Apple investigating iPhone 6 explosion in California

An iPhone 6 that caught fire in California in July 2019 (via 23ABC)

Apple is investigating why an iPhone 6 owned by an 11-year-old girl in California 'exploded' while being used to watch YouTube videos, an incident that luckily avoided any serious injury to the child or property damage.

Kayla Ramos was using her iPhone 6 in a sister's bedroom when the fire took place, and was holding the device when it ignited. After seeing "sparks flying everywhere" from the iPhone, Ramos threw it away from her and onto a nearby blanket.

Ramos told 23ABC on Thursday she did burn herself, but the main damage was sustained by the blanket and bed, which now have burn marks and holes where the iPhone landed. The iPhone 6 itself has partially disassembled itself, with the display panel separated from the main body, showing a considerable amount of burn marks on the inside of the device.

Mother Maria Adata told the report "My child could have caught on fire and she could have been hurt more and I am glad she's ok." Adata added she would no longer sleep with it nearby, suggesting "I know we charge it a lot, maybe that caused it, maybe it overheated."

Apple advised to Adata there could be a few factors that could cause overheating, such as the use of unauthorized charging cables and chargers. Such accessories are suspected to be the cause of some previous fires, including one incident in British Columbia that destroyed a farmhouse in 2016.

Apple also said unauthorized Apple repairs and external damage to an iPhone may also cause a battery failure down the line. In these cases, the company strongly advises customers to get in touch with its support teams, an Apple Store, or an authorized service provider.

In Ramos' case, Apple is investigating the cause of the damage, having already requested photographs from her mother, and is willing to send a replacement iPhone once the damaged version has been sent off for inspection.

Fires from iPhones are relatively rare occurrences, but do happen given the large number of the smartphones are sold around the world, and the small risks involved in using lithium-ion batteries.

In November 2018, an iPhone X started to smoke and caught fire after completing an update to iOS 12.1 and being charged by Apple's official Lightning cable and wall adapter, but it is unclear if the software update actually triggered the ignition. Another iPhone XS Max caught fire in December of the same year, overheating while in an Ohio man's pocket.

More unusually, one January 2018 incident saw an iPhone battery explode in an electronics store in China during servicing, after a customer bit the battery.

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47 Comments

GeorgeBMac

said about 4 years ago

Perhaps the public needs to be better informed on these things:
Simply demanding that "You use OUR parts and OUR services" obviously is not going to take care of the problem because too many people will ignore the edict for a variety of reasons.

So, WHY does using a non-Apple charging cable lead to a fire? What is so much different about an Apple cable vs the one you buy in drugstore? Until or unless people understand that there IS a difference, they will go with the lower cost and convenience of picking one up at the drugstore as they check out.

MplsP

said about 4 years ago

The iPhone 6 is an old model - first released in 2014 and sales stopped in 2016, so the phone is almost 3 years old at a minimum. The article doesn’t say exactly how old the phone was, but from the description, I would suspect that it was a hand-me-down device the kids were using to play games and watch videos. If this is the case, the battery was likely pretty old and may have been ‘abused’ somewhat. I’ve seen plenty of devices for which the battery is dead and kids just leave them plugged in constantly.

iPhone fires are quite unusual so it makes me wonder if there was other damage and/or a defective charger being used - both of these could lead to the battery overheating. GIven the age, it’s also possible that it had a defective replacement battery installed. Even considering this, though, you never want to have a device explode like this.

GeorgeBMac

said about 4 years ago

MplsP said:

The iPhone 6 is an old model - first released in 2014 and sales stopped in 2016, so the phone is almost 3 years old at a minimum. The article doesn’t say exactly how old the phone was, but from the description, I would suspect that it was a hand-me-down device the kids were using to play games and watch videos. If this is the case, the battery was likely pretty old and may have been ‘abused’ somewhat. I’ve seen plenty of devices for which the battery is dead and kids just leave them plugged in constantly.

iPhone fires are quite unusual so it makes me wonder if there was other damage and/or a defective charger being used - both of these could lead to the battery overheating. GIven the age, it’s also possible that it had a defective replacement battery installed. Even considering this, though, you never want to have a device explode like this.

NONE of that is any excuse for a fire. NONE. ZERO.

MplsP

said about 4 years ago

GeorgeBMac said:

MplsP said:

The iPhone 6 is an old model - first released in 2014 and sales stopped in 2016, so the phone is almost 3 years old at a minimum. The article doesn’t say exactly how old the phone was, but from the description, I would suspect that it was a hand-me-down device the kids were using to play games and watch videos. If this is the case, the battery was likely pretty old and may have been ‘abused’ somewhat. I’ve seen plenty of devices for which the battery is dead and kids just leave them plugged in constantly.

iPhone fires are quite unusual so it makes me wonder if there was other damage and/or a defective charger being used - both of these could lead to the battery overheating. GIven the age, it’s also possible that it had a defective replacement battery installed. Even considering this, though, you never want to have a device explode like this.

NONE of that is any excuse for a fire. NONE. ZERO.

How is a damaged battery not a reasonable explanation for a fire?

chaicka

said about 4 years ago

GeorgeBMac said:

Perhaps the public needs to be better informed on these things:
Simply demanding that "You use OUR parts and OUR services" obviously is not going to take care of the problem because too many people will ignore the edict for a variety of reasons.

So, WHY does using a non-Apple charging cable lead to a fire? What is so much different about an Apple cable vs the one you buy in drugstore? Until or unless people understand that there IS a difference, they will go with the lower cost and convenience of picking one up at the drugstore as they check out.

Hahaha... Deja Vu. That's how some of my friends/relatives who had near fire incidents years ago which gladfully changed some of their mindset and behaviour to no longer buy cheap knock-off cables and chargers. One of the incident was a lightning cable melting right before his eyes before he rushed to switch the power off.