it out of the sun and this probably kept it cooler.
Click to expand...

This isn't a knock on surfing man, it's simply a plausible explanation. If the guy said it was sitting in a home or office and it burst into flames, that would be more worrisome as the temperature's of homes and offices don't vary nearly as much as that of a car. The guy also mentioned surfing, which has at least the possibility (if not the likelihood) of a strong sun and therefore hot temps inside the car. Come on man, read between the lines and use context. The story doesn't give you enough information in general, but with what is provided, you can tell that this very well COULD be an exception and not cause for alarm. If we see more stories, then perhaps it's not.
 
DTN107 said:
You know its funny... my buddy and I had a talk about how something could "happen" to the iPhone 7 in order to try to divert some of the bad media circling around Samsung and the Note 7.

Just about every big name company has played some dirty tactics one way or another.
Click to expand...

When you hear horses, you don't assume they're zebras. Conspiracy theories without substantiation.
 
pendragon1 said:
did you watch the video in the article? it was obviously a hot day(mid 20Cs) so the cars internal temps would have been hot. then the phone wrapped up in clothes would compound the heat of the car and what is being generated by the phone itself. it all adds up. if the heat in a car can get high enough to kill babies and dogs...

How hot can the interior of a car get – and how quickly? : HeatKills
Click to expand...

Stop beating around the bush. Lith-Ion batteries are dangerous. this was known when they were FIRST made, and that they were a inherently limited design. Battery tech isn't keeping up, it's really all there is to it. ALL PHONES are going to have increasingly worse issues with this. It's the battery tech, cell phone makers have little control over this, period, and none are immune, period!
 
not beating around any bush and yes the batteries can be dangerous but that is why there are warning on/about them. ie: do not expose the battery to extreme temperatures or direct sun light. he was following the no sun light but missed the extreme temp part. if used, stored and treated correctly they are not dangerous, just like a car and/or its battery and even its engine!
 
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