Another iPhone Bursts into Flames

Ayla Mota, a Brazilian woman who owns (or owned) an iPhone 4, has reported the second incident this week of a spontaneously combusting Apple handset.

Earlier this week we reported that an iPhone turned glowing red and caught fire on a flight to Australia as the plane had just landed, causing a bit of concern.

It is unclear whether the device reported malfunctioning on Rex flight ZL319 was an iPhone 4 or the newer 4S model.

Regardless of this fact, it appears Apple has an issue on its hands. Ayla Mota, from Brazil, shares her story (Google translated):

"In the morning, I woke up seconds before witnessed the burning of my iPhone when I saw a lot of sparks and black smoke out of the cell. My room was impregnated with an unbearable smell smoke! That moment, turned off the power switch in the room to remove the cell the outlet. Soon after, I opened the windows of the room and turned on the fan to remove smoke, that just came out completely on Tuesday morning. I do not hurt, although the unit is about 15 cm and height of my eyes."

She offered the image displayed above (click to enlarge) to the iPhone-centric blog referenced in the watermark.

It is known that Lithium-based batteries can sometimes spontaneously ignite in various conditions. The battery pack inside Apple’s iPhones bears a warning sign and a message that says it’s not good to puncture, crush, burn, or even heat the battery up, as it may malfunction (i.e. start to burn, explode).

This type of battery, however, is very popular. It’s the most commonly used type of battery in all our mobile devices, from phones and portable game consoles, to laptops and tablet computers.

Also worth pointing out is that Apple isn’t by far the only vendor whose portables exhibit such issues from time to time. In fact, given the sheer number of portable devices Apple ships every year, I’d say the company has had a good track record so far.