Apple Weather App shows extreme temperatures for multiple Chinese cities, sparking widespread online discussion about ‘bug’

Early Wednesday morning, Chinese netizens reported a suspected bug in Apple’s native Weather app, which incorrectly forecast extreme lows of -31 C degree to -32 C degree for November 13 across several Chinese cities, sparking widespread discussion online.

The apparent glitch even prompted a response from China’s meteorological authority, which such extreme low temperatures would not occur at this time of year in those regions even under extreme El Niño weather event.

While the glitch appeared to have been fixed as of press time on Wednesday, this incident adds to growing criticism among some Chinese netizens over Apple’s products, including the new iPhone Duo.

Around 1 am on Wednesday, some netizens across multiple cities shared screenshots of local weather forecasts on social media. Temperatures listed for dates before November 13 remained within normal ranges, and the temperature curve showed a sharp drop overnight on the day.

The screenshots showed that Apple’s native Weather app on iPhones displayed an abrupt temperature plunge for November 13 in Beijing, Jinan, Wuhan, Shanghai and other locations, with projected lows as cold as -31 C degree to -32 C degree.

That prompted some concerns about an incoming cold wave, though many believed it was merely a phone “bug” and cracked jokes about an “apocalypse.” By around 8 am the same day, the extreme cold temperature figures had disappeared, and forecasts returned to realistic values, according to media reports.

The China’s Weather, official social‑media account of the, dismissed the bizarre cold snap forecast on Wednesday morning on Sina Weibo. “A low of ‑32 C degree? There is no such temperature swing. The display has returned to normal,” it posted. It added that even amid the strongest‑on‑record El Niño event, such bitter cold would not occur at this time of year in those regions.

Weather blogger Fengyun Mengyuan also shared a technical explanation for the glitch on Sina Weibo, claiming that the anomaly was likely not a precision error but an issue within the weather model system itself.

The blogger said the erroneous frigid reading was confined to around 20:00 Beijing Time on November 13, with temperatures before and after that hour remaining largely normal. Each day, 8 pm Beijing Time, equivalent to 12:00 UTC, is a key output hour for numerical weather prediction models. It is probable that the forecast data for this specific timestamp contained a major deviation, which was then interpolated into a sharp temperature plunge on the app.

No official statement from Apple has been released regarding the root cause of the temporary data error as of press time.

Previously, two flagship additions to Apple's product lineup – the iPhone 18 Pro series and its first foldable model, the iPhone Duo – have triggered a tidal wave of user complaints in China.

Within days of its launch, the iPhone Duo suffered widespread reports of stiff hinges, inner screen cracks along the fold, and display problems, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max experienced cellular failures that rendered users unable to place calls, with no immediate fix available, according to media reports.

Global Times