Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
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. ;)
Closest I have been to overheating was when we lost electricity in one of our Florida hurricanes. 3 days without power except a Honda generator to run the fridge and make coffee. It was overcast due to the weather so interior of the house was in the low 90’s. 😬

Yes, I am spoiled👍
 
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. ;)
Well, I don’t know how hot it was that summer of 2008 in California, but maybe I have experienced something worse in my rental car. This car developed a strange problem that baffled me and the mechanic who checked it: although the coolant level was correct, the engine temperature was rising into the overheating zone after driving a dozen miles at most. I could keep it in the normal temperature range by forcing a lower gear, which was sending the engine rpm close to the red zone while the engine temperature would go down! Obviously, it was not a good way to drive for a few hours. So I figured another way to keep temperature of the engine in the safe range: turning on the heater to the max!
It was so hot inside the car that the LCD of the radio stopped displaying anything (it was coming back to life when I was stopping to cool down a little), and the water in my isotherm bottle was hot when I finally reached the rental car agency…
But my (1st gen.) iPhone was fine! 😉
By the way. If someone can explain to me what was (likely) wrong with the car, I’d be happy to read it! The mechanic who checked the car said everything looked normal, and the two mechanics to whom I told this story could not find any explanation. I wondered if the temperature sensor of the engine could have been defective, but it wouldn’t explain why turning on the heater would decrease the engine temperature reading, would it? 🤔
 
Well, I don’t know how hot it was that summer of 2008 in California, but maybe I have experienced something worse in my rental car. This car developed a strange problem that baffled me and the mechanic who checked it: although the coolant level was correct, the engine temperature was rising into the overheating zone after driving a dozen miles at most. I could keep it in the normal temperature range by forcing a lower gear, which was sending the engine rpm close to the red zone while the engine temperature would go down! Obviously, it was not a good way to drive for a few hours. So I figured another way to keep temperature of the engine in the safe range: turning on the heater to the max!
It was so hot inside the car that the LCD of the radio stopped displaying anything (it was coming back to life when I was stopping to cool down a little), and the water in my isotherm bottle was hot when I finally reached the rental car agency…
But my (1st gen.) iPhone was fine! 😉
By the way. If someone can explain to me what was (likely) wrong with the car, I’d be happy to read it! The mechanic who checked the car said everything looked normal, and the two mechanics to whom I told this story could not find any explanation. I wondered if the temperature sensor of the engine could have been defective, but it wouldn’t explain why turning on the heater would decrease the engine temperature reading, would it? 🤔
My former boss had a similar experience, only it was their own car on a trip in the middle of the desert. Heater on all the way to keep the car from overheating. Only they had windows they could roll down.

No idea why this happens. My only guess is that when you use the heater, the heat it takes away from the engine to heat the cabin takes pressure off the coolant loop. Without the heater blowing waste heat in to the cabin, that heat has to be handled by the coolant loop, which due to whatever is the real problem, can't handle it.

My guess anyway.
 
Closest I have been to overheating was when we lost electricity in one of our Florida hurricanes. 3 days without power except a Honda generator to run the fridge and make coffee. It was overcast due to the weather so interior of the house was in the low 90’s. 😬

Yes, I am spoiled👍
Higher temps in dry locations can kill you, but high humidity at lower temps can also kill you. Basically when the humidity in the air prevents your body's sweat from cooling you down, you're screwed.

Florida, Texas, the South in general, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (from personal experience, it has high humidity in summer) all have high humidity.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jackbequickly
Never tried it but I am definitely one of those seeing the thermal error and the phone refusing to charge. The 16 PM is in my car with the AC blasting and the phone is not in direct sunlight and I still get the error. I live in Upstate NY so not one of those states with crazy heat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: uacd
My former boss had a similar experience, only it was their own car on a trip in the middle of the desert. Heater on all the way to keep the car from overheating. Only they had windows they could roll down.

