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Apple says iPhone 8 batteries swelling and splitting the phone isn’t a big deal

Apple’s iPhone 8 Plus is popping open due to battery swelling, according to a growing number of customers, sparking safety fears about the new phone. However, an Apple spokesperson downplayed concerns Friday to VICE News.

The latest incident was reported in China, where the state-run ThePaper.cn website said a customer found his newly purchased iPhone 8 Plus had cracked open upon delivery — though there were no signs of scorching or an explosion.

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This report matches others coming from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Greece, and Canada during the past week. All reports fit a pattern: the iPhone’s screen pops open as a result of an engorged battery.

In some cases the phones arrived already damaged, but in others the battery swelled when the phone was charged for the first time.

None of the reports suggest owners were in danger.

Apple is keen to play down the reports, noting these are isolated incidents among the millions of units sold globally since the device launched last month.

Apple said the incidents do not represent a safety concern, but that a battery swelling issue has caused the problems. An Apple spokesperson told VICE News that the company is “looking into it” but did not comment further on the matter.

Apple had issues with its iPhone batteries last year, the company offering to replace the battery on the “very small number” of iPhone 6 units that were shutting down without warning.

The battery-swelling issue on the iPhone 8 Plus does not appear to be on the same scale as the issues affecting Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7, which last year had to be recalled after hundreds of users reported the battery exploding and catching fire.