How to fix iPhone 12 mini overheating issues

It’s one of those things you feel right away: your iPhone 12 mini overheating. We hold our iPhones in our hands so much that we’ve become very familiar with their “normal” or healthy temperature. Even though that temperature varies based on season and climate, you know when your iPhone 12 mini is hot. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone 12 mini is getting so hot and show you exactly how to fix it.

Yes, iPhone 12 mini overheating is among the most common problems we nowadays encounter. And since it can lead to several major problems in the device like fast battery drain, auto restarting, forced shutdown, and even screen damage- one should not take it lightly. Same as we take precautions against the overheating of our body, we should take measures to protect the phone.

In this guide, we’ll discuss why your iPhone 12 mini gets hot, what happens when your device gets too hot,,, and how to fix iPhone 12 mini Overheating Issue.

Causes of iPhone 12 mini overheating issue

Here are some causes of iPhone 12 mini overheating issue:

• Leaving your iPhone 12 mini it in a car too long when it’s too hot outside
• Leaving your iPhone 12 mini in direct sunlight for too long
• Streaming for long periods of time. This means that your iPhone has to load your content and keep the screen working. This will force your phone to work harder and create more heat.
• Using hardware-intensive features for too long, such as a graphics-intensive game or GPS may cause your iPhone 12 mini to overheat
• You may notice your iPhone 12 mini gets warm when you are downloading a lot of apps simultaneously while you are using your phone.
• Your iPhone 12 mini may get warm when you are charging the battery.

Heat is transferred from one heat-emitting source to another in one of three ways – conduction, convection, or radiation.

In terms of a warm car, where heat is being transferred by warm air swirling around the device for long periods of time, convection takes effect and warms up the metals and circuitry in the device. When in direct sunlight, the radiation of light from the Sun is what heats up the external and internal metals.

Finally, when talking about hardware-intensive features causing the heat, high amounts of electricity transfer from the battery to other hardware components in the device is a form of conduction, and this also produces high amounts of heat.

An iPhone 12 mini shouldn’t be allowed to operate in temperatures lower than 0º Fahrenheit (-17º C) or higher than 92º Fahrenheit (33º C), and shouldn’t be stored in locations with temperatures lower than -4º Fahrenheit (-20º C) or higher than 113º Fahrenheit (45º). Doing so may cause decreased performance or dangers to those handling the device.

iPhone 12 mini overheating symptoms & temperature warning

Now that we’ve just discussed why an iPhone 12 mini might overheat, you should have a pretty good idea of what to avoid doing with your iPhone(s). But, let’s say the situation is unavoidable, and your iPhone 12 mini overheats; what’s going to happen now?

When an iPhone 12 mini overheats, your phone’s hardware will begin to regulate, or basically throttle itself, such that it doesn’t work too hard and less heat is produced. In this ‘safety’ mode, iOS may exhibit the following symptoms:

The battery may not charge to prevent generation of excess heat
The display may dim or shut off completely, making it hard to use your phone
While using navigation, the iPhone’s screen will show an alert, then the display will shut off, but audible navigation will continue
Your iPhone’s wireless radios will enter a lower-power state and wireless performance may suffer
The rear-facing LED flash may be unusable until the device cools down
These symptoms will vary depending on the severity of the overheating of your device. For iPhone users, where emergency calls may be a life or death scenario, the Lock screen will still allow you to slide to make an emergency call, but you’ll get an alert that says the iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it to its full potential.

It’s normal for an iPhone 12 mini to get warm during heavy use or charging, but for it to exceed the thresholds that iOS will start throttling performance to cool down isn’t particularly good for the device.

How to fix iPhone 12 mini overheating issue

Always close unused apps

One of the easiest ways to stop your iPhone 12 mini from overheating is to close all the apps lying open but idle. We often use an app and then log out of it but it stays open in the background. Many people are not even aware of this fact. By simply turning off all these apps, you can not only save your iPhone 12 mini from overheating but you can also extend your iPhone 12 mini battery life. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen. This will launch the app switcher. Swipe up on all of the apps.

Avoid exposing your iPhone to direct sunlight

This one is self-explanatory. In case your window is open and strong sunlight is streaming in, the best thing would be to keep your iPhone away from its direct rays. Many a time, direct contact with the hot sun rays leads to heating of the phone.

Avoid using your iPhone while it’s charging

Do not charge your iPhone while gaming (especially graphic-intensive games) or streaming. iIf you notice your iPhone 12 mini overheating when charging, unplug it from the charger.

See also: 5 Habits to Avoid While Charging Your iPhone

Only charge your iPhone’s battery to 80%.

