Apple iPhone 7 Plus Explodes After User Drops It Accidentally
It would not be wrong to term the year 2016 as the year of smartphone explosions. While Samsung took much of the attention of the press thanks to the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, there have been several instances of smartphones from other manufacturers also going up in flames — including Apple’s iPhones. In a recent case from India, a low-end handset from Indian phone maker LYF also went up in flames and the issue went on to become a hot topic on Twitter and other social media platforms. Anyway, in the most recent case of a smartphone going up in flames, a brand new iPhone 7 Plus was said to have exploded in China.
According to a report by GizmoChina, this latest instance of an exploding iPhone happened in the Chinese province of Yunnan. The phone involved in the incident happens to be the newest large-screen iPhone model — the Apple iPhone 7 Plus. The report adds that the iPhone 7 Plus went up in flames after the owner accidentally dropped the device onto a hard floor. According to the report, the battery of the phone exploded and caught fire some time after the phone hit the ground. However, before the phone went up in flames, it started vibrating severely. This was followed by a small explosion and a subsequent fire. The explosion shattered the glass and the display was entirely detached from the phone. Needless to say, the phone is in an irreparable state.
Photos of the damaged iPhone were posted on several websites. In the images, you can see that how bad the condition of the device is. The owner of the iPhone 7 Plus revealed that the phone was just a month old and that it was not tampered with in any way.
This is, of course, not the first time that we have heard of Apple iPhones exploding. Very recently, an iPhone user had posted on Reddit about his co-worker receiving a brand new iPhone 7 which exploded and caught fire even before the phone was delivered to him. The phone had reportedly caught fire while it was in transit. In another report from Australia, a surfer was in for a shock after the iPhone he had kept inside his car caught fire. The man had reportedly kept the phone wrapped inside his pants that he had removed and kept in the car. When he returned, he saw that smoke was coming out of his vehicle. The iPhone involved in this incident too was a brand new device that was barely one week old. This Australian surfer too claimed that he never dropped his iPhone or used any other third party charger to charge the device.
As for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, following the multiple instances of the new flagship device going up in flames, Samsung issued a product recall after which new devices were shipped to people who had bought the supposedly defective version of the phone. However, more trouble came Samsung’s way after it emerged that some of the replaced units too were catching fire. After these reports, several aviation agencies — including the FAA — banned the usage of the Note 7 on flights. As the number of incidents increased, there was a total ban on the Note 7 onboard flights. A few days after these incidents, Samsung finally decided to pull the plug on the Note 7. Samsung no longer makes the phone and is still trying to recall all the units it had sold to users across the world. Following the incident, the future of Samsung’s flagship Note series hangs in the balance. It is still unclear if the Note 7 would get a successor sometime next year considering the hit the brand has taken — thanks to the bad press it received in 2016.
As for the latest incident, it remains unclear if Apple was contacted and informed about it. There has been no official response from the company so far.
[Featured Image by Pixabay]
