Over the last week, six reports have come to light which show the phones splitting apart soon after they start to be used. In all cases the battery inside the phone has swollen rendering the phone unusable. It is not yet clear whether the swollen batteries are a few isolated cases or are indicative of a bigger issue. The first report about an affected iPhone 8 Plus came from Taiwan. Phones with similar problems have now emerged in Japan, China, Canada, Greece and Hong Kong. In a statement, Apple said it was aware of the reports and was "looking into" what might have caused the fault.