Fix iPhone 7 Defective Battery, Stuck In Boot Loop Error

Do you have a battery issue with your #iPhone7? This post might help. Our iPhone 7 post for today discusses the ways — from simple to complex — on how to deal with a possible battery problem. We also briefly provide suggestions on what an iPhone 7 owner can do when faced with a problem wherein his/her phone fails to turn on.

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

Fix iPhone 7 Defective Battery, Stuck In Boot Loop Error

Problem 1: How to troubleshoot a defective iPhone 7 battery, stuck in boot loop

My iPhone 7 keeps going to black screen and have the loading symbol. Like it’s restarting over and over again. It’s never don’t this before. I didn’t charge phone previous night it got down to 24% battery. It was a cold morning. I went to load Google maps and it froze then started going black. And every time it would come back to the pass code screen where I had to type it in, cleared any open windows. Tried again Google maps wouldn’t work, tried to access any application – and it would work for about 2 seconds then go black again. Turned off and back still persisted. Did a hard reset with volume and power button still persisted. Let charge to 100%. Problem still persisting. And when tried later to do another hard reset, phone started getting hot. What do I do????? — Sarah Gambalie

Solution: Hi Sarah. We don’t know a lot about your phone’s history but since you mentioned that it coincidentally occurred during a chilly morning, there’s a chance that this may be temperature-related. We presume of course that the phone’s hardware was not damaged by water or by accidental drop. If any of these things happened before contacting us, don’t waste your time looking for software solutions. Skip everything that we say further on and just send the phone in. Hardware issue cannot be fixed by doing software troubleshooting.

Cold can damage iPhone battery

Your iPhone’s battery is designed to operate in a particular range of temperature of between 0 and 35 degrees Celsius (32 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit). Too much heat (beyond 35 degrees Celsius) can lead to overheating and eventually, battery damage. The same is true for too much cold. Exposing the battery to below 0 degrees Celsius can lead to undesirable chemical changes inside. These changes may impact the battery in both the short and long term. Lithium-based batteries, like the one in your iPhone, work best in room temperature, just like you do. With that similarity, always treat your phone as another being in need of proper care.

Charge the phone at room temperature

We don’t know how cold your location gets but we suggest that you wait until ambient temperature reaches the normal 27 degrees Celsius before attempting another charge. We believe that the symptoms you’re experiencing are brought about by a malfunctioning battery. If you’re lucky and the battery has only suffered temporary hiccup, you may be able to charge it back up normally. It should be charged properly before you must do further troubleshooting. If the phone appears to not charge properly anymore, there may be nothing much that you can do. In this case, you should treat the issue as a hardware malfunction and contact Apple for battery or phone replacement.

Recalibrate the battery

If you can still charge the battery and you can see that it does so until power level reaches 100%, you must then try to recalibrate it together with the operating system. A recalibration is needed to ensure that iOS detects the actual power levels of the battery. Not doing this may lead to continues trouble or random reboot issue.

By suggesting this step, we assume of course that your phone will start working back after you’ve charged it normally. If it continues to shut down on its own and won’t stay booted up, just skip this troubleshooting step.

To recalibrate the battery, follow these steps:

  1. Drain the battery completely. This means using your device until it powers down by its own and the battery level reads 0%.
  2. Charge the phone until it reaches 100%. Be sure to use original charging equipment for your iPhone and let it charge up completely. Do not unplug your device for at least two more hours and also don’t use it while charging.
  3. After the elapsed time, unplug your device.
  4. Perform a warm restart by holding the Power and Home buttons simultaneously until the Apple logo appears.
  5. Use your iPhone until it completely ran out of power again.
  6. Repeat steps 1-5.

