An unlucky customer had his new iPhone 4 catch fire while AT&T tried to troubleshoot the device.
It’s the first time our guy has seen this happen (us too), but the brand new iPhone 4 caught on fire while being hooked up to a computer using the Apple USB cable that accompanied the device. The customer wanted to exchange the iPhone — obviously — for a new, non-charred unit however the AT&T store in question was out of stock. An Apple Store did confirm to our AT&T connection that this did appear to be a defective USB port and not some sort of user error.
When it caught on fire the iPhone bezel became extremely hot, slightly burning the customer's hand. The USB port was slightly melted and the USB cable was badly melted as can be seen in the pictures below...
WTF ??... I wont buy an iPhone 4 util next year when Apple fix all this bad hardware on the secong generation iPhone 4, sorry guys but you are purchasing Apple's garbage.
I really think that Apple should start taking responsibility for their defects. It's not the first time it happens that an Apple product catches fire, but it's never Apple's fault. They have even gone as far as saying that the fact that the iPhone 4 loses reception is the customers' fault because they are holding it in a particular way! And instead of acknowledging the mistake, they are just rewriting the software to display a lower signal (and apparently, this is taking them a few weeks). I am an Engineer student and a Software Developer, and I know that it is not possible that Apple "used the wrong formula" to calculate the signal bars. And I'm sure that most people on iClarified have at least some programming experience, and they know how improbable it is that the "wrong formula" has gone undetected for three generations of iPhones.
Don't get me wrong. I love my iPhone. But Apple is coming off as arrogant and rude. IMO, they are sabotaging their reputation just so as not to have to call back the iPhone 4.
Voltage is not relevant when talking about a device catching fire. 10.000 volts at low amperage can just create a small spark, but half a volt at high amperage is more than enough to cause a fire.
The USB port can certainly provide enough power to start a fire, and the internal lithium battery can provide much more current.
@brandon
LMAO Yeah... I'm pretty sure that they are going to fix it in the same software update which fixes the reception problem in the iPhone 4!. LOL
Wouldn't be surprised if it's the cable. I've had 4 of them replaced between my two iPhones. All of them with the wires exposed from the connectors. My brothers is in a state where the plastic broke right off and had to put electric tape over the exposed metal connector.
That's exactly what I was thinking,Steve. In fact I think in the manual in small print it reads "If you using the iPhone 4, and you are left-handed.. You blew it"
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