I recently plugged my iPhone 13 into a charger at the airport, and suddenly my screen started flickering. It looked like something out of a movie when a device gets hacked, with some sections even turning yellow. I quickly removed it, but the flickering continued for about 30 seconds before the screen went black and shut off for another 30 seconds before returning to normal. This has me worried! I've previously noticed very slight flickering over the past two weeks, and while I haven't had any identity breaches, I'm anxious about whether my phone is hacked or if something else is wrong. Just to clarify, I was using my own charger with a charging brick, not directly connected to a USB port, and it was plugged into a normal AC outlet. My phone felt very hot during this. What do you think? Am I at risk of being hacked?
3 Answers
It sounds like you didn’t get hacked! Since you were using a regular AC outlet with your own charger, the flickering may be due to a failing battery or issues with the power management board. Those can cause strange effects without any hacking involved. If it’s a hardware issue, replacing the faulty part might fix your phone, but be sure you have backups just in case there’s more damage to the motherboard.
Sounds like a bad airport charger may have caused the problem due to incorrect voltage. In general, it’s best to avoid using those public chargers. Always bring your own cable and power brick!
I really doubt it. Even if the charger wasn't yours, it's unlikely you'd have been hacked.
Just to confirm, I did use my own charger and cable with an AC outlet. My charger regulates the output, so I don't think it was anything I did wrong unless there was a fault with my charger.