The iPhone 4 caught fire while recharging through a computer USB port, according to Boy Genius Report
Photos posted on the gadget blog Boy Genius Report appear to show a burned and partially melted USB cable, next to a picture of an iPhone 4 with burn marks around its dock connector.
According to Boy Genius Report, the photos were sent to the website by a “very close source at AT&T”.
The site reports that a customer took the phone in to an AT&T store to see if it could be fixed, “although it’s pretty evident that the phone is unrepairable”.
“The brand new iPhone 4 caught on fire while being hooked up to a computer using the Apple USB cable that accompanied the device,” reads the report. “The customer wanted to exchange the iPhone for a new, non-charred unit.”
According to the source at AT&T, Apple told the store that the fault seemed to lie with a defective USB port, rather than a specific design flaw. The owner of the iPhone suffered a “slight burn” when the device caught fire, and the stainless steel band around the iPhone, which houses the antennae, became “extremely hot”.
There have been several reports in recent years of Apple products overheating or catching fire. Last March, a mother sued Apple after her 10-year-old son suffered second-degree burns when his iPod touch exploded in his trouser pocket, melting through the material and singing his leg.
And in August, a man alleged that Apple had offered him a full refund after his daughter’s iPod touch caught fire – but only if he signed a confidentiality agreement pledging not to talk about the incident.
News Source : Telegraph.co.uk