If you must charge your iPhone overnight, keep it on a cool, flat surface rather than a pillow or bedsheet. But you shouldn’t be charging your iPhone to 100%. Constantly doing a full recharge will shorten the battery’s lifespan. Your iPhone 12 mini is more likely to overheat when it’s at a full charge, so charge it when it drops to near 30% and unplug it once it reaches an 80% charge.

See also: iPhone Battery Health Dropping Fast? Fix!

Turn the brightness down

Another tip to fix iPhone 12 mini overheating Issue is to maintain an optimal or low brightness level. Many people simply pull the brightness bar up to the maximum without giving a thought for the iPhone’s battery. When not needed, lower the brightness level to the minimum possible level and your iPhone will stay relatively cool. . Go to Settings > Display & Brightness.

Take off the Case

Sometimes, your iPhone too needs to breathe. By removing its case, you can help the iPhone to cool down faster especially if the weather is torrid and stuffy.

Turn on Low Power Mode

If you’re at the beach or planning to be outdoors for many hours, turn on low power mode. Why drain your iPhone’s battery when you aren’t really using it?

To turn off low power mode, go to Settings > Battery.

Utilize Airplane Mode

Often, people use the iPhone for some basic purpose for which they do not need the entire device to be operational. For instance, a person creating a notepad article on iPhone late at night and not expecting any phone call may very well keep the iPhone’s battery at a stress-free level by turning the airplane mode on. It will permit the user to use the normal features of the iPhone and enable the phone to cool down a bit.

Check the charging cable

If your iPhone 12 mini is overheating while you charge it, it could be that there’s an issue with the charging cable. Try swapping it out first and see if that fixes the issue.

Make sure you use the original accessories. If it is a third party charger or cable, make sure it’s Apple certified.

Take a break from playing games

If you play graphic-rich games for hours, chances are, your iPhone 12 mini will experience heating issue sooner or later. It impacts battery life, and also cause overheating.

See also: iPhone 12 mini Battery Drain Fast? Fix it Now

Delete unnecessary Apps

This is another way to fix an overheated iPhone 12 mini. Storing so many apps results in creating unnecessary junk files and cached data that can add to its workload and cause overheating. So you better keep the applications that you need and delete the rest.

See also: How to delete documents and data on iPhone

Keep Apps and iOS updated

The new updates often come with bug fixes, aiming to enhance the efficiency of that particular app and your iPhone. This means they are more likely to cause any trouble. So keep your apps and iOS updated to the latest version.

• To update apps: Launch the App Store and then navigate to Today > Your Profile > Update All.
• To update iOS: Head to Settings > General > Software Update. If there is an update, follow the onscreen instructions to update your device.

Is your iPhone 12 mini overheating still?

If your iPhone 12 mini gets too hot after trying the above steps, there may be hardware or software problems. However, the problem is usually software related. Here is how you can resolve it:

Please try these steps in order. After trying each step below, use your iPhone a few days to test to see if you’ve fixed your issue.

Reset All Settings

Head to Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings. This will restore default iPhone settings without erasing content. Your data or media will not be removed.

Reset Network Settings

Head to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. This will remove all of your network-related settings such as your Wi-Fi passwords.

Reset Location & Privacy

Head to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Location & Privacy. This will delete all of your location and privacy settings.

Backup and then restore

If your problem persists, you may have to back up your iPhone and to restore it. This is a three-step process.

Backup: You can backup your iPhone using iCloud by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup > Backup Now. You can also back up using your computer, Mac, or PC. Connect your iPhone to your computer using the USB cable, open Finder (Mac), or iTunes (PC) then locate your device and select Back Up.
Erase your iPhone. Go to Settings > General > Reset > then tap Erase All Content and Settings. Follow the onscreen instructions.
Restore. Depending on your backup, you can restore your device from an iCloud backup or from a backup on your computer. When you erase the iPhone, you will see a Hello screen, during the setup process, select Restore from iCloud Backup or Restore from Mac or PC. Then follow the onscreen instructions.
Apple Support

If you continue to experience iPhone 12 mini Overheating issues, there may be something wrong with your device, a hardware problem. It is a good idea to make a Genius Bar reservation. You can also contact Apple via live chat.

Wrapping up

You should avoid letting your iPhone 12 mini overheat at all, but sometimes it’ll just happen without much warning through regular use of the phone. If it happens to you, the best thing to do is power the phone off and set it in a cool place for a few minutes so it can cool back down. Afterwards, you can get right back to using it.

Have any of your iOS devices ever overheated? If so, what were you doing with it? Share in the comments!