iPhone 15: To prevent overheating, should Apple slow it down?

There is little doubt that the iPhone 15 Pro suffers from an overheating problem. We have enough documented evidence to demonstrate this. However, the scale of the problem and its root cause remain a mystery.

The analyst specializing in Apple products Ming-Chi Kuo has a theory.

He thinks that the problem is not related to the A17 Pro chip itself, but rather “to the compromises made in the design of the thermal system to obtain a lighter weight”. And this has resulted in creating a “reduced heat dissipation area”. Add to this the “use of a titanium frame”, and all this has a “negative impact on thermal efficiency”.

Okay, that’s the problem, but what about the solution? The solution may well be difficult for some to swallow.

“A negative impact on the iPhone 15 Pro series”

Mr. Kuo believes that Apple will correct this problem with the help of software updates, but “improvements could be limited unless Apple reduces processor performance”.

In other words, Apple will have to make the iPhone 15 Pro slower.

Kuo also sends a stern warning to Apple: if this problem is not resolved, it could “have a negative impact on deliveries throughout the product lifecycle of the iPhone 15 Pro series”.

Let’s take a step back.

Apple was aware of this problem

Apple, like any other trustworthy company that launches a new product, will have tested the new iPhone in a large number of conditions. Apple will have designed and tested the heat dissipation mechanisms (the way in which the device dissipates heat) long before iPhones began to roll off the production lines and end up in the hands of users.

This means two things.

Firstly, Apple knew about this problem and let it pass.

Given the importance of the iPhone – Apple’s flagship product – and the speed with which negative reactions, even minor ones, spread, I find it hard to believe that Apple played the game of “we deliver and we see what happens”.

The iPhone may be slowed down, without consequence for the user

But if Kuo is right and it is indeed a thermal problem related to the design, it is unlikely that Apple did not know about it. And the solution will probably be that Apple will have to reduce performance to alleviate this overheating problem.

Could iPhone 15 Pro owners notice this slowdown? Probably not. The A17 Pro has separate high-performance and high-efficiency cores, and better load balancing between these cores could solve the problem with minimal effect on performance.

The same logic applies to recharging. Apple will have tested fast charging thoroughly before users start needing to recharge them. I don’t think this is an inherent problem with the load. Charging and battery management technologies are well known by now, and if battery problems can occur, they are rare.

Something has changed between testing and delivery

The other possibility (I think this is the most plausible) is that something has changed between testing and delivery.

It may be a bug. Some developers may have thought that they could get more power out of the processor by transferring more work to the best performing cores. It may also be that a deep modification of the iOS code leads to a slippage of the GPU or the Machine Learning chip. It is also possible that something unexpected happens when the device is on fast charging.

It could also be a hardware bug.

Manufacturing or component defect?

A last-minute change may have been made to a component. Since Apple sometimes sources identical components from several suppliers, differences between these components could be the cause of the problem.

It can also be a manufacturing defect or a component.

The fact remains that the likely solution to many of these problems will come in the form of a software patch. As the history of the iPhone 12 radiation has demonstrated, software patches can solve many problems.

In the worst case, when a hardware defect is identified, the defective hardware may require replacement. Instead of a recall, Apple would probably treat this issue as a support issue, offering affected customers the opportunity to exchange their device.

But for now, we are speculating in the dark. And we have to wait for Apple’s response.

Source: “ZDNet.com “