Apple’s New iPhone 15 Overheating Fix Also Resolved a Camera Repair Issue

The iPhone 15’s overheating issues appear to be fixed, along with an issue that presented an obstacle to repairs.

Shortly after release, new iPhone 15 owners reported the smartphone overheated, especially when using more powerful features, like recording 4K video. The reports were seen on social media, especially in the weekend following the iPhone 15 launch. Apple’s latest iOS update, 17.0.3, seems to have resolved the issue.

Apple attributes the overheating issue to a bug in iOS 17 and released the new iOS 17 update, which is expected to fix the issue, not long after overheating concerns surfaced among customers.

But the latest patch fixes another issue that, while somewhat less well-known than the overheating, can have a crucial impact for iPhone users.

The issue affected the front-facing camera, which would stop working after one of its camera modules was replaced. YouTube channel Phone Repair Guru and the repair company iFixit discovered the issue, according to Forbes. After switching the front camera module using two iPhone 15 Pro Max models, the camera app never loads the viewfinder for the front-facing camera. In fact, the entire camera app appeared completely frozen in Phone Repair Guru’s video, after swapping from the back to the front camera.

A factory reset, which is a burden in itself, largely fixed the issue. But the capture button still wouldn’t work, even after the factory reset prevented the camera app from completely glitching. The issue seemed to only affect the front camera. In the video, it was suggested that serialization may be the cause, which essentially pairs iPhone parts with each other, causing potential issues with replacement parts that don’t match the serialization. This can be fixed with a calibration tool, Forbes notes, but that’s reserved for Apple and Apple-certified repair places. That reduces the number of places users can take their devices to get fixed and essentially prevents self-repairs entirely.

Regardless, the issue appears to be fixed with the 17.0.3 iOS patch. The change is a big one for right to repair advocates and consumers alike. The same YouTuber reported similar issues with the iPhone 14, so the change may be a sign of Apple moving toward more lax repair options.

Image credits: Apple