iPhone 7 won’t turn on, screen stays black, overheating after repair, other issues

Hello and welcome to our latest #iPhone7 troubleshooting article! Today, we address some cases of users wondering what to do after their phones started to boot up normally, or showing signs of hardware issues after repair. We hope you’ll find our content informative.



Below are specific topics we’re bringing for you today:

Problem 1: iPhone 7 fails to boot up normally, won’t charge

Whenever my phone dies, it takes forever to turn back on and charge. I plug it into a charger and it will say it is turning back on, and it will buzz. The Apple symbol pops up but then the screen turns blue and it just goes back to being dead. And 45 seconds later, the apple symbol will re-appear, it will buzz, and then the screen will turn blue again and it will turn back off.

Usually I let it do this repeatedly until it turns on, but this time it is not turning on at all. If I unplug it from the charger, the symbol saying it needs to be charged appears. It will occasionally turn completely on to my home screen, but then turn back off in less than 2 seconds without me even touching it. I have tried multiple wires so I know it is not my charger. What do I do? — Sara

Solution: Hi Sara. The most likely reason for the problem is a hardware malfunction in one of the major components such as the battery, the charging port, power management IC, or the motherboard in general. If you’ve already tried leaving the phone charged for at least two hours without any sign of improvement, you should consider sending the phone in so a technician can physically check the hardware. An issue like this one needs careful check up of the parts mentioned above so only trained personnel can handle the task.

Obviously, software solutions, which are the ones we usually provide in our blog, are out of the question in this case. You can only perform software troubleshooting when the phone is on.

Given the symptoms you provided above, we think there may be a problem with your phone’s battery. A Lithium-based battery like the one in your phone starts to degrade the moment it left the factory. The rate of performance deterioration depends on how you use your device and how you take care of it in general. Power issues due to bad battery usually occurs once a phone reaches about 2 years from the day of unboxing. If your iPhone has been around, there’s a big chance that what you’re experiencing right now is being caused by the battery losing capacity to hold a charge. This means that replacing it will most likely bring the normal workings of your phone. If you think you can manage it, you can even replace the battery by yourself. We won’t recommend that you do it though, especially if you don’t have basic electronics knowledge as well as the necessary kit. It won’t be free, as you’ll still need to buy a new battery and repair kit and it won’t guarantee that it will fix the issue.

The best thing to do is to let a professional fix the device so proper hardware diagnostics can be done. Remember, hardware repair is more than component replacement. Replacing the battery will be pointless if the issue is an entirely different component. Unless you are 100% positive that it’s a battery issue, don’t attempt to replace it on your own. As mentioned above, other parts can come into play so you’ll need to test those as well before ordering a replacement part.

Problem 2: iPhone 7 won’t turn on, screen stays black

Hello. I was using my iPhone 7 and the battery was low but it was in power save mode, it was around 18%. The screen started getting dimmer even though it was on full brightness, then green and purple lines went down the screen in the middle then all the way across the whole screen. I tried hitting the home button but my screen was froze so I hit the side button to shut the screen off and it was still froze. So I held the side and home button till the screen shut off, and continued holding it hoping the white apple screen would come on but nothing happened. I have since plugged it into four different power sources and it will not turn on or register anything. I plugged it into the laptop and the screen is still black and nothing happens when I hold any button, but iTunes does pop up and tries to update my phone (but I can’t allow it without having access to my phone I guess). Please help!! — Sarah Kroll

Solution: Hi Sarah. A normally working screen won’t suddenly show discoloration and shut down on its own in the middle of operation so your case must be hardware-related, just like

Sara’s above. That iTunes still detect the device is a good sign and is a clear indicator the operating system is still working at this time. Unfortunately, you’ll most likely end up with repair for this one since there’s virtually nothing that you can do if the screen stays black. Almost all activities on your phone depends on the screen so your device is basically a brick right now.

We know for a fact that Apple screen assembly are built to last for years so you either physically damaged the phone prior to this one, or there may be a software glitch that prevents it from working normally. Software-related bugs of this type are very rare though and they often have something to do with the operating system. If you never dropped the phone, exposed it water, heat or too much cold, there’s a small chance that you may fix the issue by attempting to update it via DFU mode. Here’s how:

  1. In your computer, close all active apps.
  2. Open iTunes.
  4. Connect your iPhone to the computer via USB cable.

If you can’t perform the steps above due to the screen failing to show anything, or the phone not turning back on, contact Apple for support; we don’t provide hardware troubleshooting and diagnostics.

Problem 3: iPhone 7 overheating after repair, speaker and front camera stopped working after repair

Hello. I dropped my phone a couple of days ago and other than a shattered screen, everything was working fine. I used it for two days with no problems then I got the screen repaired. After a third party company (not Apple) replaced my screen and LCD, I have had many problems with my phone. I cannot hear anything during a phone call, not even the ringing sound. I have had multiple people call me and they can hear me but I cannot hear them. On top of this, the front facing camera does not work. When I try to take a picture using the front facing camera, the screen is black. Even more, my phone slowly charges and loses battery very quickly. It also overheats very quickly when I use it. The overheating make it impossible to use because it continuously shuts down and reads “iphone needs to cool down before you use it.” Hopefully you have insight on why this is happening and how to fix it. — Sophie Shaw

Solution: Hi Sophie. First of all, be aware that your iPhone was physically damaged. Like exposing an electronic device to water, dropping it can lead to a lot of problems and not just the screen. Some problems may manifest right away, such as device failing to turn on, screen not working, or charging becoming erratic. In other cases, problems can only show at a later time depending on the damage in the motherboard. In other words, the moment that phone hit the ground and shattered the screen, there’s a big chance that the unnecessary shock may have also damaged some components inside making your device a damaged good right away.

Secondly, repairs are usually reactive and sometimes only addresses obvious symptoms or problems. In your case, since the screen was shattered and was the obvious problem, the technician may have simply replaced it without checking for other hardware faults. This means that other potential damaged components like the battery, charging port, or the motherboard in general remains unchecked. That’s why we want users to let Apple technicians do repair as much as possible because they know their product well and have the right tools to diagnose hardware issues. Leaving some critical components in their poor state, can cause problems at a later time, just like what’s happening right now.

Thirdly, repairs don’t usually guarantee full restoration, especially after an accidental drop or liquid exposure. If the phone’s motherboard has sustained extensive damage, the technician may hold that information from you since that can mean a more expensive motherboard replacement is needed. Replacing the obviously not working part like a broken screen is faster though more likely ineffective in the long run. We know it’s unethical but we saw it happen a lot of times in the past. What you can do now is to bring the phone back to the shop so you can ask them to check the device again (hopefully at no charge at all this time). Maybe they can do a better job this time. The issues with the speaker and front camera may be caused by a shoddy reassembly of the front camera, which is located on top/near the microphone area. If the technician was not careful, he/she may have damaged the flex cable or the pins causing both components to fail. The same may be true with the battery/charging port, which is now causing the overheating problem.


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