Apple sold 15 million iPhones in the second quarter of 2020, giving it nearly a 50 percent share of the smartphone market in the U.S.
While many of those buyers were people upgrading from old models or buying their first iPhone, some of them were people who were having trouble with their current phone and bought a new one to “fix” the problem.
That seems like an expensive solution, doesn’t it? Let’s look at some Apple iPhone troubleshooting tips that can help you avoid the cost of a new phone sooner than necessary.
The First Step for Apple iPhone Troubleshooting
An iPhone is ultimately a computer like the one sitting on your desk at home or the office. It looks and operates differently but when you boil it down to the components inside, it’s not as different as it seems.
If you’ve used a computer for any length of time, you likely know that sometimes the best way to fix a problem is to reboot it. That same tip applies to iPhones.
If something isn’t working quite right, sometimes all it takes is a restart to get everything sorted out. The process varies depending on the model of iPhone but every generation has a simple way to restart the phone.
Your iPhone Isn’t Charging
There’s nothing worse than grabbing your phone when you head out the door in the morning and seeing that it didn’t charge overnight, even though you had it plugged in.
If your iPhone isn’t charging, try a different cable. With the cable getting plugged and unplugged so often, they do eventually break down. If a new cable still doesn’t charge the phone, try swapping the power block or USB port it’s plugged into as well, just to be safe.
If you still have trouble after those steps, it could be a problem with either the battery or the charging port on the phone. Fruit Fixed’s iPhone repair service can help with either problem.
Short Battery Life
iPhone batteries wear out over time. The most obvious side-effect of this wear and tear is shorter battery life.
If your phone isn’t lasting as long on a charge as it used to, you can check the battery health in Settings to see how worn down it is. Open the Settings app then tap on Battery > Battery Health.
You’ll see the maximum capacity of the battery, relative to when it was brand new. You’ll also see the current performance capability based on the battery health. Once the capacity drops below a certain point, iOS starts to throttle (slow down) your phone to help extend the battery life.
If your battery is getting a bit long in the tooth, Fruit Fixed can help. We can replace the battery on all models from the iPhone 5 forward so it will hold a charge like the day you took it out of the box.
iPhone Won’t Turn On or Extremely Short Battery Life
There are a couple of unique situations that we should mention related to the first two Apple iPhone troubleshooting steps — charging problems and battery life.
If your iPhone won’t turn on at all or the battery life is extremely short, as in only a couple of minutes before shutting down, it could be a temperature problem. If you use your phone in extremely hot or cold environments, it can temporarily affect the battery.
If that’s the case, take your phone to somewhere with a more normal temperature. Once it adjusts to the new environment, it will likely work fine again.
Cracked or Shattered Screen
A cracked or shattered display is one of the most common iPhone problems. This is one problem that a simple restart isn’t going to fix though.
If you drop your iPhone or do something else that cracks the screen it may or may not still be usable. Sometimes you can still tap and swipe but the crack makes it hard to read the display. Other times, nothing works at all.
You should consider replacing the screen even if it seems to be working fine though, especially if it’s more than a simple crack. Piece of the glass can fall out and expose sharp edges which can be dangerous when you’re swiping your finger across them.
Fruit Fixed offers screen replacement services for models from the iPhone 5 forward for much less than it would cost to buy a new phone.
Can’t Install the Latest Version of iOS
Apple typically releases a major update to iOS (the iPhone operating system) every year when new models of the phone come out. They also release minor updates throughout the year.
It’s a good idea to keep your phone up to date so you have the latest security patches and you get any new features they add. Sometimes you’ll run into trouble installing a new version of iOS though.
There are two common reasons for this:
- Your phone doesn’t have enough storage available
- The new version doesn’t work on your phone
If you don’t have enough storage available for the iOS update to install itself, you’ll get a message during the update process. The only solution here is to delete some apps and data to free up enough space. Sometimes restarting your phone will also help since it deletes some temporary data during the restart.
Apple is one of the best smartphone companies for supporting older models. They usually support iPhones going back 4 or 5 generations with each new major iOS release.
Eventually, they have to drop support for older phones because they don’t have enough processing power, memory, or some other feature needed to run the new version.
If that’s the case, there’s nothing you can do besides upgrading to a newer phone. That doesn’t mean you have to buy the latest model though.
Fruit Fixed sells a range of older models of iPhone, letting you upgrade to a better device for a much lower cost than the latest flagship model.
Affordable Help for iPhone Problems
Once you go through these Apple iPhone troubleshooting steps, you’ll know if it’s something you can sort out yourself or if you need some professional assistance.
If the problem goes beyond a do-it-yourself fix, Fruit Fixed can help. We offer a range of affordable iPhone repair services to get your iPhone back in top working condition.
Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help.
