Apple iPhone Catches Fire In CCTV Footage

Ever since the Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s firegate controversy, smartphones catching fire gets more attention than usual. A few months ago, we saw a video of a man biting his smartphone’s battery before getting a new one. The battery obviously exploded because it was punctured. This goes to show that batteries in smartphones can explode if damaged even slightly. In a new incident of an iPhone bursting into flames, there was no biting involved.

The CCTV footage appears to be of a repair shop, which means it is fair to assume that the iPhone was there for a repair. The incident took place in Las Vegas, USA and was recorded by a surveillance camera. The video shows a man working at his desk when, suddenly, an object on the desk explodes. While the exact source of the explosion is not visible in the video, KTNV has reported that it was an Apple iPhone 6s.

It is worth noting that this is not an iPhone-exclusive issue. As we have learned in the past, no smartphone is explosion-proof and that has nothing to do with the smartphone maker. Lithium-ion batteries can explode if they’re damaged or defective. Lithium-ion batteries are made up of layers, with positive and negative electrodes are wrapped around each other. These positive and negative electrodes are insulated from each other.

Since the incident occurred in a repair shop, it is possible that the battery of the iPhone was already damaged. It is also entirely possible that the battery could have been damaged during the repairing process. As we have seen in the past, a slight puncture can cause batteries to explode. Apple has also conceded that prolonged exposure to heat can cause long-term damage to your iPhone’s battery. It is also possible that the iPhone battery had been replaced with a third party battery that caused the explosion.

Whatever the reason may be for the explosion, it does serve as a good reminder to always take care of your smartphones and not damage the battery.