LAPD has to warn people not to microwave their iPhones

Due to the recent iPhone 6 hoax created by a group of 4chan tricksters during the past week, the LAPD decided to issue a warning about the hoax on the official LAPD Communications Twitter account yesterday. Attached to the graphic that 4chan was using to perpetuate the hoax, a LAPD representative wrote “This #Wave capability is a #hoax. Don’t be fooled into microwaving your #iPhone6. #Apple #Smartphone.” The hoax was specifically designed to convince new iPhone 6 owners to place their smartphones in a microwave in order to enable a fast charging mode that would recharge the phone in about a minute.

No, the latest iPhone software does not allow for the device to be quickly charged by heating it up in the microwave, despite some convincing, but very fake online ads. Microwaving the phone will not only ruin the device, it could cause a fire or explosion, authorities said. But a hoax floating around the Internet seemed so legitimate to some that even police are spreading the warning, as noted by the Los Angeles Police Department communications unit on Twitter. “This #Wave capability is a #hoax. Don’t be fooled into microwaving your #iPhone6. #Apple #Smartphone,” the LAPD communications unit tweeted. In a photoshopped ad that looks authentic, the hoax claims that the most recent software, iOS8, has a feature called “Wave,” which allows for the quick charging. The directions, which again, are a hoax, call for the phone to be “charged” for 60 seconds at 700W or 70 seconds at 800W. The fake ad even goes on to say the charging time should not exceed 300 seconds. The charging instructions, of course, are false.