Customers claim newly released iPhone 8 Plus handsets 'split'

Apple is investigating claims its latest iPhones 8 Plus mobiles are splitting shortly after customers bought the latest must-have pieces of technology.

The highly-anticipated phone was launched on September 22.

Two reports on social media, one from Taiwan, and the other in Japan, showed photographs of the $1000 devices with their screen appearing to have become separated from the rest of the phone.

The customer in Taiwan claimed her phone began to split while the phone was on charge, according to Next Web.

The Japanese user reported his device was already split when he opened his box.

It is not believed either fault was caused by an explosion or fire, that resulted in the problem with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, shortly after its launch last year due to battery issues.

Samsung confirmed at least 35 cases of violent explosions during its worldwide product recall.

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Apple confirmed in a statement it was aware of the reported issues and was investigating.

The complaint comes after several owners of the latest smartphones experienced an irritating crackling sound when making calls.

The technology giant said last week it was working on the issue and would send out a software update to fix the problem once it had been identified.