Why Does My iPhone Get Hot? Reasons & 12 Best Fixes

why does my iphone get hot

Apple recommends 0º and 35º C (32º to 95º F) as the adequate temperature to use your iPhone, iPod, or any other iOS-based product. Anything above this range can result in overheating. If you’re wondering why does my iPhone get hot, you’ve landed in the right place. 

Using an iPhone is undoubtedly the best experience with all the features it brings to your table. But it can be quite problematic when you suspect something is wrong with it. Above all the issues an iPhone usually suffers from, its overheating problem is the most annoying. 

It’s no fun picking up your beloved iPhone only to find it difficult to even hold it for a few seconds due to overheating. There’s nothing to worry about if your iPhone is getting warm due to excessive use.

But if it is getting excessively hot, even if it’s lying idle, then there might be a problem that needs to be fixed as soon as possible.

An overheated iPhone can develop serious internal problems and switch off completely if not fixed soon. In this article, we’ll discuss the top reasons why your iPhone overheats and, if it does, what should be your next steps to control its rising temperature. 

But before that, here’s how to ascertain if your iPhone is overheating and not just warming. 

The Difference Between Your iPhone Overheating and Getting Warm

Before anything else, you’d understand the difference between the unusual overheating and usual warming. Understanding the difference is important because a slight rise in your iPhone’s optimal temperature is not an issue. It’s very common and doesn’t require any fix. But overheating indeed is alarming. 

To understand the basic difference between overheating and warming, you can just pick up your iPhone. If you can hold the iPhone without hurting your fingers, it’s just getting warm, and you’d stop using it for some time to lower the temperature.

However, if your fingers get hurt a little while holding the iPhone, or you can’t hold it for long, it’s in the overheating zone. You’d immediately stop using it and try to fix it.

Another difference can be that the newer models of iPhone come with software that sends you a notification if your iPhone’s getting overheated. But no such warning is there if it’s just warm.

Nevertheless, the best way to check whether your device is overheating or just warming is by holding it for a few seconds. 

How Does Your iPhone Expel Heat?  

There are only two components in the hardware that generates heat, i.e., the System on Chip (SoC) and battery. A metal housing on your device behaves like a big heatsink. Whenever your device gets warm, it tries to emit to stay cool. 

Talking about Apple specifically, it uses the ARM processor based on the Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) to power its iPhones and other devices. This architecture uses fewer transistors as compared to x86 processors.

As proof of this design, less power is needed, and thus, less heat is produced. Moreover, the ARM processor also doesn’t need giant heat sinks or fans.

Apple"s dedicated M1 chip

Newer iPad and MACs use the M1 Chip, a 5nm processor. They have better heat and power advantages. They use less energy for processing and dissipate less heat. The 8-core CPU contains four performance and four efficiency cores. This makes your M1 device more efficient and less heat.

Now, you must have understood how your iPhone expels heat. Next is the crucial portion of the article. You’ll understand the causes behind overheating of your iPhone.

Why Does My iPhone Get Hot? Top 8 Reasons!

There can be several reasons why your iPhone is getting hot. But the following are the top main causes you’d be knowledgeable about. 

1. Rogue App (or App Update)

Installation of a rogue app or any new app update can cause the iPhone to overheat. If you have recently downloaded an app and, after using it regularly, your iPhone is getting overheated, the issue might be with the application. Sometimes, an application might cause a processing drain to the device while running. However, this is a very rare situation.

You can easily notice this issue while using that app you have doubts about.

2. Internal Component Damage

Internal components of the iPhone are very complicated; therefore, if any of them gets damaged, your device might not work properly. Sometimes, your iPhone might just stop completely, but it just gets hot unexpectedly in most cases. 

You can notice this if your iPhone is getting unusually hot and you haven’t changed anything on the device. Unless you take it to the professionals, you cannot figure out what is damaged internally and cannot fix it.

3. Faulty or Damaged Battery

This might be the most dangerous cause of overheating. Faulty or damaged batteries not only cause the overheating but can cause other major issues as well. These include screen discoloration, apps stopping in between, the iPhone being restarted randomly, etc. 

If your device seems to bulge out or is not flat as before, especially from the backside, a damaged battery is the case. 

If you don’t do anything, it can cause an explosion or might catch fire due to excessive heat. 

4. Bad iPhone Case

Everyone uses phone covers to protect their device, which is also recommended due to safety issues. But in some cases, this might not be a good option. Sometimes, the same iPhone case might become a barrier to the device’s ability to dissipate the heat. 

If the heat generated isn’t getting out, the phone will only get hotter. Therefore, try to keep the iPhone out of the case for some time, especially while using it.  

5. You Left Your iPhone Out In The Sun. 

Don"t leave your phone under the sun

Prolonged exposure to the sun can also cause overheating in your iPhone, especially if you’d left your iPhone under direct sunlight. Keeping your iPhone under the shade is like giving a roof to the person working under the sun all day. Give a couple of minutes or even hours for the phone to cool down completely. 

Hence, you should never keep your phone under direct sunlight. 

