iPhone 8 Plus cracks open for two users in Asia, batteries may be to blame

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have been available for just a couple of weeks, but reports of alleged battery issues have emerged in Asia.

A Taiwanese Apple fan noticed her newly-bought iPhone 8 Plus was bulging while charging, and soon cracked open, Taiwanese media Apple Daily reported.

The owner surnamed Wu told local media that she was using the official Apple charging cord. The smartphone started swelling after about three minutes and then split open. The phone was later recovered by the carrier and will be shipped to Apple for analysis, local media reported.

Another iPhone 8 Plus owner in Japan experienced something similar but this time without even charging the mobile device. Twitter user Magokoro0511 uploaded a few photos on Twitter of his broken device. He tweeted that “it was already slightly split open when I received the iPhone 8 plus.”

Apple has yet to confirm if these cases were caused by batteries, but iPhone 8 Plus might use the same battery manufacturer, Amperex Technology Limited (ATL), as the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, said The Next Web citing unconfirmed reports. However, if these cases turn out to be isolated incidents, there’s not much to worry about. After all, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 explosions were reportedly caused by faulty design rather than the manufacturing flaws from the battery makers.

Even though these cases may just be some unlucky consumers getting some individual broken devices, the incidents may as well reflect part of the hardware supply chain problems Apple has. Apple is expected to see delays in iPhone X shipment, given that its OLED edge-to-edge screen design may lead to more production difficulties.