The iPhone 12 is a powerful computer that works hard and fits easily inside your pocket or bag. When your iPhone is with you all the time.
It is very common for you to use it for a long time to watch movies, play games or do other tasks. But, you may not be able to experience peak performance all the time.
Does your iPhone 12 get hot after using it for a long time? Does your iPhone 12 get hot while charging? If you are tired of your iPhone 12 overheating issues, then this article will help you find out the exact cause and fix these issues.
There’s a difference between an iPhone 12 that’s warm to the touch and one that overheats, which makes you feel like you’re holding a burning coal in your hand, rather than a smartphone. I am sure many people have experienced this thing.
So, let’s discuss why the iPhone 12 gets hot and what are the ways to cool down your iPhone 12.
Why does the iPhone 12 get hot?
Before jumping to the conclusion that your iPhone is seriously malfunctioning, ask yourself a simple question — does your iPhone 12 get hot sometimes, under certain conditions?
If yes, then you need to take care of a few little things that can make a big difference in the health of your iPhone.
Why does the iPhone 12 get hot sometimes? General reasons
Your iPhone performs best when used between 32 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, low or high-temperature conditions can cause differences in the performance and behavior of your iPhone.
Here are some general causes of your iPhone 12 overheating:
Leave your iPhone in the car on a hot day.
Exposing your iPhone to direct sunlight for a long period of time.
Stream high-quality videos at scale on your iPhone.
Use GPS tracking or navigation on your iPhone in hot conditions.
How do you know when your iPhone 12 got too hot?
Here are some common signs that your iPhone 12 is too hot to use:
If your iPhone exceeds a certain temperature threshold, you’ll see a temperature warning message — iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it.
Some graphics-intensive applications frequently stop working or crash.
Your iPhone screen dims or turns black sometimes.
The camera flash is disabled.
Charging stops or slows down.
You can fix common iPhone 12 overheating issues with the help of these steps:
Turn off your iPhone, allow it to dissipate the heat, and then turn it back on after some time.
Remove the case from your iPhone because the extra layer on your iPhone makes it harder to cool it down.
Keep your iPhone out of the sunlight and put it in the shade for some time.
We would like to mention something very important here. When you are trying to cool down your iPhone 12, I never again shoot cold air on your iPhone.
This is because sudden changes in temperature can lead to condensation that can damage or destroy your iPhone. Some people may advise you to put your iPhone inside a fridge or freezer to cool it down, but make sure you never do that.
Let’s talk about another common case in which you might have noticed your iPhone 12 turning hotter than normal.
iPhone 12 overheating while charging
If your iPhone 12 gets hot while charging, there may be some issues with the charger and not your iPhone. Common problems can be:
Your wall charger is not working properly.
You are using a damaged cable to charge your iPhone.
You are not using an original Apple charger nor an MFi-certified charger for your iPhone.
There may be a situation where you may lose your original Apple charger or want to keep a separate charger for your home and car. if you buy
If a charger is not from Apple, make sure it is MFi certified because uncertified chargers can damage your iPhone.
If you notice that your iPhone 12 is overheating when charging, follow these steps to cool down your iPhone 12:
Unplug the charger.
If you are using a case with your iPhone, remove it.
Turn off your iPhone and let the heat dissipate.
Apart from these general causes, there can be some specific reasons that can cause your iPhone to overheat.
Why does the iPhone 12 get hot regularly?
If your iPhone 12 feels hot on a regular basis and none of the above is the case, then your iPhone might have a battery issue, software issue, or hardware issue as well.
Apart from these reasons, the way you use your iPhone plays a very important role in the overall health of the iPhone. So, let’s take a closer look at each of them.
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Battery
The battery plays an important role in the overall performance of your iPhone. A good battery not only gives you all-day or decent usage but also helps in improving the overall functioning of your iPhone.
I would like to share my experience with the same. Last year, when I was using iPhone 8, I started having many issues with it.
My apps weren’t working properly, sometimes the camera refused to take pictures, and my phone would randomly overheat, even if I wasn’t playing any heavy games.
The uniform heat and slalom performance forced me to work. I had my iPhone diagnosed at the Apple Store and surprisingly, the battery was responsible for all the mess. I expected nothing but battery for these issues.
After replacing my iPhone battery, I was able to use my phone for an extended period, without causing it to overheat.
You can also keep your iPhone 12 battery healthy with some simple tips. And if your iPhone has some battery errors, be sure to read our article on iPhone 12 battery calibration and find the right way to fix battery errors.
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User behavior
Using iPhone while charging
How you use your iPhone plays a very important role in its health and behavior. You may not pay attention to the way you are using your phone until an alarming situation arises.
Here are some of the common causes responsible for your iPhone 12 overheating:
Using iPhone while charging.
Broadcast high quality videos for a long period of time.
using augmented reality applications.
Playing heavy games for long periods of time.
Overheating of an iPhone is not a concern, while a hot iPhone is a problem. It is a clear sign that a device is already defective or at risk of damage.
Charging and using iPhones at the same time is a very common thing that we all have done at times. Sometimes we don’t have the patience to keep the phone on charge, even for a few minutes.
And when you play heavy games while your phone is charging, things can go awry and make your iPhone hot like lava. Using your phone while charging causes the battery to overheat and may eventually damage it.
To avoid your iPhone overheating and putting it at risk of damage, make sure that you never do the things listed, beyond the normal point.
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CPU
Your iPhone’s CPU is a powerful chip, which is responsible for the overall performance of your iPhone. And just like computers, your iPhone’s CPU heats up faster.
