Generally speaking, the iPhone is a piece of technology that holds up very well and is suitable for long-term use. Some individuals have iPhones that are several generations old, and they still find them to be perfectly suitable for their needs.
However, even if new features don’t entice you to purchase a new device, your current iPhone overheating may make you change your mind. If that’s happening with yours, there’s no need to panic. There are quite a few potential reasons for an overheating iPhone, and there are steps you can take to alleviate this issue as well.
Take Your iPhone Out of the Sun To Prevent Overheating
The most obvious reason that your iPhone could feel warm to the touch is if you’ve left it out in the sun for too long.
This is most likely to happen during the year’s warmer months. Maybe you’ve simply left the device sitting on a windowsill, and the midday sun is shining straight down on it for hours at a time. This can cause iPhone overheating.
What’s more common, though, is if you’ve got the iPhone sitting on the dashboard of your vehicle in one of the different holders that are available for the purpose. Maybe you’re using Google Maps for navigation on a long car trip.
If you’re engaged in this activity in the middle of the summer, for instance, then the interior of the car can get pretty toasty. Having the air conditioner on isn’t going to help your iPhone if it’s under the relentless glare of the sun for multiple hours.
You should periodically touch your iPhone to see if it’s overheating in such conditions. You might also see it shut down, and a temperature warning will appear on the screen.
If that happens, take it out of the sun and put it in a cool, shadowy place, like the glove compartment or under the seat. Don’t ever attempt to put it in a refrigerator or a freezer to try and cool it down faster.
That can permanently damage various internal elements. If you give the phone a little time to recover, it should be okay after a while.
Cooling Down iPhone Overheating
When your iPhone is overheating and you’re trying to cool it down, one thing you can do is take it out of its case or cover.
The iPhone’s outer shell is built to allows heat to dissipate. A case or cover will prevent it from doing that. Also, if your phone is plugged into anything when you realize it’s overheating, then unplug it immediately.
You can also shut off the apps and features. Turn off Bluetooth by heading to Settings and shutting it off. You can go to Settings again, and then select Privacy. Make sure that your Location Services are off.
Next, double-click the Home button, if your phone has one, and see what apps you have running in the background. Shut them all down.
You can also turn off your GPS and Wi-Fi. Finally, go to Settings. From there, disable iCloud.
Once your phone has cooled down sufficiently, you can turn on all of these features again.
Your Charger Can Cause iPhone Overheating
Your charger might also be to blame, particularly if the integrity has been compromised. Look for loose wires or signs of other damage. If you see anything like that, replace it.
Also, if the charger is not an official Apple product, that can lead to problems, like the battery overloading. That can cause the phone to heat up.
A licensed Apple iPhone charger might cost a little more than some of the knockoffs you can find on Amazon or elsewhere. It’s better to pay the extra money and get better performance, though.
Background Refresh is a Prime Cause of iPhone Overheating
The Background Refresh feature on your iPhone does exactly what the name indicates. It refreshes your apps again and again, even when you’re not actively using them. The newest content will always be waiting for you when you open the apps, which is why some people enjoy this feature.
There are some problems with it, though. Your phone is like a mini-computer, and the constant app refreshing means that your device is working overtime.
Refreshing your apps generates heat. If the air around the phone is hot as well, that can be a lethal combination.
You might damage the battery or other elements if you let it go on for long enough. It’s better to shut off Background Refresh and let the phone cool down.
You’ll need to launch the Settings app from your Home screen. Hit General, and then scroll down to Background App Refresh.
Toggle the switch to the Off position. You will know that you’ve done it right when it goes from green to clear.
You don’t need to have it turned off all of the time, but doing so for at least some of the time should prolong your iPhone’s life quite a bit.
Check the Status of Your Apps
Your apps can be another factor when it comes to how much heat your iPhone is generating. An overheating iPhone might mean that a single app is using a lot of your phone’s processing power, and it’s struggling with that strain.
To get an indication of whether that’s happening, go to Settings, and then General. Go to iPhone Storage and take a look at the list of your apps.
You will be able to see how much space each one is taking up. It’s usually third-party apps, which is to say non-native apps that you’ve downloaded to your phone, that will take up the most space.
The apps with the most space have the highest chance of causing your phone to overheat. If you just downloaded a new third-party app, and the overheating starts soon afterward, then that app is probably to blame.
It’s not likely that an app you’ve had for a while will suddenly cause your iPhone to start overheating. The most likely culprit is the third-party app that’s newly installed.
Probably the best thing for you to do will be to uninstall it. You can also contact the designer through the App Store to let them know about the problem if you paid for the application.
If the app happened to be free, then you might be able to find something similar that serves the same purpose and doesn’t cause your phone to overheat.
A Faulty Battery Can Cause iPhone Overheating
If all else has failed to uncover the cause up to this point, then you can take the iPhone to an Apple Store with a Genius Bar so they can take a look at it.
It might be that the battery is faulty. A replacement battery should be covered as long as the phone is still under warranty, or you have an AppleCare+ plan.
If you bought the device brand-new, then it came with a one-year standard warranty. You might also have bought an extended warranty.
Warranties or an AppleCare+ plan generally cover hardware issues, and getting a replacement battery should fall into that category. If the phone is no longer covered, then you’ll likely have to pay for a new battery, which can be pricey.
You might want to consider whether it’s worth it to trade in the phone and get yourself a new one, especially if yours is an older model. When the cost of the new battery is greater than or equal to what an earlier generation of the iPhone is worth, then it’s probably time to get yourself a new smartphone.
