Well, this is a weird one. Apple has confirmed it is investigating a pair of reports concerning brand new iPhone 8 Plus units which have, by all accounts, quite literally split open.
The reports come from Japan and Taiwan, with photographic evidence showing that the phones’ screens had lifted and separated from the body of the phone. In one case, the screen reportedly lifted while the unit was charging. In the other, the phone had split inside the box before being opened for the first time.
The photos of the split units were posted to social media last week, and subsequently did the rounds as the internet had itself a good ole’ gawk at the damaged goods.
届いたiPhone8plus、開けたら既に膨らんでた pic.twitter.com/eX3XprSzqv
— マゴコロ (@Magokoro0511) September 24, 2017
Neither of the cooked phones showed signs of explosion or heat damage, meaning it’s unlikely the issue was caused by the kind of battery fault that plagued competing smartphones throughout the past 12 months.
The splitting incidents, for the time being, have reportedly been confined to the Asia region and seem to be isolated in nature. Apple confirmed in a statement that they were aware of the split phones and were investigating the issue.
The phone, released on September 22, is estimated to have shipped some 18 million units during its first weekend on-sale.
