Apple has just released its most expensive smartphone yet, but already disgruntled owners sound like they wish they’d never bought it.
Buyers have complained of multiple issues with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, including overheating, dust in the components and even the metal changing colour.
The standard range of new iPhones start at £799 and are equipped with a new titanium frame, USB-C charging port and new artificial intelligence features.
But the two most expensive options in the iPhone 15 family – the Pro and Pro Max, which reach a whopping £1,499 and £1,599 – seem to be the source of frustration.
One X user, @GeekmanGreg, said: ‘I have a feeling the iPhone 15 is going to wind up being Apple’s biggest mistake/flop in history for them.’
Here’s a closer look at the problems encountered so far with the two Pro models.
OVERHEATING
Multiple users have noticed their iPhone 15 Pro getting hot after just a few minutes – with one having to use ice to cool it down.
One user took to X to say: ‘The natural titanium iPhone 15 Pro gets extremely hot, so much so that it becomes difficult to hold.
‘It heats up after just a 2-minute FaceTime call or when scrolling through reels for 8-10 minutes.’
Users on Apple’s online support community also shared that they’d had a similar experience with the new device.
User marstatooine said: ‘I just got the IPhone 15 Pro today and it’s so hot i can’t even hold it for very long! Hope they resolve this.’
…
METAL CHANGING COLOUR
Unlike the cheaper standard model and Plus model, the more expensive iPhone 15 Pro range uses lightweight titanium rather than stainless steel.
But the tech giant has had to admit that the new material can temporarily change colour if it does not have protection from fingerprints.
Social media users have shared pictures of the phone with significant discolouration, while one tweeted that it was ‘kinda wild considering the price of this tech’.
In a support document released for the new iPhone 15 range, Apple said that ‘for iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, the oil from your skin might temporarily alter the color of the outside band’.
‘Wiping your iPhone with a soft, slightly damp, lint-free cloth will restore the original look,’ it says.
Titanium has the interesting ability to show ‘interference colours’ which can make the surface look like a rainbow when heated.
BENDING
If you’re paying over £1,000 for a device you’d expect it to be pretty robust.
But iPhone 15 Pro Max – the most expensive of the new iPhone 15 options – can be cracked with bare hands, footage shows.
YouTuber JerryRigEverything, whose real name is Zack Nelson, tested Apple’s most recent products to the point of destruction in his signature ‘Durability Test’.
With a slight bend from Mr Nelson, the back glass of iPhone 15 Pro Max shattered.
He said the snap was ‘abnormally quick’ and that he was ‘kinda stunned’ by the results of his test.
He also speculated that the glass may have broken so easily due to the titanium frame being far less flexible than the previous model’s aluminium and stainless steel.
Apple has used titanium for the Pro series partly because it has one of the highest strength-to-weight ratios of any metal, which is supposed to mean it is both robust and light.
SOFTWARE BUG
iPhone 15 was also shipped with a bug in its software ‘that could render the device inoperable’, as Apple expert Mark Gurman put it.
All iPhone 15 models came loaded with iOS 17.0, the firm’s new operating system, but it an accidental glitch prevented the transfer of data directly from an older iPhone during setup.
iOS 17.0 also had three security flaws that left devices exposed to ‘malware’ – malicious computer software.
Apple had to issue a new update called iOS 17.0.2 to fix the issues.
Another update, 17.0.1, fixed the security flaws for earlier iPhone models that can also run iOS 17.0, such as iPhone XS and the 2nd generation iPhone SE.
iOS 17 was released on September 18, a few days before the iPhone 15 hit the shelves.
The generation of software includes several exciting features, including a Live Voicemail tool and the ability to share your contact details simply by touching your iPhone to another.
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Be gentle with Apples new Titanium iPhone 15 Pro Max … Yikes!
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Apple iPhone 15 Pro Overheating Reports: Insider Addresses Issue
Recent coverage of the just-released iPhone 15 series of handsets has been intense, with plenty of reviews praising the cameras, the new design and much more. Less pleasing for Apple to read, though, is a focus on a problem that seems to be drawing persistent attention: overheating. Now, Ming-Chi Kuo from TFI Securities has added their opinion to the topic.
We’re all used to our phones getting a bit hot from time to time, sometimes for obvious causes such as playing a demanding video game, sometimes for absolutely no apparent reason.
I should say that in two weeks of non-stop testing of all four of the new iPhones, none of them has ever got hot at all. So, it’s not an issue for everyone.
But for the iPhone 15 series, things may be more serious. According to 9to5Mac, “widespread reports are circulating about the iPhone 15 overheating, seemingly across all models.” Some of the heating issues seem to apply when the phone is being charged, which may not be a problem as it’s not likely, though also not impossible, that you’d be using it much as it charges.
It’s also worth pointing out that the first 24 hours of an iPhone’s life are not indicative of how the future will look and feel. That’s because most people transfer data from their old phone and the new handset is hard at work, night and day, to copy everything across.
One Korean YouTuber, BullsLab, claims to have recorded an iPhone temperature with a thermal imaging camera and when testing the phone hard, playing games and doing benchmarks, says the phone hit 116 degrees Fahrenheit.
Now, Ming-Chi Kuo’s comments add further context. Kuo says that it’s not likely that the overheating is down to one of the all-new elements in the iPhone 15 Pro, the A17 Pro chip that was built using a 3 nanometer process – the first smartphone chips to use this.
This makes sense, given that iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have seen overheating reports, and that processor isn’t in those phones.
Kuo says in a report on Medium, “My survey indicates that the iPhone 15 Pro series overheating issues are unrelated to TSMC’s advanced 3nm node.”
So, what might it be? Kuo goes on, “The primary cause is more likely the compromises made in the thermal system design to achieve a lighter weight, such as the reduced heat dissipation area and the use of a titanium frame, which negatively impacts thermal efficiency.”
I respect Kuo but I find it highly unlikely that Apple didn’t exhaustively test the new phones for exactly this. If Kuo is right, and it’s a medium-size if, them there is some hope. The analyst continues, “It’s expected that Apple will address this through software updates, but improvements may be limited unless Apple lowers processor performance. If Apple does not properly address this issue, it could negatively impact shipments over the product life cycle of the iPhone 15 Pro series.”
Exactly how widespread this issue is will become clearer with time. Sometimes, the reports are so loud that it disguises the fact that it’s the voices of the few rather than the many. Even so, Apple will want to address it quickly.
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