Why is my iPhone 7 overheating after updating to iOS 11 and how to fix it? [Troubleshooting Guide]

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One of the most widespread issues encountered by iOS device owners is on overheating. For some reasons, the new firmware update is causing the device to keep working even when it’s idle and so eventually it overheats. Overheating problem has been affecting various iPhone models from iPhone 6s and even on the latest iPhone X. While this may not be occurring to all iPhone users, it’s still a serious problem that needs to be remedied in order not to get worst.

In this particular post, we’ll address the same issue on overheating affecting the iPhone 7 handset following the iOS 11 update. Read on to find out what causes the device to heat up or overheat after implementing the new platform and what to do in order to resolve the underlying cause.

Before going any further though, if you have other concerns with your new iPhone, make sure you drop by our iPhone 7 troubleshooting page for we have already started supporting the device. Moreover, if you need further assistance, you can always contact us by completing our iPhone issues questionnaire and providing us with sufficient information about the problem.

So what causes your iPhone 7 to overheat after installing a new software update?

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The main reason why this happens is that something in the new update triggers the iPhone processor to keep working even when idle. Because of this, the processor gets exhausted. Normally, your iPhone chip or any other smartphone processor is triggered to work everytime you touch the screen to input certain command through finger touches. The more input commands the processor needs to carry out, the more your device heats up. Just like what happens when using your computer to stream videos or play games for several hours. You’ll notice that both the monitor and the CPU warm up and eventually get hotter. When the processor or CPU becomes totally exhausted, that’s when worse symptoms begin to surface including device lags and freezes. This is the main reason why only the fan and heatsink are flopped on top of the CPU.

The same thing can happen to your iPhone considering that it’s also designed to work in the same manner as a computer does. Similar to a computer, your iPhone processor is the main component that heats up with prolonged or extensive usage on the device. But unlike a computer, your iPhone processor doesn’t have a fan or other similar component that would help in cooling down. So when phone processor is always revved up to a hundred per cent or so, your iPhone overheats. And that happens, you should expect your battery to drain faster too.

The problem on overheating can occur due to hardware problems like bad battery. But in most cases, the software is to blame. Apparently the overheating issue you’re dealing with is software-related since it suddenly occurs after installing a new update. So this is what most likely happens after the iOS 11 update is installed on your iPhone 7.

It’s a major update to iOS, therefore it’s expected to bring in a lot of new features and system enhancements. This means new additions to the existing apps and or drivers dwelling in your iPhone system. Note that your iPhone has a lot of apps or drivers. When each of these apps run simultaneously, this drives the processor to work up to a hundred percent. How much more if one of these apps get rogue and triggers the processor to keep working? Some apps can become rogue when a new software update is installed so this is likely what happens after updating your iPhone 7 to iOS 11. In order to fix the problem, you’ll have to identify which of your app is misbehaving, triggering the processor to work continually, and eventually causing your iPhone to overheat.

What to do when your iPhone 7 overheats after updating to iOS 11?

Considering that the problem you’re dealing with is not associated with any type of hardware issues like physical or liquid damage on the iPhone, you can proceed and troubleshoot your iPhone software. Refer to these methods among your options.

First method: Quit all apps.

Apps that you previously opened remain in standby mode. This means that these apps are still running in the background unless you’ll quit them manually. The more apps running in the background, the more workloads they could add up to the processor’s task queues. So even when your no longer using your iPhone like when it’s locked or idle for sometime, the processor is still working since there are still some background processes. It’s therefore recommended to quit background apps from time to time (preferably more often) to prevent them from causing problems like overheating and battery draining on the iPhone.

  • To quit or close out all your apps, quickly press the Home button twice and swipe each app of the top of the screen.

After closing out all your background apps, perform a soft reset or reboot your iPhone 7. Refer to the next method.

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Second method: Soft reset/reboot.

A reboot or soft reset is often the first recommended solution to try when dealing with sudden software issues in mobile devices. A soft reset can also help eliminate minor glitches caused by corrupted apps or data on your device. That said, you should reboot your iPhone if this is the first instance you notice it heating up unusually. A soft reset won’t affect any of your iPhone data so there’s no need to worry of data loss.

  • To reboot (soft reset) your iPhone 7, press and hold the Power button for a few seconds until the Slide to Power off screen appears. Drag the slider to power off your device completely. After 30 seconds, press and hold the Power button again until the Apple logo appears.

