Have you ever charged your phone in the refrigerator?

[uacd]

Had been watching one of the recent MR podcast episodes and it turns out I am not the only person who had ever tried this🤣 A powerbank plus iPhone in the fridge! I did it too when my iPhone showed the message “phone too hot to use, wait 5 minutes”. Tho I think it is not very safe due to condensate potential, I don’t recommend this lifehack if you want to keep your battery good, fan cooling if you really need to.

It’s summer and summer heat across Europe is literally killing. If I said 10 years ago that there will be 34° Celsius in Netherlands people would have looked at me like if I was an insane person. Maybe Greta was right after all🙄

Since there were many battery topics recently and many of people struggle with their phones overheating, what is your “chilling” strategy? After all, heat is detrimental to battery life.

It is quite surprising Apple didn’t make some article about iPhones heat management in the summer.

I myself had noticed that wireless charging helps to keep heat at bay. Best strategy is to turn off the phone - it almost never heats during charging, or even turn down all wireless connectivity and charge in low battery mode. But all of those are not very feasible sometimes, especially when you need to stay connected.

So, how do you fight heat? Any interesting tips on keeping stuff cool?

 

[mrsmith1]

Ive never had any problems with heat affecting my iPhone.

 

[okkibs]

I think it is not very safe due to condensate potential

It's very safe as long as you don't take the electronics out of the fridge so no condensation occurs. Simple really, leave it in there and check for messages every time you look for a snack. That seems to be the best strategy.

Best strategy is to turn off the phone

I stand corrected, this is clearly a better strategy. Turn off the computer next or we'll risk reading more life hacks.

Maybe Greta was right after all🙄

You think?

After all, heat is detrimental to battery life.

You can fast charge iPhones back up to 50% quickly. (If you got Lightning you need a 15-18W or better charger with a USB-C port and the USB-C adapter cable to make use of it.) The shorter it's on the charger the better. If you do use wireless charging avoid Qi charging as it's slower. The Apple Magsafe charger generates less heat and charges faster. You can charge in the morning and plug in to fast charge in shorter burts once or twice during the day. Avoid chargers with USB-A as they tend to charge slowly.

In the end it's not worth thinking about. My iPhone battery usually lasts for about 2.5 years after which I get it replaced by Apple. Once that replacement battery starts to age I am looking for a new iPhone anyways. You get that battery replacement fee back when you sell or trade in the old iPhone after 4-6 years.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Tho I think it is not very safe due to condensate potential, I don’t recommend this lifehack if you want to keep your battery good, fan cooling if you really need to.

I would certainly be worried about at least some internal condensation.

I myself had noticed that wireless charging helps to keep heat at bay.

That’s interesting as wireless charging is less efficient, far more in some cases — pun intended.

Best strategy is to turn off the phone - it almost never heats during charging

This is indeed a fair alternative.

Another alternative for charging in hot environments is to use a lower wattage charging source. I’m not sure about Europe, but I can’t imagine it’s not decently easy to find someone willing to give away or one on the very cheap via a marketplace (e.g., eBay, Facebook) older, lower watt (e.g., Apple 5W and 10W bricks included with earlier iPhones and iPads). Nonetheless, you could also just use a standard USB A port on practically any device. USB 1 and 2 are up to 2.5W and USB 3 is up to 4.5W.

I did it too when my iPhone showed the message “phone too hot to use, wait 5 minutes”.

I’d be very surprised if this happens often. Are you charging the iPhone while it’s in direct sunlight or otherwise a hot environment (e.g., on a car dashboard)?

I’ve lived in an area where the summer temps are triple digits and (whether residing there or otherwise) have had many instances where the indoor temp is greater than 26ºC. And I’ve only encountered the iPhone temp warning once or twice.

 

[eyoungren]

Never thought about it.

However, unlike you OP, I live in Phoenix, Arizona where the average summer temperatures are around 110º F. Also, unlike many in the UK/Europe, the USA largely adopted air conditioning. Air conditioning in the Metro Phoenix area is like a furnace in the winter for those on the east coast of the USA. It's a need, not a luxury. Temps inside a PHX home without A/C on can rise above 100º F.

I have air conditioning in my home - it isn't necessary to put my phone in the refrigerator to charge when the average temp inside the house is 78º F.

 

[uacd]

I’d be very surprised if this happens often. Are you charging the iPhone while it’s in direct sunlight or otherwise a hot environment (e.g., on a car dashboard)?

What is interesting is that it happened before I replaced my defective display. While I still have a very old battery, after replacement phone started overheating much less (especially thanks to lifehacks like turning off stuff while charging).

I almost never charge in hot environments nowadays btw, phone would melt itself🤣

I have air conditioning in my home - it isn't necessary to put my phone in the refrigerator to charge when the average temp inside the house is 78º F.

Yeah, totally understandable. Me too! But there are certain places where I don’t have, such as the summer cottage where I am usually in summer days. Would have already put AC there as well but it requires much more than AC - renovations and wiring replacement, as it still has some old wiring that would be able to “lift” AC power requirement efficiently without me worrying for the power overloads when I turn on the espresso machine or something else😃

 

[Jackbequickly]

Also never thought about it. I have never seen the overheat message. I would assume my Trane Air conditioner is likely the reason.

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

Maybe Greta was right after all🙄

She was and is.
Why we haven't accepted such, especially in the face of overwhelming evidence, is beyond me.

Never thought to charge my phone in the fridge, though.

