Feeling your iPhone heat up to an uncomfortable level is concerning, since high temperatures can damage internal components and permanently shorten battery life. So why do iPhones get so hot, and what can you do to keep it cool? Well, it’s worth pointing out that iPhones are expected to heat up under certain circumstances. And iOS has measures in place to regulate its temperature. For example, when you set up an iPhone for the first time, it will get warm. Mainly because of all the background tasks and indexing that’s required to establish a new device. If it get too hot, iOS will slow down the setup process in response. It’s also normal to feel your iPhone heat up while charging. Especially if it’s in a case or charging wirelessly. The electrons passing through the cable and into the battery generate a lot of heat, and iOS prevents overheating by lowering the voltage if iPhone reaches 95 degrees Fahrenheit. And using power-intensive apps or augmented reality features also causes the device to heat up.
Since the processor has to work at full force to deliver the necessary graphics performance. But again, iOS prevents overheating in this situation by slowing down the processor. But a problem may arise if an iPhone is in a unique environment that stops all those preventative actions from cooling the device. For example, using it in direct sunlight for too long. Or leaving it in your car on a hot day. One of the most common causes of overheating is charging while using GPS navigation in a car while in direct sunlight. This combines heat from a processor-intensive task, with heat from charging, and even more heat from sunlight. These types of situations can trigger iPhone to enter a sort’ve emergency cooling mode. Where it alters a number of features to bring its temperature down. Like reducing charging voltage, dimming the display, putting its cellular radios in a low power state, disabling the camera flash, and slowing down the processor. If all those actions fail to cool the iPhone, then iOS delivers an overheating alert saying the iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it. That means the device has finally gotten too hot and is at risk of permanent damage. If that happens, stop using the phone, put it in a spot out of direct sunlight, and wait for it to cool down.