iPhone 7 Explosion Almost Certainly Wasn’t Spontaneous

BY Killian Bell

Published 30 Sep 2016

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When images of an exploded iPhone 7 surfaced on Thursday, some fans feared Apple could be hit by a faulty battery problem just like the Galaxy Note 7. But not only is this one an isolated incident, but it seems it didn’t just explode spontaneously.

Since that Reddit post started circulating yesterday, additional photos have been posted on Imgur that show there’s more to the story. Although this iPhone 7 appears to have exploded during transit, while still inside its box, it looks like brute force caused it.

Unlike the Galaxy Note 7’s explosions, which happened at random due to bad battery cells, this iPhone 7 appears to have suffered some damage. The back of its box is punctured quite severely, and there’s a large dent on the back of the phone itself.

As we know, lithium-ion batteries like those inside the iPhone have a tendency to explode when pressure is exerted upon them. It seems, then, that this particular iPhone 7 caught fire because its battery took a hit from something during transit.

Don’t worry about your iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus exploding during the night, then. Even if this handset did explode spontaneously, which it looks like it didn’t, then it’s definitely an isolated incident, and not something that all users should be concerned with.

[via Mashable]