Since the launch of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, there have been numerous reports of the new phones becoming warm to the touch during use. The problem apparently manifests when the new A17 Pro chip inside the phone is taxed a bit more than usual.
Many people reported issues with the phone running hot when using specific apps like Instagram. I experienced the issue myself when running graphically intensive games and when editing photos in Photomator. After exiting the app, the phone would cool back down pretty quickly.
Apple acknowledged the problem last week, saying that the issue was not related to the new Titanium design of the iPhones 15 Pro, or to the new A17 Pro chip itself. In fact, during the keynote last month, Apple said the new Titanium design would actually improve heat dissipation over the old stainless steel design.
Instead, Apple said that the phone’s tendency to heat up was a software issue and that a fix would be issued via Software Update.
That fix came today in the form of iOS 17.0.3. In the release notes, Apple says that the update “addresses an issue that may cause iPhone to run warmer than expected.” If you have an iPhone 15 Pro it’s definitely a good idea to head to Settings > General > Software Update and install the update. It’s important to note as well that there did appear to be bugs in certain apps that triggered the issue as well. So once you’ve updated iOS to the latest version, ensure you’re running the latest version of your installed apps.
If you’re wondering whether the update reduces performance of the iPhone 15 Pro to address the issue, you needn’t worry. The fine folks over at 9to5Mac ran benchmarking tests before and after installing the 17.0.3 update and found that performance actually increased slightly after install. Be sure to read the full 9to5Mac report here.
But even if you don’t have an iPhone 15 Pro model, it’s still a good idea to update as iOS 17.0.3 includes two security patches as well. You can read more about the patched vulnerabilities on the Apple Support site, here.
