It isn’t pretty, but perhaps it conveys a larger hardware problem that needs attention.
A video shared by one Brianna Olivas shows an iPhone 7 Plus burning to the point that the case is melting away and smoke is erupting from the side of the device.
Apple, in turn, has offered the following response to the video, which has gone viral:
“We are in touch with the customer and looking into it,”
Olives stated that she started experiencing problems with her iPhone 7 Plus the day before the device “blew up.” She says that the device wouldn’t turn on so she took it to her local Apple Store, where employees concluded that everything was fine after running a series of tests. The device then started functioning again.
Olivas later stated that she was asleep with her phone charging when her boyfriend picked it up and noticed the device smoking only a few seconds later.
“The next morning I was asleep with my phone charging next to my head, my boyfriend grabbed the phone and put it on the dresser. He went the the restroom and from the corner of his eye he saw my phone steaming and heard a squealing noise,” she said. “By the time he got over to the phone it had already caught fire, he quickly grabbed the phone and threw it in the restroom. As soon as he threw it in the restroom is blew up and more smoke started coming out of the phone.”
Olivas says that she has since turned the phone over to Apple, who is testing it and expects to know more within a week or so.
Historically, when an iPhone catches fire, it generally overheats due to being covered by a pillow or placed in a pocket. Some users have cited the “liquid case” Olivas was using, albeit Olivas has stated that she was using no such case when the fire occurred.
Nevertheless, there’s no evidence at this point that proves what Olivas experienced is part of a widespread problem. Given the recent Note 7 debacle, there’ been an increased focus on smartphones catching fire, but this is nothing of that magnitude.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.