There are times when a battery catastrophically fails within a product.
This apparently occurred for Josh Hillard, an Ohio-based iPhone XS Max owner, whose handset reportedly caught fire and exploded on December 12th. Hillard, who reported that around 3 PM of that day, he noticed a smell and felt a “large amount of heat” and then green and yellow smoke coming from his iPhone XS Max.
“A VP of our company put the fire out with a fire extinguisher because he heard me yelling,” Hillard told iDrop News. “Once the phone was extinguished, I was left with a hole in my pants, fire extinguisher on my pants/shoes, and some pain/irritation in my buttocks region where the pocket of my pants was located.”
Hillard reported that after taking the damaged iPhone XS Max to a local Apple Store, the location offered him a replacement unit, although Hillard refused it unless he could also keep the damaged one. He then contacted the AppleCare support line and after providing photographs of the damage, reports that an Apple safety department supervisor “essentially offered a new phone.”
Hillard has stated that Apple’s offer is insufficient and he wants Apple to reimburse him for his damaged pants plus the cost of his cell plan while he was unable to use the phone. The man is also reportedly considering what legal options are available regarding the incident.
It’s presently unknown as to why the battery ruptured and spewed flammable electrolytic fluid. Given most product designs, a battery membrane is designed to swell instead of rupture in the case of a cell failure. As such, most swellings and ruptures happen under a runaway thermal condition while the device is being charged.
It’s thought that the device could have been while in Hillard’s back pocket given the cited pain and irritation in the “buttocks region.” This bend could potentially pierce the battery membrane. Another possibility is a failure of the cell for other reasons, such as a manufacturing problem not caught by quality assurance.
As such, there are no other reported incidents of iPhone XS Max and catastrophic battery failures.
Apple has not yet commented on the incident but the description of green and yellow smoke is consistent with a battery having been broken. In February 2018, two Hong Kong Apple Store employees were hospitalized after inhaling smoke from an iPhone battery during a repair.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider and iDrop News