3rd Gen iPhone Charging Issue

Not sure if this is a Toyota Issue or an iPhone Issue...

I plug my phone in when I drive.
The phone rests between the E-Brake Handle and the Center Console.

When I go to get out the phone is HOT.
The screen says that charging has been halted due to excessive temps.

I live in Phoenix and just figured this was a Phoenix hot car problem. But now it's cool. Especially in the AM. I have rain guards / vent shields and usually park with it vented and a shade in the front window. If it's 65° in the AM, then it's 65° inside the truck. If it's 85° outside then it's pretty much 85° inside the truck too.

But yet the phone still reads hot - only when charged in the truck and only SOMETIMES when in the truck. Thinking I need to get a mount that puts it closer to an AC vent for cooler air. Is this an issue with the Taco? Does the channel by the E-Brake get hotter than the rest of the truck? Does the dash USB charge faster / hotter than other chargers?

 

The new fast chargers (usb c male end I believe), make my phone pretty hot. Are you using one of these?

 

Turn off fast charging. It makes the phones heat up super fast.

 

If the phone is heating up, usually it's because one of the radios is active. Does your phone attempt to connect to the vehicle's WiFi? Or the other way around?

 

I charge my phone through the data/usb port. It’s never gotten warm.

 

Nope it's the data port in the dashboard.

I'll take a look at that. Wasn't sure it was an option. Also seems more prevalent since the last iOS update (17). Might be something to this.

Now that you mention it, I don't think so, but I'll take a look and see. I was using GPS Nav the last few times so maybe it's related to that "processing of data" and the radios to receive the GPS.

That's what I'm doing.

 

I think this likely an iPhone issue and not a Tacoma issue.

Charging the battery does cause the phone to heat up, but personally I’ve never had it refuse to charge due to heat.

Do you have a case on the phone? That could be preventing it from cooling properly.

 

I wouldn't know about that because I dumped apple after my iphone 4.

 

what cable are you using?

 

congrats

 

My understanding is iOS has had an issue with the battery randomly heating up and draining after the latest version was issued. It has supposedly been resolved in an update. I'm an android person so I'm not sure if said update has been pushed out or not but this information is from MKBHD on YouTube.

I can't say for the 2023, but the data hub in my truck has never been good for charging my phone. I also don't have Android Auto/Apple CarPlay as an option so I also never really have reason to plug my phone in here in general so once I saw it didn't output enough power to charge adequately, I stopped using it altogether. But, again, that could have changed between 2017 and 2023.

 

I do run a beefy Pelican case. No doubt that plays a role and good thinking there. I should probably mention, when I do have this issue, that area that the phone is in is also hot / warm. Noticeably more so than the rest of the truck. But no exhaust flows under the trans-tunnel / hump.

Oddly enough the standard white iPhone cable. I hate it because in the dark interior, it is the most visible and dirty thing you see.

Yeah they rolled out 17.0.0 and a week later 17.0.1 and then two days after that 17.0.2. I'll go check out MKBHD on YouTube.

I'm considering adding the wireless carplay dongle and then a wireless charger in the center console. But I want to solve the heat issues first before I go adding an enclosed box around it.

 

Personally I just use a car cigarette plug adapter when I need a charge. The phone can get warm, especially when it is running a bunch of things in the background as well as charging, but I'll try to move it around to keep it from becoming too warm. I haven't had it stop charging because of heat though, except once on the wireless charger before I realized that's not really designed to charge the phone from low percentages to full.