Australian man sues Apple, seeks compensation after iPhone explodes in pocket

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited March 2021
An Australian man who landed himself in the hospital after his iPhone X exploded in his pocket now seeks compensation from Apple.

Image credit: 7News
Image credit: 7News


In 2019, Melbourne-based scientist Robert De Rose suffered second-degree burns when his year-old iPhone X exploded in his pocket while at work.

"I heard a faint pop sound, followed by a fizz and then I felt intense pain on my right leg, so I immediately jumped up and realised it was my phone," he told 7NEWS. "I had ash everywhere, and my skin had peeled back."

De Rose claimed that he had reported the issue directly to Apple but received no response. He now plans to seek compensation and wants to warn other iPhone owners of the potential danger.

Carbone Lawyers' Tony Carbone said that the firm would be representing a second man who claimed an overheating Apple Watch had burnt his wrist. The two lawsuits had been filed with the County Court.

An Apple spokesperson responded to the incident, stating that the company takes customer safety extremely seriously, and that the two complaints are being investigated.

All smartphones are potentially at risk of fire due to their use of lithium-ion batteries. Issues like overheating, leakage, or penetration of the battery cell can cause a runaway effect. Placing a phone in your pocket could enable the phone to bend when sat upon, increasing the risk of battery damage.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    luisirizarry63luisirizarry63 Posts: 8member
    Is crazy a phone an iPhone X at that explosion burns 🥵 2nd degree burns that no good. But his a scientist fishy !!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
    I hope and pray that you are doing fine. 
    edited March 2021
  • Reply 2 of 10
    yoyo2222yoyo2222 Posts: 144member
    I suspect a battery replacement by a non-approved repair shop.
    edited March 2021 watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 10
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,093member
    I hope this incident is followed up.  I lost track of how many similar stories were passed around social media, crucifying Apple only to be determined it was due to involvement of a 3rd-party, unauthorized repair with defective parts, or faulty Chinese knock-off chargers, or user-created.

    Even if this turns out to be true... of the hundreds of millions of iPhoneX phones sold, this would be (for me) what... ONE incident?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 10
    chelinchelin Posts: 107member
    luisirizarry63 said:
    Is crazy a phone an iPhone X at that explosion burns 🥵 2nd degree burns that no good. But his a scientist fishy !!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
    I hope and pray that you are doing fine. 
    QAnon has arrived at AI. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 10
    chelinchelin Posts: 107member

    yoyo2222 said:
    I suspect a battery replacement by a non-approved repair shop.
    Sounds likely that a battery was replaced after 1 year of use? 
    I suspect friction caused by 10,000 texts caused the fire ;)
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 10
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,022member
    Wiseman said:
    Dumb as a stump
    Why is he dumb as a stump? Or are you just trolling?
  • Reply 7 of 10
    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt Posts: 2,130member
    Without knowing anything except what is reported in this article, I can definitively state that the alleged "victim" is an obvious fake because he's a scientist, is as stupid as a tree stump, and absolutely must have done something wrong to have had this happen.  There is absolutely no possibility whatsoever of any other explanation. 🤦‍♂️

    /s
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 8 of 10
    hentaiboyhentaiboy Posts: 1,252member
    AppleInsider said:
    Placing a phone in your pocket could enable the phone to bend when sat upon, increasing the risk of battery damage.
    It was a front pocket.
  • Reply 9 of 10
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,291member
    hentaiboy said:
    AppleInsider said:
    Placing a phone in your pocket could enable the phone to bend when sat upon, increasing the risk of battery damage.
    It was a front pocket.
    That doesn't make any difference. People bend in all sorts of ways.

    I am NOT saying that I think this is the explanation. We don't know the real story, and neither does Apple at this point. We'll find out together when the facts come out in court. I'm glad Apple is investigating, but at this point ... three and half years and many millions of units sold ... it is mostly likely to be either the user's fault or a freak set of circumstances.
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