Apple Investigates Swelling iPhone 8 Batteries

Apple is looking into a small number of reports that the iPhone 8 Plus case cracked open due to an expanding battery, with as many as six separate incidents being reported. According to a news report in CNET, the six reports spanned five countries.

Meanwhile, late last week, ThePaper.cn, a Chinese state-backed website, reported a consumer in China received a new iPhone 8 Plus with the side cracked open. The report noted there were no traces that the device had burned or exploded.

Earlier in the week, the U.K.’s The Independent reported that Apple was “looking into” two reports about the iPhone 8 cracking open because of the battery. One of the incidents occurred in Taiwan when the device was charging. The owner used it for five days, charging the phone with an Apple-issued cable and power adapter. A separate user in Japan said the iPhone 8 Plus shipped with the screen split along the side of the device. With the Chinese incident and the other two cases, the owners of the devices posted pictures on social media showing the broken iPhone.

Apple told The Independent that it believes the issue was prompted by a swelling of the battery and isn’t a safety concern.

A handful of reports does not necessarily mean Apple has a problem on its hands, but it does come a little more than a year after rival Samsung Electronics had an embarrassing and costly recall of its Galaxy Note 7 after the battery caught on fire. That hurt the South Korean consumer electronics company’s reputation, paving the way for Apple to become the number one handset maker. The reports also come as Apple is trying to make a big push in China with the iPhone 8 and the pricier impending iPhone X.