Electrical fault or bug? We’d be willing to guess the former, but an iOS developer testing his software running iOS 5 Beta 2 says that the latest developer preview caused his iPhone 4 cable to erupt into flame.
Early this morning, Gus Pinto (who describes his trade as “Pioneering Mac Desktop Virtualization. iOS, Mac & Android Development”) tweeted:
My charging cable caught on fire while charging my iPhone 4 running iOS5. #fail
Luckily, Gus said he was about to put the fire out before it spread to his iPhone 4, so his actual device was unharmed… as well as his home.
Even so, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about the iOS 5 Beta causing devices to run hot… even too hot. At the beginning of July, another developer’s iPad developed
massive overheating issues that caused the entire device to meltdown. Apple replaced that unit under warranty.
MobileCrunch also reports that they have received many reports of overheating iOS devices running iOS 5 Beta 2.
To us, this sounds like a wiring issue that may have been exacerbated by the iOS 5 beta still not having worked out all the kinks with battery and heat management, causing devices to run hotter than normal. This sounds like a fluke, a perfect storm of unlucky coincidences. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on your iOS 5 test device when it’s plugged into the wall, don’t you think?
