Samsung’s reputation suffered thanks to the combusting Galaxy Note 7, so Apple will be keen to avoid following suit.
Unfortunately for Apple, it now has a fiery fiasco of its own to contend with. Footage from inside a phone repair shop in Australia shows a man applying pressure to his iPhone 6 Plus’ cracked screen before the smartphone begins acting like an e-cig.
After the fire is extinguished by the shop owner, the video reveals that the culprit is in fact an Apple battery that “failed and exploded”.
“It’s 100% pure coincidence that it happened when he was talking to the repairer,” added Simon Owen the owner of the device, who later bought the shop clerk a crate of beer to say thanks.
Given the iPhone 6 Plus has been out for close to 18 months, it’s highly likely this is a freak occurrence due to damage already caused to the Lithium-ion battery. After all, the state of the screen even before it starts smoking is warning enough that something could be wrong.
Also, the video appears to show the serial number has been scratched off the back of the phone, and the Telegraph adds that the issue has not been reported to Apple. You can see the video here.
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Even so, seeing a phone smoking like that is enough to worry any Apple owner and it comes after two similar incidents in the last half a year.
Just last month, Twitter user Brianna Olivas claimed that her rose gold iPhone 7 Plus began internally combusting only hours after she had taken it to be repaired by Apple.
Go a little further back to September and there was a report of an iPhone 7 Plus that exploded in transit – perhaps excited at meeting the new owner?
So is Apple about go all Samsung on us and start recalling iPhone models? No.
Even though the company has not commented on the latest incident, the period of time the iPhone 6 Plus has been out and lack of similar reports make it very unlikely there is a widespread issue. So hold fire and don’t bother ditching your device just yet.
Related: iPhone 7 review
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
