Apple says patches won’t affect performance and that titanium frame isn’t to blame.

Andrew Cunningham - 10/2/2023, 10:05 AM

Some owners of the new iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have reported over the last week and a half that they’ve noticed their phones running a bit warmer than older iPhones. We observed that the phones could run hot while working on our review, “sometimes to the point that they were uncomfortable to hold without a case,” and other reviewers and users have noticed the issue as well.

The problem is real and serious enough to have merited an official response from Apple over the weekend, shared with MacRumors and other outlets. Apple says the main culprit at first is “increased background activity” that occurs as users set up their new phones for the first time (which I’ve also noticed in other iPhones and iPads and is pretty typical).

But Apple also says it has identified “a bug in iOS 17 that is impacting some users” and that specific apps like Uber, Instagram, and the game Asphalt 9: Legends are all “overload[ing] the system” and causing heat problems. The company is working with those apps’ developers on fixes that will be distributed via the App Store.

Two things Apple specifically says aren’t to blame: the A17 Pro chip itself and the phone’s titanium frame. Some have hypothesized that one or both of these all-new elements (and possibly the A17’s new 3 nm manufacturing process) were responsible for the heat problems. But Apple seems to think it can counter the most severe issues via software, and the company says the fixes won’t affect the performance of the A17 Pro.

Heat issues or no, Apple’s supply of the new phones is still catching up to demand. Order an iPhone 15 Pro today, and you won’t receive it until late October. For the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it depends on the color and capacity you want, but most versions aren’t being delivered before mid-November.