Surfer claims iPhone 7 exploded into flames inside his car

A surf instructor has claimed his new iPhone 7 exploded into flames inside his car.

Mat Jones, from Sydney, left his one-week-old phone underneath a pile of clothes in his car while he was taking a surf lesson.

When he returned, his car was filled with smoke and a pair of trousers he left inside the vehicle were ablaze.

Jones grabbed the trousers and threw them onto the ground as smoke billowed out of the car.

"As I look into my car you could not see inside the car. All the windows were just black," he told 7 News.

"A big heatwave came out of the car.

"Ash was coming from inside the pants. Once you unwrapped the pants, the phone was just melting inside of it."

He shook the phone, which costs more than a $1,000 new, out of the burning clothes and filmed the smouldering remains of his handset.

"Here's the phone - total burnout," the surf instructor can be heard saying in the recording.

Jones insists he bought the phone a week ago and that he has not damaged it or used a dodgy charger.

An Apple spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia that the company was in touch with Jones and that it had launched an investigation.

It is possible for lithium-ion batteries - the kind used in iPhone 7s - to catch fire when exposed to heat.

The incident comes after Samsung axed its Galaxy Note 7 phone after a number of the devices overheated and burst into flames. The decision could cost the firm US$19 billion.