Apple investigating iPhone 6 explosion in California
Apple is investigating why an iPhone 6 owned by an 11-year-old girl in California 'exploded' while being used to watch YouTube videos, an incident that luckily avoided any serious injury to the child or property damage.
An iPhone 6 that caught fire in California in July 2019 (via 23ABC)
Kayla Ramos was using her iPhone 6 in a sister's bedroom when the fire took place, and was holding the device when it ignited. After seeing "sparks flying everywhere" from the iPhone, Ramos threw it away from her and onto a nearby blanket.
Ramos told 23ABC on Thursday she did burn herself, but the main damage was sustained by the blanket and bed, which now have burn marks and holes where the iPhone landed. The iPhone 6 itself has partially disassembled itself, with the display panel separated from the main body, showing a considerable amount of burn marks on the inside of the device.
Mother Maria Adata told the report "My child could have caught on fire and she could have been hurt more and I am glad she's ok." Adata added she would no longer sleep with it nearby, suggesting "I know we charge it a lot, maybe that caused it, maybe it overheated."
Apple advised to Adata there could be a few factors that could cause overheating, such as the use of unauthorized charging cables and chargers. Such accessories are suspected to be the cause of some previous fires, including one incident in British Columbia that destroyed a farmhouse in 2016.
Apple also said unauthorized Apple repairs and external damage to an iPhone may also cause a battery failure down the line. In these cases, the company strongly advises customers to get in touch with its support teams, an Apple Store, or an authorized service provider.
In Ramos' case, Apple is investigating the cause of the damage, having already requested photographs from her mother, and is willing to send a replacement iPhone once the damaged version has been sent off for inspection.
Fires from iPhones are relatively rare occurrences, but do happen given the large number of the smartphones are sold around the world, and the small risks involved in using lithium-ion batteries.
In November 2018, an iPhone X started to smoke and caught fire after completing an update to iOS 12.1 and being charged by Apple's official Lightning cable and wall adapter, but it is unclear if the software update actually triggered the ignition. Another iPhone XS Max caught fire in December of the same year, overheating while in an Ohio man's pocket.
More unusually, one January 2018 incident saw an iPhone battery explode in an electronics store in China during servicing, after a customer bit the battery.
An iPhone 6 that caught fire in California in July 2019 (via 23ABC)Kayla Ramos was using her iPhone 6 in a sister's bedroom when the fire took place, and was holding the device when it ignited. After seeing "sparks flying everywhere" from the iPhone, Ramos threw it away from her and onto a nearby blanket.
Ramos told 23ABC on Thursday she did burn herself, but the main damage was sustained by the blanket and bed, which now have burn marks and holes where the iPhone landed. The iPhone 6 itself has partially disassembled itself, with the display panel separated from the main body, showing a considerable amount of burn marks on the inside of the device.
Mother Maria Adata told the report "My child could have caught on fire and she could have been hurt more and I am glad she's ok." Adata added she would no longer sleep with it nearby, suggesting "I know we charge it a lot, maybe that caused it, maybe it overheated."
Apple advised to Adata there could be a few factors that could cause overheating, such as the use of unauthorized charging cables and chargers. Such accessories are suspected to be the cause of some previous fires, including one incident in British Columbia that destroyed a farmhouse in 2016.
Apple also said unauthorized Apple repairs and external damage to an iPhone may also cause a battery failure down the line. In these cases, the company strongly advises customers to get in touch with its support teams, an Apple Store, or an authorized service provider.
In Ramos' case, Apple is investigating the cause of the damage, having already requested photographs from her mother, and is willing to send a replacement iPhone once the damaged version has been sent off for inspection.
Fires from iPhones are relatively rare occurrences, but do happen given the large number of the smartphones are sold around the world, and the small risks involved in using lithium-ion batteries.
In November 2018, an iPhone X started to smoke and caught fire after completing an update to iOS 12.1 and being charged by Apple's official Lightning cable and wall adapter, but it is unclear if the software update actually triggered the ignition. Another iPhone XS Max caught fire in December of the same year, overheating while in an Ohio man's pocket.
