Apple recently introduced its iPhone 15 Pro series smartphones, featuring significant updates such as switching the stainless steel frame for a new titanium frame, a USB-C port, and a cutting-edge A17 Pro chip produced using TSMC’s advanced 3-nm process. However, reports from various sources have emerged, indicating that the iPhone 15 Pro series devices are experiencing severe overheating issues.
Initial speculations and explanations pointed towards TSMC’s challenges in achieving high yields with their 3nm chips as the root cause, suggesting that Apple had to settle for lower-quality chips for this year’s Pro lineup. Nevertheless, prominent industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has now indicated that the heating problems are unrelated to TSMC’s 3nm technology and are instead originating from a different source.
As per Kuo, “the primary cause of the heating issue is more likely the compromises made in the thermal system design to achieve a lighter weight such as the reduced heat dissipation area and the use of a titanium frame, which negatively impacts thermal efficiency.”
To elaborate further, it appears that Apple may have made trade-offs in the thermal system design to prevent the iPhone 15 Pro models from becoming too heavy. When compared to the previous iPhone 14 Pro model, Apple successfully reduced the weight of the iPhone 15 Pro model by 19 grams. The modifications to make the phone lighter could be responsible for the heating issue, especially when combined with the new titanium frame.
Kuo predicts that Apple will likely address the issue with a software update. However, this could result in a tradeoff, potentially reducing the performance of the Apple A17 Pro chip to keep temperatures in check. Kuo also cautions that if Apple doesn’t effectively tackle this problem, it could have a negative impact on iPhone 15 Pro series sales over its lifespan. The more pressing question, though, is how such an issue managed to slip through the prototype testing phase.
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