iPhone 3GS overheating?

The new iPhones are fast, but along with that speed seems to have come a temperature increase when running processor-intensive applications. According to some reports, the heat has caused phone cases discolor; however, after investigation, people have found the discoloration to be more than likely from the heat causing protective cases to rub off their color on the iPhone. Still, some iPhone owners are concerned about their phones running hot and becoming damaged.

Apple has built-in thermocouples in the iPhone that detect when it is too hot to operate, and will cause the device to wait and cool down before it will function. When the phone is too hot, it may have a weak signal, a partially or fully dimmed display, and problems charging. In addition, the phone may display a huge triangle with an exclamation point in it as a warning that also states the phone is too hot to run at the moment.

If you get any of these behaviors or warnings, turn off your phone and let it cool down before starting it back up. While Apple built the phone to operate between freezing and 92°F, and be stored between minus 4°F and 113°F, since it may run hot with processor-intensive applications, you may see these problems occur even when you are running it at the high-end of the operating temperature range.

Additionally, be mindful of where you store your phone, as anytime it is in direct sunlight it will heat up more than ambient temperature. The same goes for if you store it in a car or backpack in direct sunlight. This may damage the device even though you are not using it, because in some environments a parked car will get hotter than the 113°F upper limit for iPhone storage. Staying beyond the temperature ranges for long enough may damage the components of the device, and require you to replace it.

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