iPhone 4 Cable Catches Fire, Burns Owner's Hand
Apple recently announced that the iPhone 4 is its hottest iPhone to date, selling faster than any other iteration of the phone. However, one AT&T customer recently discovered just how hot the phone really is when he burnt his hand on the bezel.
Boy Genius Report cites an AT&T insider who provided the following images along with a story of a user whose iPhone 4 caught fire. The incident appears to be either a problem with the USB port the device was plugged into, or the iPhone 4's dock connector port (an Apple Store confirmed that it was a result of "a defective USB port and not some sort of user error"). Judging from how melted the iPhone-end of the cable is, it looks as though the port on the phone was the problem.
The AT&T source told BGR that the phone's bezel became hot enough to burn the user's hand when he picked it up.
The report brings back memories of exploding iPhone and iPod incidents from last summer. One teenager in France was injured after his girlfriend's iPhone shattered and a piece of the device hit him in the face. The boy was using his girlfriend's phone when it began making a hissing noise and the screen suddenly broke, sending pieces flying in the air.
A second incident involved a 26-year-old security guard at a supermarket in Villevieille, near Nîmes, France. Yassine Bouhadi claimed his iPhone made a noise like a mirror shattering while he was texting his girlfriend. Bouhadi said a little piece of the screen hit him in the eye and he had to remove it with a tweezers.
At the time Apple said the exploding iPhones were not due to overheating but external force applied to the devices.
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-1 apple
guess he was holding it wrong..
Have to wait and see on this one. I know I won't get one of these phones till the bugs are found and fixed in future updates.
and people still by this shit, the nexus doesn't hurt people
Not going good for Apple.
At this moment it is still too early to say whos fault is (though We'd preferre to put the blam on Apple no matter what..
)
It is good that the phone did not actually explor. Otherwise.. the shatter glass can be very scary (specially for the people who like to leave the phone in their front pant parket..
.
Yeah, must be total user error. Apple has never had any issues with any of there products. Stupid consumers, not knowing how to not burn themselves!
Im just starting to feel sorry for Apple owners at this point. Recpetion issues, the lack of Flash ( It matters to some), and now this. Hopefully this is an isolated issue because as much as people who purchase this crap disgust me I dont want to see anyone get hurt from their choice in devices.
Im just starting to feel sorry for Apple owners at this point. Recpetion issues, the lack of Flash ( It matters to some), and now this. Hopefully this is an isolated issue because as much as people who purchase this crap disgust me I dont want to see anyone get hurt from their choice in devices.
Don't feel sorry for them, the fact is they brought this upon themselves by being mindless apple zombie fanbois.
another fail for apple...hope these zombies wake up from there apple spell
From the looks of it the antenna which is directly connected to the inner electronics of the device came in contact with the plug. If the power cable was inserted into the port of the iPhone4 and then bent up towards the antenna would that not make some sort of contact and electrical loop? I think the device may have been leaning on the plug and it just bent enough to make contact and grounded. My call is they make the port a bit bigger with a plastic socket on the inside insulating the antenna from contact.
basic electrical insulation, what a novel idea!
Just put more heat sink around the cable. Lucky my old iPhone 3G with OS4 is working just fine.
hopefully the iphone 5 comes with an antenna attachment and a free fire extinguisher in its box.
This kind of thing has plagued Apple for decades. Back in the mid 80s when I was a retail service tech I replaced a LOT of Mac analog boards - the vertically mounted board that held the power supply and CRT electronics. Several actually flamed out, requiring replacement of the entire machine.
just don't hold it that way
Isn't BGR the same people that posted the fake Steve Jobs emails?
Well if this happens for only 1 out of 1.X million than its probably not an issue this device is being used by over a million people. I dont like apple but this is probably a non issue its probably not the phones fault ultimately they probably wont find out why this happened.
"Don't plug it in that way, you bought the wrong cable."
it probably didn't except any other cable other than apple brand.
This just in: car just caught fire on the highway.
It's called a defective. It happens sometimes.
