Apple Investigating Reports Of ‘Serious Battery Failure’ On iPhone 8 Plus

Apple has admitted it’s looking into multiple reports of  swelling batteries in its new flagship iPhone 8 Plus smartphones.

Pictures on social media and growing reports from tech websites and mainstream news media have shown a number of the high end iPhone 8 Plus handsets that appeared to have split alongside the side, forcing the screen to come away from the main body of the phone.

A picture from social media apparently showing a deformed iPhone 8 Plus

Charging fault?

The issue seems to appear during charging. The issue also appears to be global, with several similar faults being reported in Europe, Asia, and North America, suggesting that the fault may be more than just a single bad batch, although how many are original reports are authentic is still unknown.

An Apple spokesperson said the company was currently looking into the issue, but the company has not elaborated further at the time of writing. Several devices have however, allegedly been collected by Apple partners and returned for investigation by the tech giant.

Fire in the disco?

While reports of swelling batteries is a serious concern, there have been no reports of any of them catching fire. The chemical makeup of lithium-ion batteries and the energy they store can however make them a potential hazard with any kind of fault.

Didn’t this happen last year?

Yes. Except the fault last year was with the Samsung GaIaxy Note 7, which Samsung were forced to recall after several incidents of the battery catching fire while charging. There were only around 100 confirmed incidents of the Note 7 actually catching fire.

The problem with the Note 7 was so serious it cost Samsung an estimated $1 billion to make right, made headlines around the world, and led to some airlines banning the Note 7 from flights. Alaskan Airlines took to carrying special fireproof bags that could contain phones  that went on fire.