iPhone X screen ‘freezing’ in cold weather, but fix is coming

Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, introduces the iPhone X during a launch event in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam - HP1ED9C1I90DE

Apple has acknowledged a problem with its iPhone X that it plans to fix in a future software update.

Users have taken a Reddit thread to complain that the iPhone X's screen becomes unresponsive when they step outside into the cold. When they come back inside where it's warmer, the iPhone X goes back to operating normally. Not all iPhone X owners have experienced the problem, but according to the Redditors, a sizable portion are able to replicate the issue when they go outside in the cold.

In a statement to Loop Insight, which earlier reported on the Reddit thread, Apple said that it's "aware of instances where the iPhone X screen will become temporarily unresponsive to touch after a rapid change to a cold environment." While the company didn't say how many iPhone X users were affected by the flaw, it did say that the screen will return to normal operation after "several seconds."

We took our iPhone X review unit outside this morning, going from a toasty 68 degrees to 41 degrees, and the screen remained responsive as we surfed the web and clicked on emails. Regardless, Apple is planning to fix the problem in an upcoming software update.

According to Loop Insight, which dug through the Reddit forums, it's not immediately clear why the iPhone X will be fine in some cases and react abnormally in others. Users have postulated that it could be certain models affected, but again, Apple hasn't said what it might be.

In a support page entry, Apple said that it recommends using the iPhone X in the 32-degree to 95-degree temperature range. The company added that using the device in temperatures outside that range "might cause the device to change its behavior to regulate its temperature."

Interestingly, the support page suggests the iPhone X's problem goes beyond just turning the screen off and might actually turn off the entire handset. Apple also said that low temperatures could cause a "temporarily" shorter battery life.

"Battery life will return to normal when you bring the device back to higher ambient temperatures," Apple said on the support page.

Apple has yet to announce when it'll release the software update to fix the cold weather problem.