Apple investigates reports of iPhone 8 splitting open

Split iPhone picture
One image shared on Twitter showed the front of the device almost completely detaching from the rest of it Credit: Twitter/Magokoro0511

Apple has said it is looking into claims that the new iPhone 8 phones have split open due to expanding batteries.

A small number of users have reported the phone's front panel separating from the rest of the casing. At present, the issue  appears to be isolated to a handful of phones, with the reports coming from Asia.

One user posting on Twitter showed the bottom of the screen casing detaching almost completely from the his iPhone 8 Plus. The phone appeared to bulge out from the middle before it had even been removed from the case, before opening further to expose the insides of the device.

A second report from China claimed another iPhone 8 Plus owner had experienced a similar problem while charging.

An Apple spokesman said the company was "looking into" the issue. So far, the examples appear to be individual cases rather than a wider issue.

Swelling batteries do not appear to be a safety issue, as with Samsung's Note 7 fiasco last year, but should not be used or charged if found. Lithium-ion batteries can bloat due to an unexpected build-up of gases caused by the chemical reactions taking place inside.

The iPhone 8 was released last month and millions are expected to have been sold so far with only a handful of incidents.

Apple is believed to rely on a number of battery manufacturers for the iPhone, including Samsung and LG's battery divisions.

The iPhone 8's battery technology has changed slightly to allow for both wireless charging and fast charging, and is also slightly smaller than its predecessor in capacity, although the phones claim a similar battery life.

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