Apple is now looking into video evidence of an iPhone 7 Plus that allegedly blew up, the footage of which was posted Feb. 22 on social media and naturally became viral.
The video, around 20 seconds in length, shows an iPhone 7 Plus owned by Brianna Olivas, which she says randomly caught fire while she was sleeping Wednesday morning, with the footage primarily showing fumes dramatically emanating from the handset.
An Exploding iPhone 7 Plus
"I was asleep with my phone charging next to my head [when] my boyfriend grabbed the phone," Olivas told Mashable. "He went [to] the restroom ... and from the corner of his eye he saw my phone steaming and [heard] a squealing noise."
Apple officially said on Friday, Feb. 24 that it was working with the owner to determine the cause of the explosion, Macworld reports.
"We are in touch with the customer and looking into it," Apple said in a statement.
The video, which has already garnered over 1 million views to date, caused iPhone 7 Plus owners on Twitter to panic, with the original tweet managing to receive hundreds of replies and more than 18,000 retweets. Per usual, armchair sleuths took no time to cough up their own theories: A running speculation supposes the owner's liquid-filled iPhone to have caused the incident, although no evidence can back that up.
Other possible causes could be faulty chargers. In the past, other iPhone models caught fire due to knockoff adapters. Olivas, however, confirmed that she didn't use any third-party charger for her iPhone 7 Plus — only the original one Apple provided.
Olivas says troubles began the day before, when her iPhone 7 Plus — purchased from Sprint in January — refused to turn on. She then took the phone to Apple Store experts. They performed tests on the device and told her everything was fine. The employee even told her that he had "never seen anything like this." The phone seemed functioning without problems afterward.
A Potential Note 7 Situation?
While the dramatic fumes emanating from the handset might bring back the infamous maelstrom caused by Samsung's ill-fated Galaxy Note 7, there is still no irrefutable evidence that the iPhone 7 Plus explosion links to a wider, more potentially pernicious problem.
As the Note 7 fiasco taught us, high-capacity lithium ion batteries, which are often, if not always used in smartphones are susceptible to catching fire if damaged or have defective components. There's still no absolute evidence why the handset exploded, although it's certainly not the first time an iPhone caught fire.
Samsung, on the other hand, faced troubles back in 2016, when reports of exploding Note 7 surfaced aplenty, causing profit losses, a messy recall situation, a federal ban in certain locations, dented consumer loyalty, and above all, threats to safety. The company is gearing up for the successor to that, the Galaxy S8, which will be unveiled and released this year.
Any crazy but probable theories in mind regarding the iPhone 7 Plus that exploded? Feel free to cough them up in the comments section below!