Oh, and that's not pro or against Apple, I'm just saying it's not news.
This probably happens just as much with other phones, people just don't care as much.
Downside of brand name...?
I bet jobs will release a line of fireproof USB cables and sell them for $50.
It's apples secret weapon.. When we least expect it.. BOOM!
Everyone elses cases were just premature detonation..
since no one else cares to try and put any intelligent effort into surmising the reason for this, I'll be the first to delete the little fruity logo from the equation.
First, the USB port doesnt have enough amperage to do this, and I highly doubt the 2amps provided would cause this. My theory is this: it was being charged in a car and came in contact with a hot power source somehow, and was grounding to the vehicle ground via the charging cable, thus not blowing any fuses nor destroying the car charger as they are fused via the positive.
Thats the only thing I can think of that would cause that kind of heat without killing the power source.
The iPhone cables are such a piece of low quality crap that I can't believe the fact!
It's obviously something typical for Apples products. I think the Mac Mini has that kind of crappy cables too.
I've never had a cheap USB cable to fail me but I've seen the broken iPhone cable. It sucked dude!
The iPhone cables are such a piece of low quality crap that I can't believe the fact!It's obviously something typical for Apples products. I think the Mac Mini has that kind of crappy cables too.I've never had a cheap USB cable to fail me but I've seen the broken iPhone cable. It sucked dude!
That All depends how the short happen. Keep in mind,even though usb max ouput is 1A but usually around 500mA is the standard for usb devices,the battery on the phone can play a contributing factor too. It could of shorted in a way that it also shorted the battery, obviously the protection circuit did not do its job. This would not happen if it did, go figure.
When I charge my phone the ports does get warm close to getting hot but nothing major like this.
since no one else cares to try and put any intelligent effort into surmising the reason for this, I'll be the first to delete the little fruity logo from the equation.First, the USB port doesnt have enough amperage to do this, and I highly doubt the 2amps provided would cause this. My theory is this: it was being charged in a car and came in contact with a hot power source somehow, and was grounding to the vehicle ground via the charging cable, thus not blowing any fuses nor destroying the car charger as they are fused via the positive.Thats the only thing I can think of that would cause that kind of heat without killing the power source.
I'm with you on this one but I don't see it being a car charger, because either the fuse protecting the cigarette lighter socket in the vehicle would blow before the thing lit on fire and I don't even think a small USB cable could carry enough current to do this in the first place. Maybe if this was a wall charger, if the switch mode rectifiers in the supply shorted it could send wall current up the cable, determinately a fire risk.
And about the antenna shorting comment; believe me if that phone puts out enough RF power to burn a cable end that shorts to it; burnt connectors would be the least of your worries.
Disregard Zingam quote was not for you my bad
since no one else cares to try and put any intelligent effort into surmising the reason for this, I'll be the first to delete the little fruity logo from the equation.First, the USB port doesnt have enough amperage to do this, and I highly doubt the 2amps provided would cause this. My theory is this: it was being charged in a car and came in contact with a hot power source somehow, and was grounding to the vehicle ground via the charging cable, thus not blowing any fuses nor destroying the car charger as they are fused via the positive.Thats the only thing I can think of that would cause that kind of heat without killing the power source.
That All depends how the short happen. Keep in mind,even though usb max ouput is 1A but usually around 500mA is the standard for usb devices,the battery on the phone can play a contributing factor too. It could of shorted in a way that it also shorted the battery, obviously the protection circuit did not do its job. This would not happen if it did, go figure.
When I charge my phone the ports does get warm close to getting hot but nothing major like this.
Another possibility maybe the current went where it should not go. In this scenario, doe not take couple of 100mA to get transistors burning red hot if current is flowing in the wrong way and 500mA is more than enough to do it in this situation.
Also you talking about a phone that draws quite a power to operate if that energy get shorted it can end up burning like this.
Then you have Li-Ion battery around 3.7v 4.2v (fully charged) capable of delivering quite a current. Obviously something went wrong.