iPhone 'ChatGPT app' causing overheating & battery drain for some iOS users

On May 18, OpenAI launched the official ChatGPT app for iOS which makes it easy for one to access the popular AI chatbot on the go.

As of now, the app can be utilized freely and doesn’t display any ads. However, looking at the recent reports, it appears that users are facing
some issues while using the app.

According to reports (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10), multiple iPhone owners are facing an issue where their device keeps on overheating when using the ChatGPT app.

And as per the claims, their phones overheat just within a few minutes of running the app. Interestingly, for some, this happens as soon as the app starts generating a response to their query.

However, to make matters worse, users are experiencing quicker battery drains as well. But luckily, one can make use of the web based version of the AI chatbot without any problem.

A section of users speculates that this could be happening as the app is offloading it’s computing requirements to iPhone’s Apple Neural Engine AI/ML chip.

While others are of the view that the developers have rushed and released an un-optimized version of the app. They believe that this has been done in order to curb illegitimate apps that trick people into purchasing bogus subscriptions.

I’m trying it right now and my iPhone (14 Pro) appears to be overheating. The haptic feedback is overkill. Now, my phone smells like burnt rubber. Is this all in my head?
Source

Does it make anyone else’s phone run hot? I’m on iPhone 13 pro.
Source

Those affected have tried turning off the Haptic feedback option, rebooting their phones and uninstalling and reinstalling the app, but to no effect.

Some are even thinking of utilizing the browser-based version of ChatGPT until the problem is rectified.

Unfortunately, Apple has not yet officially responded on the matter. But, we are hopeful that it will resolve this issue shortly. That said, we’ll keep an eye on this topic and update this story with the latest information.

Note: There are more such stories in our dedicated Apple section. So make sure that you follow them as well.

Featured image source: Apple

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