iPhone XR getting hot in a specifc spot

[AshenPaladin]

Hello, I've recently bought an iPhone XR, and I've been dealing with a with a weird issue. Ocassionally, the phone gets hot, but in a very specific place - on the metal frame, in the upper part of the right side of the phone, right above the side button. I haven't been able to find a reason for why that is happening, I firstly noticed it during the setup (as until I reached the homescreen, that part was already warm and it also made the screen next to it rather warm the heat seems to radiate through the entire metal frame on the right side.

It doesn't seem to happen under regular use, but it happened again as I was downloading something through an app over a WiFi network. The download only lasted for a short amount of time, not enough to put any sort of pressure on the phone. The one thing that I noticed is that the signal is pretty weak , it changes between having max bars to having just one or two. And WiFi, Bluetooth and Mobile Data are all on, but I'm still not sure how iPhones manage these things, I'm more used to Android where I normally close what I don't use.

Is there something I should worry about? I haven't been able to find many instances of people reporting iPhone XR's that are getting warm/hot on the internet. I didn't buy the phone directly from Apple, they have no official presence in my country, I bought it from my carrier, so I can return it if needed - it's just that it will involve a pretty big hurdle, and I'd rather avoid that if possible.

Thanks for any help!

 

[pkcable]

It COULD be related to searching for signal, when you are in an area with marginal coverage, plus download can have an impact too. That being said since this is a new phone, I would say you should run it by Apple Support. Here's the site...

https://support.apple.com/

Do you have an Apple store nearby? You might want to schedule an appointment with the Geniuses. They should be able to run a diagnostic on the phone and help you verify that it is not some sort of defect or other mechanical issue.

 

[AshenPaladin]

I don't, sadly Apple doesn't have an official presence in my country, and the authorized stores that do exist are moderately far away from my city, but I bought it from a carrier, so I could hypothetically just return it to them, I do have a warranty from them too.

It's just that carriers around here are a bit notorious for their complicated and bad service, so I've been trying to find out if it really is an issue or not before dealing with such a hurdle.

 

[pkcable]

It might be a thing. I googled iPhoneXR overheating and did find a number of pages on it. You should run the same search.

 

[dmoskaluk]

Hi from Barbados ( Caribbean). I have to add to the thread that being away from the 'safety net' of Apple Stores, Genius Bars, and Apple Care is a factor that really only comes up in a big way when things go awry. There are advantages to tropical living of course but when shoppiing for high priced tech items, one is at a distinct disadvantage when compared to the bigger countries. We have essentially 2 'Authorized Apple Resellers, as well as 2 cellular carriers, of which one doesn't support iPhone. The major cell carrier does sell and in theory support iPhone but other than possibly getting a refund for an obviously defective device, one is in a bit of a vacuum for solid technical support. When my iPhone 7Plus developed both a battery issue as well as getting into 'boot-loop' frequently, it would have been a no-brainer to head straight to an Apple store should one exist but I was faced with really little alternative than to replace it. Generally new phones released in the early fall aren't available here until after Christmas and selection can be limited at the best of times. I upgraded to 8Plus ( XR is only now on a few shelves) but figured for all the above reasons I'd stick with 'tried & true' for now and leave the cutting edge a while to mature. Although on the surface it looks to an outsider that all or most 'mod-cons' are available, the principle of Buyer Beware is a lot more important as 'going back' on a big dollar purchase is not nearly as simple as it usually is in places like Canada, the USA, or the UK. Good Luck though as I wander back to my hammock.....

 

[AshenPaladin]

Thank you for your help! I might have fixed the issue, or at least so I hope. I did a factory reset through iTunes and for the time being the phone doesn't seem to heat up anymore. I'll be waiting for a few days to see what's happening, if it starts again I'll just listen to your initial advice and get it to service.

And I tried to look around on Google, and while there certainly are a lot of pages on it, I haven't been able to find anyone with a similar description to mine, but I'll keep looking, just to be sure!

 

[pkcable]

Cool, glad to hear it has worked out. Fingers crossed that this is a long time solution for you.

 

[AshenPaladin]

Well, thanks for sharing your experience! Luckily, my situation isn't as complicated as yours, I'm from Eastern Europe so we do have authorized Apple resellers, it's just that they only have a couple services and our infrastructure is kinda bad, so I've never had good experiences with sending phones for service (though all my previous phones were Android devices getting fixed in whatever service the shop I bought the phone for had a contract with, so it might not be comparable).

But still, it's always a little sad when the first answer someone has for an iPhone problem is for the user to go to the nearest Genius bar - having something like that honestly sounds amazing.

Still, while returning phones here is difficult, it can be done, and I will do it if I have to. I'm not regretting the purchase though. It was a bit more expensive than an Android device, but I got it for a good price, and excluding this issue, I have been blown away by the Apple experience so far.

 

[dmoskaluk]

Yep- one must always take the good with the not so good - and everyone has a different reason for staying in a comfort zone in any endeavour. All the Best!!