6. Environmental Heat 

Even if you have not kept the phone under direct sunlight, the iPhone can still get hot due to excessive heat in the environment. Especially during the summer season, when the environment is extremely hot, phones are a pretty high chance of getting hot.

Or, in another case, if you have put the phone in front of the heater during the winter season, it can again cause the phone to overheat.

So, keep the phone in a cooler environment (not inside the fridge but away from direct sunlight) during the summer season and away from direct contact with heaters during the winter season. This should solve this problem easily.

7. Heavy Graphics-Intensive Streaming

This is the most common reason behind your iPhone getting hotter. If you use the phone for a longer duration without giving it a proper break or rest, it’s bound to overheat. Extended duration of gaming, watching high-quality videos, and online streaming are the main culprits as these use the maximum battery of your phone. This heavy streaming can also lead to overheating.

If you’re using your phone while charging it, your phone will get hotter. 

8. Too Many Apps Running 

You use several apps throughout the day, and if you don’t close them from the background, it might overheat your iPhone. Although the apps are not used at the time, they are still running in the background. 

Hence, they’re still eating up the battery. It will only warm up the phone in most cases, but if you haven’t closed the apps for a while, it can overheat. So, stop the apps from running in the background once you’re done with using them. 

So, these were the common causes that led to the overheating of an iPhone. Some are not dangerous, while some can lead to extremely dangerous results, such as fire or blast. 

Let’s now understand how to fix the problem of overheating. 

How To Fix An iPhone That Gets Hot? 12 Quick Fixes!

Following are all the fixes that you can try to treat the overheating issue and avoid the high-temperature warning message. 

1. Power Off Your iPhone For Sometime

As the first solution for your iPhone’s overheating problem, we recommend switching it off for some time, say an hour or two, especially if you’re a heavy user. It will give the device some rest to cool down as the battery won’t be used, and it will be in incomplete rest mode. 

For iPhone X and newer versions, follow these steps. 

  • It would help if you pressed the volume down button or up button and the power button. Hold both the buttons for a few seconds.
How do power off different models of iPhones?
  • Hold until you see the slider on the screen. Drag the slider to the right and wait for a second.
Drag the slider to the right and wait for a second.
  • The iPhone will be switched off in seconds as you drag the slider.
  • Wait for an hour or more until the phone cools down.
  • After this, switch on the iPhone. Press and hold the power button till the Apple logo appears on the screen. Your iPhone will be switched on. 

For older versions, here are the quick steps. 

  • Press and hold the side or power button for a couple of seconds.
  • Hold until you see the power off slider on the screen. Drag the slider to the right and wait a second.
Drag the slider to the right and wait for a second.
  • The phone will be switched off as you drag the slider in seconds.
  • Wait for an hour or more until the phone cools down.
  • After this, switch on the iPhone. Press and hold the power button till the Apple logo appears on the screen. Your iPhone will be switched on. 

If the issue was with the over usage of the device, it should be fixed by this method. If not, try the next solution.

2. Turn Off Background App Refresh

Turn Off Background App Refresh

The Background App Refresh feature of the iPhone also uses up a lot of battery to keep the inactive app active after you’ve switched to another app. You might not set this setting manually; it works automatically in the background. 

Turning off this feature completely might not be a good option. Therefore, you can try to check the battery usage pattern and then turn off this feature for some apps only. 

To observe the battery usage by the apps, follow the steps mentioned below.

  • Go to the Settings on your iPhone.
  • Tap on the Battery option.
  • You can also check the battery usage by individual apps.
  • There’ll be a chart on the screen. It’ll tell you your battery usage for the last 24 hours and the last ten days, on and off-screen.

Next, if you think screen usage is increasing, you can follow the following steps. 

  • Go to the Settings.
  • Tap on the Background App Refresh option. 
  • Turn off this feature. 

3. Check Your iPhone For Crashing Apps (Or Unstable Apps)

As we have discussed earlier, apps also work in the background. Sometimes, a few apps might get crashed in the background. You won’t see it on the screen but can always feel your handset getting hot. 

There is no direct or easy way to sort out this issue. But still, you can follow some steps to check the rogue app and then uninstall it. These steps are:

  • Open the Settings on the iPhone.
  • Select the Privacy option.
  • Tap on Analytics and Improvements.
  • Select the Analytics Data option.

Now, you can check the analytics of your latest download applications and the updates. Find the rogue app and uninstall it. You can also mail to the developer of that app about this.

4. Reduce The Brightness

Increased brightness is another cause of overheating in any iPhone (or device.) You might increase the brightness of your phone while using it outside. If the brightness is set above 50% for a long time, your phone will become hot constantly. Hence, reduce the brightness to 50% or less whenever possible. 

To reduce the brightness, the below steps must be followed. 

  • Open the Control Center on your phone.
  • Look for the Sun icon in the control center. It should be somewhere on the right side of your screen.
  • Here, you can manage the brightness level by scrolling up and down on the space. 
Reduce The Brightness

Check how much the display dims as you lower the brightness level and set the best level for comfort. 

