iPhone XS Max was introduced in September this year with sales starting in October.
Photo Credit: Josh Hillard / iDrop News
A three-week-old iPhone XS Max smartphone reportedly caught fire in the rear pocket of man from Ohio, United States earlier this month. The person has been in contact with Apple over the matter but expressed his disappointment over the replacement option given by the company. He is now apparently considering legal remedies for his situation. This is the first report alleging a fire-related mishap with any one of the company's latest-generation iPhones, which includes iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and the iPhone XR.
According to a report in iDropNews, a person who wishes to be referred to as J. Hillard claims that he was on his lunch break on December 12 when he noticed a strange smell from his iPhone and felt a “large amount of heat” in his rear pocket and burning sensation on his skin. He adds that it was followed by a green and yellow coloured smoke coming out of the iPhone XS Max. A colleague then reportedly used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire, which left a hole in Hillard's pants and pain/ irritation on his skin.
“From the time of first noticing the fire and between removal of the pants and taking the phone out of my pocket and placing it outside, I inhaled A LOT of smoke. Later in the day, the team told me about the video that the office security camera captured,” Hillard told the iDropNews.
Hillard later the same day visited an Apple Store to report the matter, where he was apparently told that the burnt iPhone was needed to be sent to the company's engineering team and that was the only way he could get a replacement unit from the Cupertino-based company. He also claims that he was not offered any compensation for his clothes and shoes that were ruined in the incident by the store and even by Apple Care that he had contacted after returning unsatisfied from the store.
Hillard stated that a replacement iPhone is not an acceptable remedy to him, and he is also seeking compensation for his clothes, shoes and the wireless service he had no access to during the period.
We were unable to independently verify the claims made by J Hillard. Apple is yet to officially issue any statement about the alleged incident. We've reached out to Apple for comment on the issue, and will update this space when we hear back. The latest incident comes just over a month after an iPhone X reportedly got hot and exploded during a software update.
Catch the latest from the Consumer Electronics Show on Gadgets 360, at our CES 2026 hub.