How to fix iPhone overheating issue

iPhones are meant to perform best in temperatures ranging from 0 to 35 degrees Celsius. As a result, if you ever find yourself in extreme heat your mobile device may struggle. Overheating can deplete the battery in your iPhone over time. As a result, you’ll notice a lag in the phone’s functionality. It’ll become slower and slower as the temperature rises. However, environmental heat isn’t always the case. Keep reading to find out why your iPhone gets hot.

Why does the iPhone overheat?	How to fix it
Environmental heat	Remove the phone from direct sunlight and place in a cool place. Pause charging until cooled down.
Cluttered storage space	Install CleanMy®Phone to remove unnecessary files.
Long video calls	Install Usage to gauge how much CPU is being used during a call. If it is over 80%, reduce the call time.
App crashes or overload	Close apps running in the background and uninstall the ones you don’t use. Use Disk Drill to back up the app’s data.
Faulty iPhone battery	Track battery life levels of all devices using Batteries.
Heavy data usage	Reduce screen brightness, streaming video quality, and close background apps.
iOS bugs	Update to the latest software. Go to Settings > General > Software Update.

iPhone overheating vs iPhone getting warm

Keep in mind that a warm iPhone is quite normal. This is common whether you’re charging your phone while using it, playing games, watching high-quality videos, or using your GPS for extended periods of time. Simply let it cool down for a couple of minutes to regain its regular performance. However, if your iPhone feels too hot to the touch, you should be concerned. But hold off on going to the Apple shop just yet. Here’s what you can do about your iPhone getting hot.

Why is iPhone overheating?

If your iPhone is getting hot and sluggish, there are a few things that could be causing it:

Environmental heat
Cluttered storage space
Crashing apps or too many apps running
Faulty iPhone battery
Heavy data usage
iOS bugs, etc.

Before we move on to the fixes for different cases, here are some first-aid tips for cooling down your phone:

Disconnect the charger and turn the phone off.
Remove the case.
Provide shade but don’t put the phone into the refrigerator.
Fan it (for example, wave with a sheet of paper).

How to stop iPhone overheating

Before you hurry into the Apple shop for pricey repairs, try these easy options. Below are the most common reasons for iPhone overheating and the fixes.

Reason 1: Environmental heat

If you enjoy taking photos in direct sunshine, you’ve definitely come across the “Temperature too high” iPhone warning in summer. That’s because the sun is too hot, and your phone can’t tolerate it any longer, causing the camera to shut down.

If you’ve ever questioned yourself, “Why is my iPhone getting hot when I use it outside?” please keep in mind that it’s usually due to direct sunlight. However, not only that but charging or using your phone in a hot place like a bakery can cause it to overheat too. In such situations, it’s better to avoid using or charging your phone.

Reason 2: Cluttered storage space

A cluttered iPhone is often synonymous with an overheated iPhone. Why is that? During operation, apps and the OS create and manage temporary files. Of course, this requires some free memory. And when that space isn't enough, the system starts frantically looking for free slots. The result is increased CPU usage and overheating.

Ideally, you should monitor the iPhone's resource usage and clean it at the first sign of malfunction. To keep track of your iPhone's health, we highly recommend Usage. It creates widgets with information about memory status, disk space, etc., so you don't have to dig through settings and collect information bit by bit. Or, if you're not a fan of widgets, you can just view the information in the app – it's still faster than other methods.

Okay, so where do you start cleaning if your phone's memory is cluttered? Start with what takes up the most space, and that's usually photos. Cleaning out unnecessary files and photos can give your device the space it needs to run smoothly. A tool like CleanMy®Phone can be a game changer in this situation. It's designed to help you quickly identify and remove duplicate photos, unnecessary screenshots, and other clutter with just a few taps, making it an effective solution for reducing overheating by freeing up valuable space on your iPhone.

Here's how CleanMy®Phone can help you clean up easily:

Install and open CleanMy®Phone.
Tap the Declutter, then Scan. After the scan is completed, you'll see groups like Duplicates and Screenshots.
Open a group, look through the photos, and uncheck any you want to keep.
Tap Clean to get rid of the rest.

Reason 3: Long video calls

iPhone overheating during video calls is a common problem. Video calls are a resource-intensive process. Your phone must simultaneously process video and audio, monitor the network connection, and work with the camera and screen. This puts a strain on the processor and battery and can cause the phone to overheat.

If this is typical behavior for your iPhone, try Usage next time. As mentioned earlier, it creates widgets that show information about the memory, disk space, network, and so on. Look at them during a video call, and if you see, for example, that memory usage is at or above 80%, try reducing the load on your iPhone. Try reducing the screen brightness, closing unnecessary apps, lowering the video quality, or turning off GPS or Bluetooth when not in use.

Reason 4: Crashing apps or too many apps running

Why does my iPhone get hot even if I’m not using it heavily? Many things could cause this, including too many background processes, spy programs, high bandwidth usage, and so on. But for now, you can concentrate on closing apps that you don’t need.

When there isn’t enough RAM/capacity to run the current apps, having many useless ones open in the background will clog up your phone memory and cause it to overheat. So, if you don’t need those apps right now, we recommend closing them. Here is how to do it on your iPhone.