But, after comparing an iPhone to a computer and using it, in the same way, to get your work done, we cannot deny the fact that the iPhone tends to get hot when used for long hours. And this is quite normal for any smartphone, it has been under stress for a long time.
This happens due to the fact that, unlike computers, your iPhone does not have a heat sink or fan to regulate its temperature and keep everything cool.
Your iPhone’s CPU is so powerful that it rarely uses 5% of its capacity. Your iPhone stays nice and cool under these scenarios. But, there are certain apps that are capable of processing your iPhone’s CPU up to 100%. As a result, your iPhone overheats. Now, we need to find the app that is not working properly and put an end to it. We have mentioned all the necessary steps in the next section.
How do you cool down your iPhone 12?
If your iPhone 12 gets hot most of the time, you should try these troubleshooting steps to cool down your iPhone.
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Turn your iPhone 12 off and on
This is something that comes to every user’s mind, whenever something goes wrong with their smartphone. And yes, this simple hack can help you fix those minor issues that accumulate over time. It helps you to eliminate software issues that cause your iPhone to overheat.
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Lower your phone’s brightness
Here is another easy trick to cool down your iPhone 12. If your iPhone screen brightness has been more than 50% for a very long period of time, there are high chances that your iPhone will stay warm all the time. Try to reduce the screen brightness as this will help reduce heat and eventually cool down your iPhone.
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Close your apps
When your iPhone 12 is overheating, you should try to reduce the workload on your iPhone. So, first close all apps by swiping each app from the top of the screen.
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Discover Crashing Apps
Do you think your iPhone 12 started heating up after installing a certain app? If so, then this app might be the reason for negatively affecting the performance of your iPhone.
Open the Settings tab, head to Privacy > Analytics > Analytics Data and check Data. You will get the analytics data of everything that crashed on your iPhone. It is normal for you to see some entries in this list as there are some log entries there as well. But if you see the same app listed again and again, then there are some problems with this app.
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Spot apps that consume battery
If an app is consuming excessive battery power, it will be a burden on your iPhone’s CPU as well. We know that putting too much pressure on the phone’s CPU is responsible for overheating.
These apps must be identified and removed as soon as possible. Head to Settings > Battery and you will see the battery consumption by the different apps. Now, your job is to identify and eliminate the apps that are consuming most of your battery life, and ultimately causing your phone to overheat.
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Update your apps
Sometimes, new updates for an app are released to fix bugs in that app, rather than adding new features. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that your apps are updated as software bugs in an app can cause your iPhone 12 to overheat.
To check for app updates, follow the steps mentioned below:
Go to the App Store.
Tap the Today tab at the bottom of your screen.
Click on your user profile located in the upper right corner of your screen. This will bring up your account details.
Scroll down to the Available Updates section.
You can click on a specific app to update it or you can even update all the apps at once by clicking on the Update All option.
Instead, here is a faster way to update apps on your iPhone.
Press and hold the App Store icon.
A quick actions menu will appear. Choose updates.
Update a specific app or all your apps at once.
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Update your iPhone 12 software
Updating iOS can help you fix problems caused by some apps, which will further help you to cool down your iPhone 12. Follow the mentioned steps to check if there is any update available for your iPhone.
Update iOS on your iPhone
Head to Settings.
Click on Software Update.
If any update is available, install it.
Make sure that you have enough storage space available on your iPhone to download the update. Otherwise, try to free up storage space by moving your files to your laptop.
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Network connection
When you enter an area with a poor network connection such as slow Wi-Fi, your phone keeps searching for a signal. This may cause your iPhone 12 to overheat. So, when you enter these areas, put your iPhone in airplane mode to prevent battery drain and unnecessary heat generation.
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Reset settings
If you still can’t cool down your iPhone 12, reset all settings on your iPhone.
Follow these steps to factory reset your iPhone:
Go to settings.
Click on the General tab.
Tap on the reset option available at the bottom of your screen.
Select Reset all settings.
This will clear your Wi-Fi passwords, reset your wallpaper, and restore other settings to their defaults. Don’t worry about the data on your iPhone, you won’t delete any of your files or data. Resetting your iPhone can help you fix issues with misbehaving apps.
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DFU restores your iPhone
If you have tried all the steps above and nothing helped cool down your iPhone 12, perform a DFU (Device Firmware Update) restore. Doing so will reload the software and firmware of your iPhone.
You can use iTunes or iCloud to back up your device. Make sure not to skip this step, or you will lose all your data.
First, connect your iPhone to a laptop or computer using a USB cable.
Quickly press the volume up button.
Quickly press the volume down button.
Keep holding the Side button until the screen turns black.
Press and hold the Side button and the Volume Down button simultaneously.
After 5 seconds, release the Side button and keep holding the Volume Down button.
If you press the side button for a long time, the Apple logo will appear on the screen.
As you perform the above steps, make sure that:
Nothing displays on your iPhone’s screen when it’s in DFU mode.
If you get a message showing – Connect your device to iTunes, then you need to retry the above steps.
And to get out of DFU mode, you need to force restart your iPhone.
Quickly press the Volume Up button, then the Volume Down button, and finally hold down the Side button until your iPhone restarts.
No luck yet? Repair your iPhone.
If you have performed a DFU restore and your iPhone 12 is still getting hot regularly, there may be some problems with the internal components of your iPhone. Make sure you head to the Apple Store instead of looking for other cheaper alternatives as they can do more damage to your iPhone.
That’s pretty much it. We hope this article helped you to identify the exact reason why your iPhone 12 is overheating. Also, tell us about the hack that helped you cool down your iPhone 12.