I’ve noticed that when using the charging pad in the car, my phone becomes rather hot. Today the phone (iPhone 13) became very hot when on the pad, so much so that it was almost untouchable. The phone was without a case, so made the metal outer casing even hotter. Anyone else experienced something similar?
Thanks for sharing, interesting reading. I did have Amazon playing via the phone/app, so that could have increased the power draw. Not sure what it means by not having the phone centrally placed on the pad. The phone sits on a charging pad each night, never any overheating issues then.
I’ve had this on longer drives when CarPlay has been in operation, google maps doing its thing and wireless charging. It over heated phone whilst tucked away in centre console to extent the warning exclamation mark came up and couldn’t use for 10 mins or so till it cooled down. Several hour drive with it plugged in via wire for the CarPlay and no issue whatsoever. Wireless charging is the culprit as it generates so much more heat over cable charging. Not sure how industry will overcome that problem and it’s not limited to BMW either.
Maybe something to do with the phone’s CPU working hard at the same time as it charging via the pad, and in a space that isn’t particularly well ventilated. On the G2x series the pad is set back into the dash recess, if the cover is closed then there is zero air flow. Something I’m going to have to watch should I use the charging pad. During the night my bedside charging pad is the opposite, fully ventilated and the phone is all but on shut down, hence no over heating. Suppose it would only take a handset to be faulty and not have the correct safety system for it to catch fire or worse.
I’ve noticed the same in our 3 series when using the wireless charger. In the 3 series it’s located in the arm rest storage bin and uses a rubber cradle to hold it on the charger. I’ve always assumed the air gap caused by the camera assembly to be the cause of the heat generated (though this could be a complete nonsense theory).
Yup - same issue on my X3. When I got the car I was looking forward to the ease of having a wireless charger, but on the first long journey (using Carplay) had the overheating issue. I've now reverted to only putting the phone on the wireless pad for short runs and when going on a run just use a cable charger into USB which doesn't seem to cause the same problems.
Same on the X5 40e using an iPhone SE. It's in the armrest too and gets so hot I don't bother anymore, preferring to use a lead instead. Only use it for charging too, not apps or navigation.
Never had an issue with overheating with the wireless charger in the armrest of the 640d with an iphone 14 pro. The wireless pads in the work VW pool car however are a different matter - phones get very hot if using Apple Car play.
A while back Qi was taken up as the accepted standard for wireless phone charging It relies on the user placing the phone on the charger so that the charging coils align. An obvious problem with this is knowing where the induction coil(s) is in the charger, and likewise in the phone. If the phone is misaligned it won’t receive the optimum charging rate, and depending on what the parts in the phone are made of, it may produce heat. Apple’s magsafe gets round this problem by using magnets to accurately align the phone to the charger. This obviously only works when a magsafe phone is placed on a magsafe charger. At the same time they moved the phone’s induction coils to a central position; before it was offset. A further problem arises with the iPhones 13 and later(eg iPhone 14), is they use a different camera setup which entails a higher protection rim. This will prevent the phone laying flat on some chargers, which will further reduce the charging rate. I’m guessing this will happen with most car setups.
I’ve taken to using my apple magna (whatever it is called) case when using the charger. This does seem to keep the heat down, obviously designed for the purpose.
