During my recent Nevada and Mojave trip, there were a couple occasions when the screen on my iPhone would start getting dim while I was flying the Mavic, quickly reaching a point where I could barely see anything. In fact the first time it happened I had to stop the flight because I couldn't see anything, and then suddenly the app seemed to disconnect or something, and I had to use the RTH button on the controller to bring back the drone and land it.

The screen would remain dark even after shutting off the app and disconnecting the phone physically from the controller. After a short time it would go back to normal.


On each of these occasions I was flying in very hot conditions in the desert, with temperatures near or above 100 F. So I'm wondering if the heat had anything to do with it. Does the iPhone do this as a protective feature to prevent overheating? Or is something else going on?

May I know which type of iPhone do you use? High temperature may trigger the protective feature of iOS devices. Please cool down the mobile and check the performance with a sunshade or a monitor hood.

It's an iPhone 7+

I shaded it with my body, so it wasn't in direct sunlight, but the air temperature was at least 100.

Ray_Dunakin Posted at 2017-8-2 11:39
It's an iPhone 7+

I shaded it with my body, so it wasn't in direct sunlight, but the air temperature was at least 100.

Yeah, I've had that happen. Doesn't help that we tend to turn up the display brightness to combat bright sun, which only adds to the heat load. I've actually had my phone shut down when using it for geocaching on really hot days.

In my opinion I would say that this heat is far too great to fly your Mavic.
Did you feel the Mavic's battery? It must have been close to meltdown.
I have been flying my Mavic a few weeks ago when it was close to 35°C and the Mavic's battery was almost at 65°C, which is way over the specs recommended by DJI.
Your iPhone has probably activated thermal shutdown of itself to avoid damage to your phone.

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