The surprising link between MR helium leaks and iPhone shutdowns

by John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | October 31, 2018

MRI

To test this hypothesis, Woolridge placed an iPhone 8 Plus in a sealed bag filled with helium, videotaping and recording on a stopwatch the duration of time it took for the gas to affect the device. Fast forward 8 minutes and 20 seconds later, and the phone locked up though the display remained on.

He then replicated the experiment in a lab with a helium atmosphere for a more realistic scenario. “My iPhone 8 lasted about four minutes in a helium atmosphere before it shut off entirely.”

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GE HealthCare’s Repair Center Solutions are an ideal complement to your in-house service team. We service a broad range of mobile devices, including monitors and cardiology devices, parts, and portable ultrasound systems and probes.

As the repair blog iFixit noted, the helium issue is actually referenced in the user guide for iPhone and Apple Watch.

"Exposing iPhone to environments having high concentrations of industrial chemicals, including near evaporating liquified gasses such as helium, may damage or impair iPhone functionality," according to the guide.

Apple directs users who experience difficulty with their devices following a helium leak not to charge them and air them out over one week to allow the helium to dissipate. Devices should then be charged for one hour and be fully operational once more.

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(35) (6) (5) Gary Provenzano Wireless Chargers November 01, 2018 09:53 Sorry, it's the ramp up , the sweeping magnetic field coupling into the inductive wireless charger component of the phones. Nice Try! Log inor Register to rate and post a comment (93) (21) (1) (12) Steven Ford helium leak affects iPhones November 02, 2018 10:17 This happened, twice, at one of our installations, and I found it really hard to believe. It happened during the initial magnet cool-down, before the magnet was ramped, before the RF was turned on. It affected only certain iPhones and not android phones. This is a weird but true story. Log inor Register to rate and post a comment (35) (6) (5) Gary Provenzano re: helium leak affects iPhones November 03, 2018 03:19 So 1 PPM He gas finds it's way inside a cell phone. Maybe this is why Apple crashed yesterday. Log inor Register to rate and post a comment
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