Graphene rumored to keep iPhone 16 Pro series from heating up

Do you find your iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max a little too hot to your liking? When the two models were first shipped, users complained about how hot the phones were until early October when iOS 17.0.3 exterminated a bug that caused those models to heat up when opening certain apps such as Instagram and Uber. Holding the phones reminded many of taking a Hot Pocket out of the microwave without a paper towel. While burning your hand, the phone would also drain the battery way too fast.

While the update took care of the original overheating crisis, some iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max users are still feeling the heat, so to speak. Personally, I've noticed some overheating on my iPhone 15 Pro Max when charging the device but nothing that keeps me from holding the phone. Part of the problem, according to TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, could be the use of titanium on the casing of the iPhone 15 Pro series handsets. The material, according to Kuo, is less heat-conductive than steel.

Samsung, for what it is worth, did make a change to the Galaxy S24 Ultra to make up for the additional heat that the phone might generate due to the use of titanium on Sammy's top-of-the-line phone. To help dissipate the heat better, Samsung increased the size of the vapor chamber used in the Galaxy S24 Ultra by 92% compared with the size of the vapor chamber inside the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

And while Kuo says that Apple might use a vapor chamber in future iPhone models, this is currently not the case. The vapor chamber is designed to draw heat away from a phone's processor where it can do plenty of damage. The vapor chamber is a flat metal canister with liquid inside. When the phone gets hot internally, the liquid turns into gas, cools down, and condenses. A secondary channel returns the liquid to the original heat source. Apple has been reportedly working on a vapor channel for the iPhone since 2021.

Our old friend the rumor mill has other ideas about how Apple will tackle thermal issues on the upcoming iPhone 16 line. One rumor suggests that Apple will use a metal shell for the batteries on the iPhone 16 Pro series. Another rumor calls for Apple to use a graphene layer attached to the phone's processor. This would move heat away from the chip and dissipate the heat more effectively than the graphite pads that are currently used.

Apple would probably favor graphene over a vapor chamber since it wouldn't add any weight to the iPhone 16 Pro series models. Regardless of whether Apple does use graphene or adds a vapor chamber, the goal will be the same: to keep the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max from overheating.