Apple’s new iPhone XS Max explodes in Ohio man’s trouser pocket: Report

Man claims he felt ‘large amount of heat’ and ‘strange smell’ coming from his iPhone XS Max.

The incident reportedly took place on December 12 near Columbus, Ohio. (Bloomberg)

Apple is facing a lawsuit from an Ohio man who claims his three-week old iPhone XS Max caught fire in his trouser pocket.

Josh Hillard from Columbus, Ohio reported that he felt "large amount of heat" and 'strange smell' coming from his iPhone XS Max. Moments later, the phone started to emit green and yellow coloured smoke.

"Left no other option, I had to exit the room since there was a female in the break room with me and remove my pants. I ran to the boardroom where I got my shoes and pants off as fast as possible. A VP of our company put the fire out with a fire extinguisher because he heard me yelling," Hillard told iDropnews.com

"Once the phone was extinguished, I was left with a hole in my pants, fire extinguisher on my pants/shoes, and some pain/irritation in my buttocks region where the pocket of my pants was located," he added.

Hillard said he had also contacted Apple to report the issue. The company representatives offered him a new smartphone. But, he is now planning to take legal action against the company.

"I was given no other option and was told that nothing could be done for me in store if they could not keep the damaged phone. I asked about my clothing and they told me that they could make no promises until the phone was captured. I left one hour before the store closed and unsatisfied with the customer service in store, I took back the damaged phone and returned home," he further said.

The latest incident comes days after an iPhone X allegedly exploded while updating to the company's latest iOS 12.2.1 update. Apple was quick to respond and called it not an "expected behaviour." 

@Apple iPhone X just got hot and exploded in the process of upgrading to 12.1 IOS. What's going on here??? pic.twitter.com/OhljIICJan

— Rocky Mohamadali (@rocky_mohamad) November 14, 2018

While it may be the first-ever case of iPhone XS Max exploding, smartphones catching fire or overheating is certainly not new. Not long ago Samsung had to recall and end the production of its Galaxy Note 7 after multiple incidents of explosions and fire were reported worldwide.

Since then, there have been reports of phones from Xiaomi, Motorola and others brands catching fire.

One of the reasons behind phones exploding is believed to be the faulty lithium-ion batteries, used in most of the smartphones. A break or bend in the battery materials between cells could cause an internal circuit. Cheaper batteries come with minute metal particles that may come into contact with battery cells leading to short circuits.

In the case of Galaxy Note 7, Samsung said that the battery was too big for the casing of the phone causing them to overheat. "A short circuit within the battery may occur when there is damage to the separator that allows the positive and negative electrodes to meet within the jellyroll," the company had explained.