5. Network Connection

When your phone cannot find the network easily for any reason, it tends to use the battery. The result – the temperature of your device rises. This often occurs when there is no service. 

In such a place, it’s advisable to turn on Airplane Mode. For this, follow the steps mentioned below. 

  • Open the Control Center on your phone.
  • Look for the Plane icon. It should be somewhere on the left side of the screen.
  • Here, could you tap on the airplane icon to turn it on? To turn it off, again tap on the icon. 

6. Don’t Charge And Use Your iPhone At The Same Time.

This is among the main and common reasons your phone is getting hot. If you are using your phone regularly while charging it, this will cause the battery to overheat. And it might lead to chemical leakage from the damage, thus leading to a fire or even a blast. So, avoid using your phone while charging.

7. Update Your iPhone Apps

You need to make sure that all of your apps are updated. Because if the apps are not updated regularly, it can cause several problems, and overheating your device is among them. 

To check for any new app updates on your device, follow the steps mentioned below. 

  • Open the App Store on the iPhone.
  • There’ll be a profile icon on the top-right corner of the screen. Tap on it. 
  • As you scroll down to the bottom, you’ll see an option of Available Updates. Tap on it.
  • Tap on Update All to install all the available updates with a single tap. 

All of your apps will be updated after this.

A quick tip: If your iOS isn’t updated, check for the latest software updates. 

8. Remove Widgets Running In The Background Of Your iPhone

If several widgets are running in the background, they might use the battery more. To fix this, you can remove the unwanted widgets or ones that are rarely used to prevent your iPhone from overheating. 

To remove widgets, follow the following steps:

  • It would help if you swiped right on the lock screen.
  • You’ll see all the widgets running in the background.
  • Tap on Edit. You’ll see this option at the bottom of the screen.
  • You can add or delete widgets from here now.

9. Reset Your iPhone’s Settings To Factory Defaults

If you suspect certain iPhone settings to be why your iPhone gets hot, you can try resetting those iPhone settings to factory defaults. You won’t be losing any data by choosing this fix for your device. This fix is also helpful in the case of the rogue app, along with problematic settings.

Follow the below steps to reset your iPhone’s settings. 

  • Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
  • Tap on the General option.
Tap on the General option.
  • Select the Transfer or Reset iPhone option. Yap on Reset.
  • Tap on All settings. 

You won’t be losing any data, but on the safer side, always back up the data on your iPhone before you reset all settings of your iPhone.

10. Force Restart Your iPhone

You can also try to force restart your iPhone. If there is any running app causing the problem, it will be fixed. To forcefully restart, you need to switch off the phone and switch it on again.

Follow these steps to force restart your iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XR, or any iPhone 11, iPhone 12, or iPhone 13

  • Press and quickly release the volume up button. 
  • Press and quickly release the volume down button. 
  • Press and hold the side button. 
Force Restart Your iPhone
  • When the Apple logo appears, release the button.

Note: For a detailed guide on how to force restart other iPhone models, look at this Apple’s official web page

11. Don’t Use Any Ordinary Charging Cable And Adapter. 

Each charger is designed especially for every model. Especially if the charger you are using is non-Apple certified, it can cause issues with your phone. Among these issues is overheating.

Therefore, you should not buy any charger that is not Apple certified to charge your iPhone. As it might be defective, causing the phone to get hot. Use the original charger or get a new certified one.

12. Turn Off Bluetooth

If you leave the Bluetooth ON every time, it will keep searching for nearby devices to pair with. This will consume constant energy to drain the battery and overheat the device. Therefore, you should keep your Bluetooth OFF while not using it. 

To turn it off, follow the steps mentioned below. 

  • Open the Control Center. 
  • Look for the Bluetooth icon; it should be on the left side of the screen, along with Wi-Fi.
  • Tap on the icon, and if the icon becomes colorless, it means Bluetooth is OFF. 
Bluetooth

Conclusion

We hope to have answered your query – why does my iPhone get hot through this comprehensive article. 

Usually, the iPhone gets hot when you constantly use it for a long duration without rest. Thus, you’d switch off your device for some time if you feel it hot.

Excessive heating problems might also affect your iPhone’s battery life. If the above solutions don’t work for you, you’d immediately contact the Apple Store. Because no matter what, the heating is not good. 

Also, after trying everything mentioned above, if the iPhone is still getting hot, contact Apple Care and report the issue before it leads to a bigger problem.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is it bad for your iPhone to overheat?

Yes, it’s bad for your iPhone to overheat, as it can lead to battery damage or a total meltdown. 

Can a hot iPhone explode or catch on fire?

There are chances that if your iPhone is getting extremely hot for a longer duration, the device’s battery might catch fire.

How much temperature can the iPhone tolerate?

The iPhone can tolerate temperatures between 0º and 35º C (32º to 95º F).

How to know if my iPhone is hot or warm?

If your iPhone is warm, it won’t harm you while holding it. But if it is hot, it can lead to a little burn sensation in your hand while you are holding it. That’s how you can know if your iPhone is hot or warm.