Factory reset the device via DFU Mode

If nothing comes out positive after a battery calibration, or if you can’t do it at all, the last troubleshooting step that you must try is by updating the phone thru DFU Mode. It’s basically a factory reset but done with the help of a computer. To do it, follow these steps:

  1. In your computer, close all active apps.
  2. Open iTunes.
  3. Turn off your iPhone. If you can’t turn it off normally, let the battery drain to 0% so the phone powers down on its own. Charge the phone for at least an hour without attempting to turn it on.
  4. Connect your iPhone to the computer via USB cable.
  5. Press and hold the Power button for at least 3 seconds.
  6. Press and hold the Volume Down button on the left side of the iPhone while continuing to hold the Power button. Be sure to hold both Power and Volume Down keys for 10 seconds. If Apple logo appears at this time, repeat steps 5 and 6. Apple logo should not show at all.
  7. Continue to hold Volume Down key for another 5 seconds. If the Plug into iTunes screen is displayed, repeat steps 5-7. Plug into iTunes screen should not show up.
  8. You’ll know that your phone is in DFU mode if the screen remains black. Your computer should then tell you that iTunes has detected an iPhone.
  9. Follow the on-screen steps in your computer to do a full recovery.

Contact Apple

If not one of the solutions above won’t help fix the issue, then you should consider sending the phone in. Contact Apple so they can diagnose the issue. If they’ll find out that the battery is defective and it’s still covered under warranty, repair will be free. If the phone is no longer in warranty or doesn’t have AppleCare+, you will have to shoulder the cost of the repair. Repair fee can vary depending on the cause of the problem.

Problem 2: iPhone 7 screen alternates between white and black, won’t turn on

The basic issue is that my phone won’t turn on. Last night I plugged in my phone as I charge my phone overnight and it said that it was at 31% and that it was charging. When I woke up this morning, my phone was still plugged and it showed the white screen that usually means it’s turning on. After a couple of seconds it went black and then showed the white screen again. This cycle of white/black/white/black with a couple seconds in between continued as long as it was plugged in. I unplugged it and the screen went black. I held down the “turn off” button for a while to no avail, getting similar results when I held down the “turn off” button and home button at the same time. The screen would stay completely black, not even showing the battery symbol to tell me that the phone is dead, if that even is the case. I tried multiple chargers with the black/white cycle occurring on each one. I held down the “turn off” button and home button together while it was plugged in and it would only make it stay black for as long as I was holding it down, resuming the cycle when I let go. I tried plugging it into two computers, neither of which registered the phone and the phone staying black the entire time. I’m a bit at a loss. Any advice or do I need to just take it to an Apple Store? Thanks. — Annie Wadsworth

Solution: Hi Annie. This cycle of your phone turning on and off by itself is what we call boot loop. This type of issue is often just a manifestation of a deeper issue. In order to fix it, the root cause must be identified first. Unfortunately, you did not include the full history of the device or the events that may have led to the issue so we can’t help you in identifying where the problem may be coming from. In a lot of iPhone devices exhibiting this issue, the problem is battery-related. Lithium-based batteries like the one in your device can be damaged in more ways than one.

If it’s not a battery issue, there are other possible reasons for your problem such as a bad power management IC and other unknown motherboard issue.

Without the ability to power back on, there’s very little to nothing that can be done in this case. iOS troubleshooting is mostly software in nature, which means that your issue, which is probably caused by bad hardware like a broken battery, can only be effectively resolved via repair. To try and check if that is true, be sure to factory reset the phone via DFU Mode. Steps are provided above.

Remember, factory reset in your case is just a way of checking if your device has a software issue or not. Most software problems are addressed by a factory reset but if nothing changes after you do it, you must bring it back to Apple or its authorized service center for repair. Only after a thorough hardware examination can diagnosis be made. Depending on the problem, you may or may not have to pay for the repair.

Problem 3: iPhone 7 screen not turning on due to physical damage

I threw my phone this morning and it landed on the ground with the screen facing up. It had an otterbox case on it, and luckily the outside screen didn’t even have a scratch. When I turned my phone back on, I noticed that there are white, almost clear horizontal lines appearing on the display. The touchscreen won’t respond, but the On/Off button and the home button both work perfectly fine. I cannot access anything on my phone, because I turned off siri months ago. Besides, I have tried restarting my phone so now it will not respond to touch ID. People are telling me that the internal screen is most likely shattered, is that true? — Teagan Anders

Solution: Hi Teagan. If you’re lucky and damage is only isolated to the screen assembly, replacing it would bring the phone back to its normal working order. Otherwise, you may end up paying more for the repair, especially if the motherboard is affected as well. Let Apple do the repair so proper hardware assessment can be done.

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