Apple products usually set off a firestorm of popularity, but now they are actually just setting people on fire. What started as a normal day for an eighth-grade girl in Kennebunk, Maine ended with a trip to the hospital. The girl had just sat down to her first class of the day. Like so many young people across the country, her iPhone 5C was in her pocket. But what happened next was anything but ordinary. First, classmates sitting close to the girl told the Press Herald that they heard a 'pop' sound. Then smoke started billowing around the girl.
Some people may have panicked in this situation. But in the moment of crisis, this girl remained sensible by remembering the three magic words: Stop, Drop, Roll. And that's exactly what she did.
The culprit? None other than her iPhone 5C, which fell out of her pants pocket a charred heap. Her mother had bought her a green smartphone, but black was its new color after the explosion. If ever there was a need for an iPhone repair, this was it.
However, there was a more important repair to attend to – namely, the girl herself, who sustained second-degree burns in the incident, the Press Herald reported. The girl's mother attributed her daughter's clarity during the crisis to her sedate nature. “She's very calm – just a calm person,” she said. The girl was left with burns on her thigh and back, but nothing beyond that. Her iPhone didn't fare as well, and was rendered useless after its explosion. Although the girl's mom bought her a new pair of yoga pants, it remains unclear if she'll get a new phone as well.
Identifying the problem
It would be nice to say that an exploding iPhone is an isolated incident, but it isn't. According to TUAW, a man in the Czech Republic recently noticed that his iPhone was beginning to split at the seams, and was on the cusp of bursting open. This same thing has happened to at least one other person recently, TUAW reported. And, according to Digital Trends, similar incidents have occurred in hundreds of smartphones.
Call it a situation without a quick fix. That's because the problem lies in the battery. What happened in these situations is that the iPhone's lithium battery began to balloon to a size that was no longer sustainable for the iPhone's casing – hence the “pop” heard in the eighth grade classroom. Once the battery starts to show signs of ballooning like this, all DIY solutions go out the window and you are advised to seek an iPhone battery replacement as quickly as possible. The swelled battery will not be useable, and there is no reported way to kickstart it back into action. The best thing to do is get it replaced before it explodes and takes the phone body with it. Prevent risk by looking into iPhone repair options.
Taking the proper precautions
There are preventive measures users can take to decrease the likelihood of battery swelling. Some of the precautionary practices highlighted by Digital Trends include making sure the device doesn't overheat, not overcharging it and avoiding applying unnecessary pressure to it. It's a myth that keeping your phone in a charger all the time will somehow prolong battery life. And as for the pressure, that means reserving your back pocket for your wallet, never your iPhone. The consequences of accumulated pressure add up quickly, and could lead you to a repair store sooner than is necessary. Be proactive to avoid causing the conditions that led to one crazy day in an eighth-grade girl's life.