There has been a bit of a hullaballoo lately regarding overheating problems with the latest iPhone, the 3GS. Some users have complained about the phone getting hot enough to discolour the back of the case (most visible on white iPhones), and a few have even said it nearly burnt their skin. The funny thing is that this is far from a new phenomenon for iPhone users [1].
One of my favorite parts of the advice to iPhone users in order to avoid overheating are these two gems:
- Return the phone to the Home screen when you’re not using it to ensure that no application is running.
- If the phone gets too hot, turn it off and let it sit for awhile before using it again.
I use a BlackBerry bold, which is far less sexy than an iPhone. I am continuously running several applications: it is something called “multi-tasking”, a feature which the oh-so-superior iPhone lacks. And yet somehow, my multi-tasking phone never overheats. And I never have to turn it off, a necessity which is somewhat detrimental to the purpose of a device intended for high-priority communications.
I guess that those privileged and gifted enough to own an iPhone don’t actually need a working phone.
UPDATE: An earlier (October, 2008) report of iPhone abuse leading to overheating [2] : I especially like the very last line of the news item…