After a long wait, iOS 18.2 has finally rolled out to the public at large and unlocked more Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground, Genmoji, and an upgraded Mail app. It might have also introduced a way to keep your hands warm on these frosty winter days, according to some users.
Reddit user u/dsdxp posted on the iPhone subreddit that they had unlocked a secret feature in the iPhone 16 Pro. The comment was obviously sardonic, but many other users responded with their own stories of troubling temperatures from their iPhones. The common element between all of the stories was the Image Playground app and the excessive heat it creates while in use.
Another user, u/PrestigiousPickle8, said the same problem happens with an iPhone 15, but it “has the added bonus of being able to burn off fingerprints.” Throughout the thread, other users complained of a similar problem. One pointed out that since the update, Photos also causes the phone to overheat, while others said FaceTime has the same result. Users reported similar issues like this in the early stages of the beat, but it seems the source wasn’t rooted out and corrected prior to release.
Yet on the other side of the coin, some users report no problems at all. In spite of the stories of steaming phones and poor performance, there are a lot of people who have experienced only smooth image generation and minimal warmth.
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In addition to overheating, Image Playground has had a noticeable effect on battery life. One Reddit user said they could watch it “tick down” while using the new features.
The Image Playground app creates images on-device, rather than sending them to a server. This ensures greater privacy, but places increased demand on the processor and GPU. Without a proper cooling system in place, the iPhone builds too much heat too quickly, and that can affect everything from phone speed to battery life. With an issue as wide-spread as this one seems to be, perhaps Apple can release a firmware update to help mitigate battery discharge and limit heat generation.