Gullible iOS users are being tricked into microwaving their phones

The iOS 8 update brings a number of cool new features to Apple devices, but one thing it most certainly does not do is enable wireless charging via a microwave. Why is that something that ever needs to be said? Because someone made an Apple-style graphic explaining the benefits of “Wave,” a fake technology that lets you charge an iPhone by popping it in the microwave. According to the graphic, Wave sucks in power from the microwave radiation used by the appliance to cook food. This marvel of fake technology works by loading updated radio baseband drivers that “synchronize with the microwave’s frequencies” to charge the phone.

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. 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.