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

Yeah, totally understandable. Me too! But there are certain places where I don’t have, such as the summer cottage where I am usually in summer days. Would have already put AC there as well but it requires much more than AC - renovations and wiring replacement, as it still has some old wiring that would be able to “lift” AC power requirement efficiently without me worrying for the power overloads when I turn on the espresso machine or something else😃

Ugh, the struggle of not being able to afford upgrades for AC in our summer cottages!

This post has really made me think.

 

[BigMcGuire]

My Apple Watch Ultra 2 benefits from me putting it on a metal block to help dissipate heat while charging (I have a screen protector on it so it helps transfer the heat from the face to the cold metal block).

I've never had a problem with my + / Pro Max phones. I have seen a Pro (mother in law's phone) overheat during set up out of the box.

I would never put any device into the fridge for fear of condensation damaging the internals.

So, my phone's max charge is set to 80% and it spends most of its life connected to a charger on my desk / bedside / car. Seems to keep the phone cool and happy as 1 year and 9 months later I'm still at 103% battery health.

 

[Parowdy]

No. But I have put it on a box of refrigerated milk many times
Although thinking about it, I have put it in the fridge once during an update or something similar, huh...

 

[williamofockham]

actually try charging and using your phone at temperatures below -40 (c or f) its a real hoot. the sweet spot for these phones seem to from 10 to 25 c( 50 - 77 f ) or thereabouts . refrigerator ok but only if your phones relative humidity is below 100 % of the environmental temperature in the refrigerator

 

[RRC]

I fly out to the North Pole ever time I need a charge… can’t beat the natural cold air.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

So, how do you fight heat? Any interesting tips on keeping stuff cool?

My tip is, keep electronics out of the sun and fuggedaboutit.

Human-caused climate change will [is] of course be devastating ecosystems worldwide, but unlike living things Apple can and will adapt its phone designs very quickly to cope with the inevitable increasing ambient heat.

 

[eyoungren]

I have never seen the overheat message.

I have several times. But that was due to a lack of A/C in my car, which also has four windows that won't roll down (electric windows), during summer.

You haven't lived until you've done an hour's drive (in traffic) from work to home on a 110+ day with no A/C and no way to roll down the windows. My iPhone 6s+ did adapt after a while though - which is more than I can say for myself.

 

[stiligFox]

When using my 12 mini as a GPS, lately I've been having to pop out an air vent in my car and stick it in the duct work to get it to cool off enough to keep charging by MagSafe. The lightning port doesn't work well anymore and so I have to use MagSafe and... that only creates more heat!

 

[Nermal]

I fly out to the North Pole ever time I need a charge… can’t beat the natural cold air.

But it's summer in the northern hemisphere at the moment, so shouldn't you go to the south pole?

I have never even considered putting my phone in the fridge. I've also never seen the "phone too hot" message.

 

[UpsetTheAppleCart]

Maybe Greta was right after all🙄

But of course! iPhone temperatures will only keep rising. That is, until we start buying them with carbon credits.

 

[Tozovac]

So, my phone's max charge is set to 80% and it spends most of its life connected to a charger on my desk / bedside / car. Seems to keep the phone cool and happy as 1 year and 9 months later I'm still at 103% battery health.

I’ve always wondered about this 80% stuff. Does anyone know if 100% status on the iPhone screen is really 100% of battery capacity or maybe more like 80% of actual battery capacity? Are we fooling ourselves by charging to 80% which might really be 64% of the battery actual capacity?

 

[BigMcGuire]

I’ve always wondered about this 80% stuff. Does anyone know if 100% status on the iPhone screen is really 100% of battery capacity or maybe more like 80% of actual battery capacity? Are we fooling ourselves by charging to 80% which might really be 64% of the battery actual capacity?

You can use the app coconutBattery to see the actual capacity. CoconutBattery pulls from Apple's own internal log files. Apple's % is a little bit off from actual capacity to give the "full needle tank effect" - (stays full longer) - but it's usually within 3-5% of actual charge capacity.

So for example - Apple says my Mac is at 69%, but it is really at 67.5%.

And my iPhone, iOS says it is at 74% but in reality it is at 70.2%:

 

[BigMcGuire]

I would love to be able to set my max charge of my iPhone at 60% (I work a desk job) - that would help the battery last a little bit longer - although mine seems to be doing really well after all this time.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

I have several times. But that was due to a lack of A/C in my car, which also has four windows that won't roll down (electric windows), during summer.

You haven't lived until you've done an hour's drive (in traffic) from work to home on a 110+ day with no A/C and no way to roll down the windows. My iPhone 6s+ did adapt after a while though - which is more than I can say for myself.

Wow. You were lucky to avoid heat stroke.

 

[JSRinUK]

There’s been a couple of mornings recently when I found my iPhone 12 mini had stopped charging at 80% because it was “too hot”. Only seems to happen when charging wirelessly. When plugged in, I’ve not seen that yet. (Maybe when plugged in, it is better able to cool down and then continue charging later?)

The battery on my iPhone 12 mini barely lasts the full day when at work, even on power saving mode, so it’s no good to me for it to stop charging at 80% - it’ll be dead by home time. So when it stopped due to heat, I had to find other ways to boost it up to a full charge before leaving for work.

I hadn’t tried the refrigerator option. Maybe I’ll think about it if it stops fully-charging when plugged in.

 

[sunapple]

Yeah why not, though I charge at night and luckily they are not reaching 40 degrees Celsius yet. Can imagine putting the phone next to the beer in the cooler on the beach though.

I fly out to the North Pole ever time I need a charge… can’t beat the natural cold air.

Not a long-term solution 😋

 

[AMantheGreat82]

Ive never had any problems with heat affecting my iPhone.

Lucky 😒