The Internet Is Trying To Trick You Into Microwaving Your iPhone

For The Love Of God, Don't Put Your iPhone In The Microwave

There's a hoax going around the Internet instructing people to put their iPhone in a microwave in order to charge it.

Let us be very clear here: Do. Not. Put. Your. Phone. In. A. Microwave.

On Wednesday, anyone with an iPhone purchased in the past three years could download iOS 8, Apple's shiny new operating system. iOS 8 has many fun new features, including snappier email, smarter autocorrect and a fitness tracker.

But an image circulating on Twitter describes one fun, "exclusive" feature that's definitely not included in iOS 8. It claims that you can wirelessly charge an iPhone by putting it in the microwave for 60 to 70 seconds.

microwave iphone

Despite the sleek Apple-esque design of the explainer for the "feature," there are a couple telltale signs that this image is fake. One, there's no "i" in front of "Wave." Duh. Two, on what Earth would it be a good idea to put a hunk of metal in a microwave?

Like most awful things on the Internet, it seems like this hoax may have originated on 4chan, according to screengrabs posted on Reddit.

microwave iphone

As you may recall, 4chan is the anarchistic Internet forum that convinced dozens of people that last year's new iOS made iPhones waterproof. (It did not.)

But the idea that a microwave could charge a phone didn't start on 4chan. It's actually a longstanding Internet hoax:

So did some poor, unfortunate souls fall for the prank? It's hard to tell, because you can't really trust what anyone says online. One guy tweeting under the handle @Fallenbot initially claimed he microwaved his phone...

I tried using the new IOS 8 feature WAVE where you can charge your phone with a microwave, does not work @Apple pic.twitter.com/IWsWnVboUl

— nick (@Fallenbot) September 18, 2014

...before clarifying that his tweet was, basically, a hoax within a hoax.

The amount of people that believe this pic.twitter.com/BktAkFobjn

— nick (@Fallenbot) September 18, 2014

Let's hope no one actually tried.

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