No idea why this happens. My only guess is that when you use the heater, the heat it takes away from the engine to heat the cabin takes pressure off the coolant loop. Without the heater blowing waste heat in to the cabin, that heat has to be handled by the coolant loop, which due to whatever is the real problem, can't handle it.

My guess anyway.
I think you’re right, and it was also my reasoning to turn on the heater. The fact that the engine temperature reading decreased when the heater was on leads me to think that the temperature reading could be correct, but then I could never figure out why the engine temperature was decreasing (and decreasing quickly, the needle was really dropping fast!) when the RPM went up. I thought that the engine turning faster would instead increase its temperature. 🤔
 
Ive never had any problems with heat affecting my iPhone.
I have.
Last year we went to Crete and i did some 4K shooting in direct sunlight with my iPhone 15 Pro.
The screen dimmed so much i couldn’t see anything.
At that time i wished i had a refrigerator at hands😅
 
  • Wow
Reactions: uacd
Something must be wrong with your phone if you have to charge it in the fridge. Never any kind of heat issues with my phone, or my previous phones.
 
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?:)
My first thought would be about moisture. Isn't condensation a valid concern here?
 
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.
Knowing the current Apple culture they'll probably end up putting a 'temperature surcharge' onto developer fees so that if an App raises the temperature of an iPhone it costs them an extra 10% in revenue. The APIs for keeping the temperature down will coincidentally only be available on Apple's apps and locked to 3rd parties.
 
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.
Over eleven years of owning Apple products, I believe it’s dangerous to put iPhones in a freezer or fridge, or microwave or other heating/cooling units. These can expose iOS devices and Macs to extreme temperatures, potentially ruining batteries.

In my watchOS 26 beta thread, a user shared an incident where they placed their Apple Watch in an ice bath while charging due to unusually high temperatures. While this may seem like a safe option as long the ice is separated or has plastic wrap on it, it’s not recommended. Despite this, many of Apple’s recent products, excluding iPads and Macs, have water resistance ratings.

These temperatures exceed normal operating ranges.
More info: https://support.apple.com/en-us/118431

If you’re concerned about heat and hot flashes from your iPhone, try to use wired charging, which if you also have a charging limit in place on your iPhone (15 or later only) it will not heat up even if it hits the limit. You can also try to have Game mode on automatically while playing mobile games a lot on your iPhone, and refrain from using MagSafe charging.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire
Over eleven years of owning Apple products, I believe it’s dangerous to put iPhones in a freezer or fridge, or microwave or other heating/cooling units. These can expose iOS devices and Macs to extreme temperatures, potentially ruining batteries.

These temperatures exceed normal operating ranges.
More info: https://support.apple.com/en-us/118431
I agree. But I am not OP. ;)
 
By the way. If someone can explain to me what was (likely) wrong with the car, I’d be happy to read it!

I’d place my money on thermostat not opening properly, or stuck closed. Higher revs circulated water faster (mechanically linked water pump), i.e. result in higher volume per second, which helped motor to run cooler. Turning heater high helps especially when thermostat is stuck closed. Heat goes into cabin insted of radiator, which hot water newer reaches.

That’s quite basic stuff. I’m surprised that the mechanics you told us about didn’t suspect the thermostat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Luke MacWalker
I’d place my money on thermostat not opening properly, or stuck closed. Higher revs circulated water faster (mechanically linked water pump), i.e. result in higher volume per second, which helped motor to run cooler. Turning heater high helps especially when thermostat is stuck closed. Heat goes into cabin insted of radiator, which hot water newer reaches.

That’s quite basic stuff. I’m surprised that the mechanics you told us about didn’t suspect the thermostat.
Thanks a lot for your explanation. It indeed makes sense even for someone who has only a basic understanding of engines working, like me. And I don’t know why the mechanics couldn’t figure it out, especially the one who looked at the engine. 🤷
Well! I think I disturbed this thread enough with this story but I wanted to thank you.🙏
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.