More unusually, one January 2018 incident saw an iPhone battery explode in an electronics store in China during servicing, after a customer bit the battery.
Comments
Simply demanding that "You use OUR parts and OUR services" obviously is not going to take care of the problem because too many people will ignore the edict for a variety of reasons.
So, WHY does using a non-Apple charging cable lead to a fire? What is so much different about an Apple cable vs the one you buy in drugstore? Until or unless people understand that there IS a difference, they will go with the lower cost and convenience of picking one up at the drugstore as they check out.
iPhone fires are quite unusual so it makes me wonder if there was other damage and/or a defective charger being used - both of these could lead to the battery overheating. GIven the age, it’s also possible that it had a defective replacement battery installed. Even considering this, though, you never want to have a device explode like this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery
“Lithium-ion batteries can be a safety hazard since they contain a flammable electrolyte and may become pressurized if they become damaged. A battery cell charged too quickly could cause a short circuit, leading to explosions and fires.”
How are consumers supposed to know if the cables or chargers are “unauthorized”? I’ve bought 1/2 a dozen chargers, and 20+ cables on Amazon in the last decade for my iPhone and IPad.
No one intentionally buys an “unauthorized” cable/charger...
Does Apple actively police what’s being sold? I assume they collect money to authorize accessories, part of that money should go to enforcement, otherwise no one is going to pay it.
AI could ask. If Apple doesn’t, their response is lawyer speak BS. If they do, that would be useful and relevant info...
mother thought it might have been their fault. They aren’t at this time seeking any legal action against Apple. I think they want to know what happened just like Apple wants to know.
The big problem with right to fix laws is that there isn’t any way of vetting the quality of the parts you use.
I’m saying this because I have a suspicion that this phone has a 3rd party battery in it.
Some third party batteries are made cheaply and do not have the same circuit protection nor tolerances for expanding as some of the brand named ones. Since everything is made in China, you can’t be sure if you are getting a quality battery or a knock off.
A $49, or even a $79 cost for a replacement battery at Apple is a safer alternative than doing it yourself or having a friend or independent shop do it.
Ifixit doesn't like to mention the number of fires created by someone replacing their own battery. Just look at the comments on their guides and you’ll see plenty of people who did not know how dangerous Li-ion batteries can be and the fact that there isn’t much protecting the battery except a thin wrapping of plastic around the battery. Plus the fumes will kill you faster than the fire will.
Some people might argue that it’s BS and they have replaced their own battery without any issue. That might be true for them, but there are a lot of people who own iPhones and don’t have any technical repair skills and shouldn’t be working on their devices. Those are the people who cut corners and make their device a potential safety hazard.
I was responding to the claim (and others) that the battery was defective because it was in an iPhone 6. That's beyond nonsense, it's stupid.
But because you're a China hater, you attack me because I call out Trump's irrational, harmful trade wars for the stupidity that they are. Go take your meds. You must have forgotten them.
No? So, your post is just nonsense. It's like claiming an auto accident occurred because driving on a flat tire causes accidents.
Let's stick to reality here.
Nor is there any evdence for any of your other claims.
Let's stick to reality.
It's always best to wait for the facts -- which is what Apple is doing.
And then, once it is determined, educate the public on how and why they should avoid that practice.
https://paracable.com/pages/what-is-apple-mfi-certification
https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getAPS
Here is some helpful info from Apple to help identify inferior knock off cables and accessories that may be unsafe for use.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204566
With the exception of the Parable that I use for daily charging, I don't use anything other than Apple for charging.
The essential problem is that there are some 900 million iPhones in the field, a large number of which have been well used with long lives, and aged batteries. Of course there will be fire events that happen that have nothing to do with anything but battery chemistry, regardless of the quality of the accessories. Until we see large scale production of solid state batteries, and implementation into consumer products, this will continue to be a hazard, but a very rare one.
That fact that there are so few stories of smartphones, and specifically iPhones, catching fire is actually pretty amazing.