overheating posts

Did an iPod toast a Saab?

by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on Jul 10th, 2009

Apple always seems to have a lot of fire-related news. Overheating iPhones, power adapters melting down, and now we have word from Sweden that a 2007 Saab burned to a crisp, and the experts there suggest an iPod as the culprit.

It as been determined there was no technical problem with the car, but the owner had an iPod, a mobile phone and a digital camera in the car. The iPod was on the front seat, and that is where the fire apparently started. The Saab was not even running when the fire broke out. It's not known if the iPod was charging, or just sitting there by itself.

The investigation is ongoing. We all know Apple makes some hot products, but this one may have been a little too hot.

Here's a link to the Google translation of the original Swedish article. We'll let you know if we hear more.

[via Engadget]

Tags: Car fire, iPod, overheating, Saab, Sweden

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Humor, Odds and ends, iPhone

Want to BBQ with the iPhone? You don't even need an app

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jul 3rd, 2009

Not really -- if you really are planning to grill up some meat (or mushrooms and pineapples, they're good too) today or this weekend, you'll need a little more heat than your iPhone will give. But it's true, Apple's little handheld can get nice and toasty when it's really working*, and illustrator Chad Covino made a little Fourth of July BBQ-themed sketch about that very subject. We love it -- very nice work!

My iPhone does get hot, but not so hot I can't pick it up -- usually when I'm running 3D for a longer stretch of time or when the phone is doing some serious calculating like audio or photo editing, I start to feel the heat coming off the back. Batteries are to blame for some of the more extreme problems, however, and that's not a huge surprise, given that batteries in any mobile device have their issues. The good news in that case, however, is that the phone is unlikely to actually explode -- the repair guy Wired talks to says that "a little bit of smoke eventually is probably the best bet." Not that a smoking iPhone is a good situation at all, but you can at least be sure that your iPhone is not quite as hot as the fire under your burgers this weekend.

[* Note that the Apple KB article referenced here about temperature warnings/"don't leave the iPhone in the glove compartment" for the iPhone 3G and 3GS is not a new post, nor is the temperature alert screen unique to the 3GS; the KB was simply updated to include the newer device. Jim Dalrymple at The Loop has a solid rundown. FoxNews incorrectly reported that the support article was specific to the 3GS, but then did cite PC World's Melissa Perenson and David Coursey with personal stories of wicked-hot 3GS units. If your 3GS is overheating, check in with Apple support or your local AT&T store. -Ed.]

Tags: battery, bbq, chad-covino, extreme, fire, fourth-of-july, grilling, heating, humor, illustration, iphone, overheating, wired

Filed under: iPod Family

Japanese Gov't: iPod nano batteries caused fires

by Robert Palmer (RSS feed) on Aug 19th, 2008

A brief report from Reuters this morning said Japan's trade ministry claimed three fires had been caused by defectively hot iPod nano batteries.

Nobody was injured in the fires.

The government said in a statement that Apple had two other reported cases where people were burned by their iPod nanos. The defective nanos, they said, were sold between September 2005 and September 2006.

Japan's quasi-governmental product safety commission will investigate the incidents with Apple's cooperation, the trade ministry said.

Tags: defective, fires, ipod nano, IpodNano, japan, overheating

Filed under: Hardware, Rumors, Macbook Pro

MacBook Pro heating problems fixed?

by Dave Caolo (RSS feed) on May 19th, 2006

When Apple released the SMC Firmware update for Intel Macs this past Tuesday, they were rather cryptic about just what it was supposed to do. One conspiracy theory proposed that it was intended to cripple clock speeds, but Information Week is reporting something quite different (and less insidious): It seems that MacBook Pro (MBP) heating issues have been resolved. According to the article, MBP users are finding that their fans are running more effectively, resulting in post-update temperatures as low as 8 degrees cooler. What all this means is no more burnt thighs during lengthy World of Warcraft sessions.

So, TUAWers, what has your experience been? Has this firmware update put your MBP into the deep freeze?

[Via MacNN]

Tags: firmware update, FirmwareUpdate, heating issues, HeatingIssues, macbook pro, MacbookPro, overheating

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