Black screen

[rainbowcat]

My iPhone SE just croaked for no reason I can see. I used it, put it down, and when I went to make another call, the screen was black and it refused to turn on. I've tried pushing the volume keys and then the power key - nothing. I've charged it for 30 minutes, tried again and nothing. Any hope for this, or am I fated to take a 90 minute trip to Apple? I don't trust Best Buy...

 

[MacInWin]

Even with the screen black, go through the power off sequence. You won't see anything but the key sequence may still work. It happened to my wife's iPhone once, but it recovered.

If your iPhone won't turn on or is frozen - Apple Support

If your iPhone has a frozen screen or becomes stuck, learn what to do.

support.apple.com

 

[rainbowcat]

Even with the screen black, go through the power off sequence. You won't see anything but the key sequence may still work. It happened to my wife's iPhone once, but it recovered.

If your iPhone won't turn on or is frozen - Apple Support

If your iPhone has a frozen screen or becomes stuck, learn what to do.

support.apple.com

I went through the power off sequence twice. It's still black!

 

[MacInWin]

<<cue the ominous music>>

Well, if you did that properly and the screen is still black, the outlook isn't good. I guess it's a trip to Apple for you.

However, before I did that, I would get a support call going with Apple to see if they have any other suggestions. If the iPhone is out of warranty, you might not be able to get much from them, but if not, at least you can make an appointment for the Apple Store.

<<fade ominous music>>

 

[rainbowcat]

<<cue the ominous music>>

Well, if you did that properly and the screen is still black, the outlook isn't good. I guess it's a trip to Apple for you.

However, before I did that, I would get a support call going with Apple to see if they have any other suggestions. If the iPhone is out of warranty, you might not be able to get much from them, but if not, at least you can make an appointment for the Apple Store.

<<fade ominous music>>

Thanks Jake. I had that ominous feeling...

 

[MacInWin]

You might also try attaching to your Mac by cable, then open Finder to see if it connected. You can try a reset from there if it did.

 

[rainbowcat]

You might also try attaching to your Mac by cable, then open Finder to see if it connected. You can try a reset from there if it did.

Thanks - I'm going to try that first thing in the morning. It's very late here.

 

[rainbowcat]

Jake - that worked! Plugged the phone into my Mac desktop and the phone turned on! You're a genius! Thank you so much!

 

[MacInWin]

Jake - that worked! Plugged the phone into my Mac desktop and the phone turned on! You're a genius! Thank you so much!

Not so much a genius, as somebody who went through this a couple of months ago. Got my wife a new iPhone 14 Max and about two months in the screen went black. Tried a couple of things, like you. Nothing worked. Tried calling it and it rang, so it was working, sort of. Attached to my MBP, fiddled a bit with Finder and it restarted! Restored from her backup, got her going again. There was a small spate of those early after the iPhone 14 was released, but I think it turned out to be a software issue. An update to iOS addressed it, supposedly. In any event, it's not happened again to us.

 

[rainbowcat]

Not so much a genius, as somebody who went through this a couple of months ago. Got my wife a new iPhone 14 Max and about two months in the screen went black. Tried a couple of things, like you. Nothing worked. Tried calling it and it rang, so it was working, sort of. Attached to my MBP, fiddled a bit with Finder and it restarted! Restored from her backup, got her going again. There was a small spate of those early after the iPhone 14 was released, but I think it turned out to be a software issue. An update to iOS addressed it, supposedly. In any event, it's not happened again to us.

Still think you're a genius! And I'm really lucky, because when my spouse called my phone it didn't even ring. You saved me from a world of trouble!

 

[agwilliams]

My wife has had her iPhone SE from new (it's now 2.5 years old) with no problems until this morning, when she had a black screen. The battery had been at 70% when she stopped using it yesterday evening, but in the early hours of this morning it completely flattened. As far as we know, there was no legitimate use of the SE until she plugged it on to recharge. Fortunately recharging has worked normally, but this failure is worrying. Is this a known problem and can anything be done about it?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Jimmysb]

My SE (early model) has done that, and my previous iPhone, 2 reasons 1) little or no signal and the phone searching for a signal uses lots of power, 2) as I have done on my current iPhone 13, left the camera on, and this does not auto shut off, luckily the power was not completely drained, and was able to see the "errors of my ways", always remembering to switch the camera off.