On an iPhone with Face ID, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and then pause in the middle.
On an iPhone with a Home button, double-click the Home button.
Swipe right to browse the open apps. Then swipe up the apps you don’t use.

Furthermore, if you noticed your iPhone getting hot for no reason, think about any new apps you’ve recently installed. Programs that are constantly crashing, as well as those that were not properly installed, might cause the iPhone overheating issue.

If you have some apps frequently crashing, uninstall and then reinstall the program. To remove an app from your smartphone, follow these steps:

Tap and hold the icon of the app until you see a menu.
Choose Remove App, then tap Delete App when prompted, and confirm your decision once again.
Launch the App Store, find the app again, and reinstall it.

However, keep in mind when you delete an app, you’ll lose its data. And while this isn’t a problem if it’s cloud-based like Evernote or Google Drive, some apps still need a backup.

Reason 5: Faulty iPhone battery

Aside from the previously mentioned reasons, your phone may overheat due to faulty hardware components. And the battery may be the main cause. If your phone gets hot on the backside while you’re using it, it’s probably a sign of your battery dying.

So always pay attention to any warnings about your battery needing to be replaced. You can also check this by going to Settings > Battery on your iPhone.

The difficult part is fixing it because it’s not something you can do on your own. You’ll need to schedule an appointment at an Apple Store or take your iPhone to a certified repair shop. The best thing you can do for your phone and its battery lifespan is to:

Always update to the latest software
Optimize your iPhone settings (adjust the screen brightness, use Wi-Fi instead of a cellular network when possible, etc.)
Monitor battery usage information to see how much of your battery each app consumes (Settings > Battery).

You can also keep track of the battery life of ALL of your devices from the most convenient spots on your Mac with the help of Batteries. When you connect your iPhone, iPad, or AirPods, they will display in the Today View’s Batteries widget.

When any of the linked devices’ batteries get low, the app will send you a notification so you may recharge them. You can set any percentage of battery at which you want to be notified about the need to recharge.

Reason 6: Heavy data usage

Typically, processes that consume a lot of data use a lot of your iPhone's resources. For example, when you stream a video, your iPhone works hard to encode and send the video to the streaming platform. So when you are streaming, playing online games, downloading large files, or creating or restoring backups, your iPhone can get hot.

This is where Usage comes in handy again, showing you the status of your phone in real time: memory and disk usage, network usage, and so on. See indicators rising to critical levels? Take action. Here are some first-aid ideas for an overheating iPhone:

Move your phone to a cool room
Remove the case
Lower the screen brightness
Reduce the quality of video and graphics
Close background apps and features you are not using, such as GPS
Switch from mobile internet to Wi-Fi

This should help reduce the phone's temperature and prevent performance issues.

Reason 7: iOS bugs

The old version of iOS can also cause iPhone overheating issues. So the most obvious solution here is to check for an update.

Open Settings.
Choose Software Update from the General menu.
Tap Download and Install if an update is available.

Note that your phone may already be up to date, but you’re still facing the overheating issue. You should reinstall iOS in that instance. Please make sure your iPhone is backed up before you do anything else.

After you’ve double-checked that your phone was backed up, do the following:

Go to Settings > General > Reset.
Tap Erase All Content and Settings.
Follow the prompts.

Why you need Setapp to stop iPhone overheating

Your iPhone is designed to dissipate heat, but it might overheat due to an aging battery, too many apps running, or even intense sunlight. While the fixes we mentioned in this article look easy to perform, you need to be careful. For example, when you reinstall your iOS, be sure to backup your iPhone in order not to lose important data. If you do face data loss, don't get upset too fast. Try Disk Drill. This top-rated data recovery tool can recover any type of data regardless of the cause of the loss.

We also described the issue with battery overheating. Don’t be upset. Sometimes, you need professional help to save your device. However, you must take care of it the best you can. Install Batteries and track all battery levels (including iPhone, iPad, and even AirPods) on Mac.

If your iPhone is overheating, it could be a sign that it's running out of space. Monitor your iPhone's disk and memory state with Usage. Cleaning out unnecessary files and photos can give your device the space it needs to run smoothly. A tool like CleanMy®Phone can be a game changer in this situation.

The best part? All the tools mentioned above are available on Setapp, a platform for more than 240 unique Mac, iOS, and web apps that’ll improve your experience using your favorite Apple devices. You can try all these apps at no cost for seven days. If you like them, pay $9.99/mo.

We hope this guide will help you find a solution and continue using your phone without worry.

FAQ

Why does the iPhone get hot?

Most of the time, iPhones overheat because the processor or battery is overloaded (for example, by resource-intensive tasks, video streaming, and so on). In this case, you should monitor the load on your phone, for example, by using the Usage app. Another cause of overheating is high ambient temperature. In this case, simply remove the case and move the phone to a cooler place (not the fridge!).

Why iPhone getting hot when charging?

There are several possible reasons. First, high power consumption. If you use your phone while charging, it may overheat. This can also happen if you use a high-power charger. Second, background tasks during charging, such as updating iOS, backing up data, etc., place a load on the processor and may cause it to overheat. Third, charging in a warm environment also increases the risk of overheating.