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Apple Store reportedly evacuated after iPhone battery overheats

Commentary: One person is slightly injured after an iPhone 6 Plus battery begins emitting smoke in an Apple Store in Switzerland, according to Reuters.

Chris Matyszczyk
2 min read

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


apple-store-zurich

The Apple Store on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, Switzerland, was evacuated Tuesday. 

Apple

We've become used to stories of phone batteries overheating and even exploding. Less common are tales of batteries causing consternation inside phone stores.

However, as Reuters reports, the Apple Store on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, Switzerland, was evacuated Tuesday morning after an iPhone battery overheated and began to emit smoke.

Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten identified the phone as an iPhone 6 Plus.

Around 50 customers and employees were evacuated from the store, Reuters reported, as fire crews and police arrived at the scene. The Apple employee who was removing the battery when it began to overheat sustained a minor burn on the hand, according to Reuters.

Neither Apple nor the Zurich police immediately responded to CNET's request for comment.

Reuters quotes a police statement that suggested "there was a slight build-up of smoke" in the store.

Phone batteries can overheat at any time. Infamously, Samsung had to withdraw its Note 7 from the market in 2016 -- not once, but twice -- after the batteries inside some devices overheated and exploded. The company attributed the problem to an "aggressive" battery design.

Unfortunately, batteries aren't necessarily stable objects. Whether they're in laptops or hoverboards, they can exhibit volatility.

Currently, when it comes to older iPhones (including the 6 Plus), Apple is offering to replace the batteries for $29 -- not because they're unstable, but because some may be slowing the phones excessively.

Although the iPhone 6 Plus in Zurich appears to have had its minuses, its plus may be that the incident wasn't any worse.

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