 

[IWT]

left the camera on, and this does not auto shut off,

May I request further details. Sorry to bother you but when you say you "left the camera on" -

1. Do you mean that the camera app was active - that is - aperture open & ready to take a pic, only waiting for you to tap on the round white circle?

2. Do you mean that the camera was "on" in the sense that you had flicked the camera app upwards and it was running in the background?

It's a crucial matter. I frequently flick the camera app into the background rather that quitting it. I have never experienced any power drain.

But I can see that if I was all ready to take a pic and left it in that state on the screen, there might be a power drain; but even then, the iPhone would automatically go into sleep mode after a time period determined by the user. Surely no power drain then?

I'd be grateful for a reply.

Ian

 

[Jimmysb]

May I request further details. Sorry to bother you but when you say you "left the camera on" -

1. Do you mean that the camera app was active - that is - aperture open & ready to take a pic, only waiting for you to tap on the round white circle?

2. Do you mean that the camera was "on" in the sense that you had flicked the camera app upwards and it was running in the background?

It's a crucial matter. I frequently flick the camera app into the background rather that quitting it. I have never experienced any power drain.

But I can see that if I was all ready to take a pic and left it in that state on the screen, there might be a power drain; but even then, the iPhone would automatically go into sleep mode after a time period determined by the user. Surely no power drain then?

I'd be grateful for a reply.

Ian

I had taken a photo, and instead of flicking upward to be a background (your second option I think), I had left the camera active, so whilst in my pocket it was ready to take a photo (your first option).
It had been some hours since use, and was around 85% battery power left, when I took is out of my pocket I got the low battery warning (below 20%). On checking the battery usage indicator the was a steady steep downward trend, and it showed camera as being the app using the power, and as said it was still active, it had not gone to sleep.

 

[IWT]

OK, Jim. A thoughtful & honest reply.

May I say, without offence, that you now have a solution. You flick up any app that no longer is required. This puts it in "rest" mode (my words) and you will be all right.

My followup question is: in System Settings, what have you set as the "Auto Lock" which closes the iPhone to all apps but keeps the iPhone "alert".

This is to be found in Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock (the options are 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, NEVER).

Which setting do you have? Because no matter how you leave an app running, the Auto-Lock will in a way, allow the iPhone to go into "sleep" mode, thus protecting you from apps still running except in the background - unless you chose Never.

Ian

 

[Jimmysb]

OK, Jim. A thoughtful & honest reply.

May I say, without offence, that you now have a solution. You flick up any app that no longer is required. This puts it in "rest" mode (my words) and you will be all right.

My followup question is: in System Settings, what have you set as the "Auto Lock" which closes the iPhone to all apps but keeps the iPhone "alert".

This is to be found in Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock (the options are 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, NEVER).

Which setting do you have? Because no matter how you leave an app running, the Auto-Lock will in a way, allow the iPhone to go into "sleep" mode, thus protecting you from apps still running except in the background - unless you chose Never.

Ian

Auto lock is on 30 seconds, and when in settings (or other screen), checking it, it locked after 30 seconds, in camera mode (I sat and watched it) it did NOT lock after 2 minutes, so I assume auto lock does not apply to the camera.

 

[IWT]

Well I'm blowed, Jim B.

You are perfectly correct. I opened the Camera app, left it open as if I was about to take a pic and, lo and behold it remained open.

So kudos to you and a shock to most of us, I guess.

Furthermore; if I have Camera app open and click the "Turn Off" button on the right, it does go blank but no click noise to accompany that. Whereas, if I flick the app upwards to put it into the background and then use the side button, I get the reassuring click sound!

Lesson learnt: always flick up the Camera app to put it into the background where Auto Lock does certainly work; or quit the app. Or just use the side button to put it to sleep after the flick up.

You have a solution and I've leant something. Thanks.

Ian

 

[ferrarr]

I have a few apps that don't allow the phone to sleep/lock. I still sometimes forget about swiping up to close them.

 

[IWT]

about swiping up

Ah yes. Swiping up is more elegant than flicking up

Sometimes, the exact word eludes my memory.

But what I said is true for any app really. Flick up then close out.

Ian