Gullible People Are Microwaving Their iPhones Because of a Twitter Prank, Don’t Try This at Home

As advertised, using the new “Wave” technology in iOS 8 will quickly fill your phone’s battery—with fire, smoke, and explosions, that is. Who knew that putting metal objects into the microwave wouldn’t end well? These people need more Jennifer Lawrence in their lives.

Important life lesson learned.

The hoax follows a similar one from last year, when 4Chan users tried to convince iPhone owners that iOS 7 could sense when a phone was submerged in water and automatically protect itself by shutting off the phone’s power. When the iPhone 6 was announced, 4Chan users began brainstorming a new hoax as shown in screenshots on a Reddit thread. From there, the idea of “wave” charging caught on and was passed around Twitter with an Apple-inspired ad for the feature under the hashtag #AppleWave.

Just like the waterproofing, they make it sound like the feature can be enabled through software alone and will work on any iOS 8 device, and, well, it looks like people have believed them (which I know is what you’re really here for).

Of course, there’s no way to know whether or not these people actually microwaved their phones or are just playing into the joke, which there’s also no shortage of.

While my initial reaction to this was definitely a laugh at how gullible people would have to be to try microwaving their iPhones, you’d also have to be a fairly large jerk to deliberately spread a hoax that you know is costing people expensive technology. Being a jerk is not better than being gullible. Please remember the power of the masses, which you can also learn about through movie GIFs.

(via CBC News)

Previously in real Apple things

• Apple gave iTunes users a way to permanently delete that U2 album
• Apple’s phones do have plenty of actual new features… if this were 2012
• Samsung’s “It Doesn’t Take a Genius” pokes fun at Apple

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Dan Van Winkle

Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct Geekosystem (RIP), and then at The Mary Sue starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at Smash Bros.

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