Wait until your iPhone boots up completely then use it the usual way you do. See if it’s still overheating or not any more.

Third method: View Analytics data to get a hint on the culprit.

One thing that can help determine which app is the culprit or causing your iPhone to overheat is to think of when the problem started. Did it started after installing this new gaming app or was it after I downloaded this new video? In this case, the new download might have crashed or get corrupted.

  • To find out which app has been crashing on your iPhone, you can head to Settings-> Privacy-> Analytics-> Analytics Data. Under the data section, you will see a list of apps and services that have been crashing along with the log files on your device.

If you see the same app listed over and over again, then that denotes something wrong with the app and therefore it needs to be taken care of.

Your options would be to uninstall or update the offending app. Or you can just uninstall then reinstall the app.

Fourth method: Locate rogue apps in the Battery Usage menu.

Any app you see that’s consuming a lot of your iPhone’s battery is more likely the same app that is causing your device to overheat. In this regard, check your battery logs and look for crashing apps. Any app that you don’t frequently use but using a significant amount of battery could be crashing in the background of your iPhone.

  • Navigate to Settings-> Battery-> Battery Usage section, and then check the list of apps that are using most battery life.

Any of these apps could be causing your iPhone to get hot and therefore needs to be removed, reinstalled, or updated.

Fifth method: Update or Uninstall apps.

If you found any misbehaving app, then try fixing it by keeping the app updated. App devs don’t always release updates to add new features or bug fixes to their apps. Note that software bugs can also cause your iPhone to overheat. To rule this out from the culprits, check for app updates then update your apps.

  • To do so, open the App Store then tap Updates at the bottom of the screen. If you see one or more of your apps can be updated, you can either update them simultaneously (Update All option) or one at a time.

Don’t forget to reboot your iPhone after making any changes to your app like installing a new update to an app. Doing so will help get things work properly as intended.

Sixth method: Reset all settings on your iPhone 7.

Major software updates can also override your current settings or restore them to defaults. If this is what iOS 11 did to your device, then you will need to reconfigure your iPhone settings to make it work as intended. But the thing is, finding which settings or options were changed can be difficult. As remedy, you can reset all settings instead.

This will clear out your current settings including Wi-Fi networks and passwords, themes, and other customized options. These settings are restored without deleting any of the data stored on your iPhone.

  • To do so, head to Settings-> General-> Reset All Settings.

Often times, this reset can help fix problems caused by misbehaving apps including overheating issue on the iPhone. So you might as well consider giving it a shot and see what happens. Just be sure to take note of your important settings like Wi-Fi passwords as you will be needing them again later.

Last resort: Restore your iPhone 7 (DFU mode restore).

A full system reset can be considered as the last resort if none of the aforementioned solutions is able to fix your iPhone 7 that is overheating after updating to iOS 11. But before you do, check for any available firmware update for your phone. Apple did roll out a series of minor updates to fix existing bugs that came with the previous update so you should consider installing these updates first. In fact, Apple is set to roll out iOS 11.3, which is said to offer an ultimate fix that will hopefully conclude the post-update dreading issues on battery drain and overheating.

Or you can also try your luck in carrying out iOS restore thru DFU mode. A DFU mode restore puts your device in a state where it’s able to communicate with iTunes without activating the operating system or bootloader.

Should you wish to try a DFU mode restore, you may refer to our comprehensive guide on how to perform a DFU mode restore on iPhone 7. Just visit or Tutorials page for that matter.

What to do if the problem persists?

If you’ve reached this section, then mostly likely you weren’t able to find remedy from the prior methods. And since nothing worked for you and that your iPhone 7 is still overheating, you should consider escalating the problem for other recommendations. You may contact Apple Support or your carrier and seek more inputs regarding the issue. But if you don’t prefer calling for more help, then you can just take your iPhone to an Apple service center nearby and have a technician diagnose and fix your device instead.

Connect with us

If you need more help with the use of certain functions and features of the new Apple iPhone 7 smartphone, feel free to visit our Tutorial Page. There you can find a list of how-to contents, step-by-step tutorials, as well as answers to FAQs regarding iPhone 7. If you have other concerns or encountered some troubles while using the phone, you can reach us through this form. Just be sure to tell us more details of the problem or device issue(s) you may have and we will be more than happy to assist you further.

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