Cupertino may go for a hardware solution in next year’s iPhone 16 series to avoid future heat issues as iPhones continue to use faster chips.

A report this morning pointed to a new rumor, Apple is actively considering replacing the copper heat sink on the iPhone 15 with a graphene solution for the iPhone 16. Graphene offers superior thermal conductivity compared to copper and should be a noticeable upgrade on next year’s iPhones. The graphene heat sink would be paired with a new metal bracket housing for the battery to promote better heat transfer and cooling.

We should mention that this is still an early rumor so as usual take it with a grain of salt. Yet let it be known that Patently Apple covered a 2017 patent from Apple wherein they noted that their invention related to techniques for facilitating thermal transfer in a portable electronic device. The portable electronic device includes a battery pack, which further includes a battery cell. The battery pack may supply power to a set of components in the portable electronic device. The portable electronic device also includes a heat dissipator composed of graphene.

Apple has also been working on another future cooling system possibility that includes liquid cooling (2023).