Samsung has come under fire thanks to the battery exploding issues of the Galaxy Note 7. Users of the now defunct handset were experiencing severe issues with battery overheating and in many cases even explosions.
Now, it seems the same issue has started plaguing users of the older-gen iPhone 6 Plus.
What Really Happened
A woman residing in Palm Harbor, Florida, has revealed that her iPhone 6 Plus caught fire in the middle of the night. She described her utter horror to WFLA, recounting she woke up at night due to the fire. It seems that she was quite lucky to have woken up before the flames got out of control.
"My face was so close to the phone that when it immediately went up in flames, it woke me up. I'm luckily a light sleeper," said Amanda Bentz.
Fortunately, Bentz's husband too woke up and was successful in smothering the flames with his shirt. However, parts of their curtains and pillows were singed due to the fire. The couple has demanded answers from Apple for what could have been a severe accident.
Coincidentally, a man living just down the street from Bentz and her husband also reported issues with his iPhone 6 Plus. Greg Micelli reported that he was unable to charge his phone at night and when he woke up in the morning he found his phone's battery to be completely bloated. However, in this case the battery did not spontaneously catch fire.
An Isolated Incident?
In December, it was reported that a Shanghai-based consumer group complained about the battery of iPhone 6 smartphones which they claimed led to explosions in eight of the devices.
At the time, Apple claimed that these incidents were due to the external conditions of the phone and not due to any defects in the batteries.
Prior to this, in November 2016, it was reported that a pregnant Australian woman suffered severe burns on her arm when she fell asleep on top of her iPhone 7. Apple had asserted at the time that the reason for the overheating issues could be the use of third-party applications.
There were also previous reports which noted that an iPhone 7 Plus exploded when it accidentally fell on the ground in China and also an Australian surf instructor claimed that his week-old iPhone 7 caused a fire inside his car.
It is evident that explosions and serious overheating in Apple smartphones cannot be construed as isolated incidents any longer as there have been countless such reports.
It would be a better idea for users of Apple's devices to maintain constant vigilance and to avoid sleeping with their phones on their beds at night. It would also be beneficial to consult Apple directly regarding any issues that the users may be facing until the company issues an update to eradicate these problems.
Photo: Karlis Dambrans | Flickr
