iPhone 15 overheating fix: Thermal imaging reveals whether iOS 17.0.3 update worked

If you're the owner of a new iPhone 15 and have been experiencing the device getting a bit too hot to handle, you're going to want to update to iOS 17.0.3 as soon as possible.

Over the weekend, Apple confirmed that it was aware of a few issues causing the iPhone 15 to overheat. One reason, the company said, were poorly optimized apps not playing nice with new phone and the latest operating system upgrade, iOS 17. Apple said it was working with companies like Meta in order to roll out updated versions of its apps, such as Instagram, in order to resolve the thermal issues.

Another culprit, according to Apple, was a bug in iOS 17 that was causing iPhone 15 devices to overheat. And to deal with that, Apple released an updated version of its mobile operating system, iOS 17.0.3, earlier this week.

Did the update solve the iPhone 15's overheating problems? According to a thermal imaging test conducted by the ZDNET, it appears that the iOS update did, indeed, rectify the cooling issues plaguing iPhone 15.

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First, ZDNET ran a thermal imaging test on the iPhone 15 before installing the iOS 17.0.3 update. The test confirmed that the phones did get very hot, much hotter than previous iPhone models or similar smartphones from competitors. The outlet found that when the iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max were plugged into a charger, they reached temperature levels above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. At one point, the iPhone 15 Pro Max clocked in 107.1 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hot!

But after the iOS 17.0.3 update, the chassis got much cooler. According to ZDNET, the iPhone 15 "never got more than slightly warm to the touch." The phones also stayed between "the high 80s and low 90s," with a max recorded temperature reaching 93.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

That's great! But what about the worries that Apple's fix would involve degrading the performance of the iPhone 15 Pro's powerful processor? According to ZDNET, there was "little or no variance" in the speed or responsiveness of the iPhone 15. This also corroborates with other tech outlets' findings that iOS 17.0.3 does not affect the processor's performance.

This is also good news for anyone who was concerned that the new titanium build for the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max contributed to the overheating issues. ZDNET notes that it used both of those devices in its thermal imaging test and both models provided a cooler experience after the upgrade.

It's unclear exactly what Apple did to fix the overheating issue or what was causing it. It's also difficult to determine whether the issue is pervasive. A 9to5Mac survey found that a whopping 57 percent of the outlet's readers were experiencing overheating issues with the iPhone 15 before the iOS update. Users reported that the phone would overheat during setup, normal use, and even while charging.