According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, government affiliated Shanghai Consumer Council is claiming that it has received eight reports from users saying their iPhone 6 handsets had spontaneously caught fire. This marks the third battery-related complaint against Apple from Chinese consumer groups over the past thirty days. Apple has however said that it analyzed the affected phones and found that the fires followed “external physical damage”.
The company encouraged customers with issues to visit an Apple store or contact company support. “We appreciate that customers are more concerned than ever about the performance and safety of batteries in their mobile devices,” Apple said in a statement.
Apple said a company investigation found that the problem was limited to iPhone 6s devices made in September and October 2015 whose battery components were exposed to “ambient air” longer than they should have been during assembly. Apple said it would replace the faulty batteries world-wide.
Apple has also recently said that it will soon update iOS with a “diagnostic capability” to gather more information about battery-related issues, adding that it could use the information to “improve the algorithms used to manage battery performance and shutdowns”. The company is also encouraging customers to contact customer service and use their battery replacement program website to see if their device is eligible for free replacement service.
The complaints from the consumer groups follow a separate Chinese government move to shut down Apple’s online book and movie services because they violated local media guidelines.