The iPhone has long since established itself as a reliable device. However, as we all know, nothing is perfect, and neither is an Apple smartphone.
If your iPhone is unresponsive, frozen, or has a black screen and nothing happens, there are several ways to fix it. The main one, of course, is to reboot. It is worth noting that the sequence of actions will differ for iPhones depending on the model.
If we talk about the causes, the freeze can be due to an incorrect iOS update, a software bug, or a hardware malfunction. But anyway, don’t rush to take the device to the service center.
Let’s take a closer look at how you can fix it yourself.
Reboot your iPhone
As I mentioned above, the process will differ depending on the model of your iPhone. So let’s look at each one.
On iPhone 8 or later, including iPhone SE (2nd and 3rd generation)
If you want to reboot your iPhone, you can follow these steps:
- Press and release the Volume Up button.
- Press and release the Volume Down button.
- Press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears.
On iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
- Press and hold the Side and Volume Down buttons.
- Wait for the Apple logo to appear.
On iPhone 6s or older
- Press and hold the Home button and the Side or Top Power button.
- Wait for the Apple logo to appear.
If your iPhone doesn’t turn on, you should try charging it and waiting for a while. Then try turning it back on again.
If your iPhone doesn’t turn on even after you put it on charge, you should go to the service center, where they will diagnose and give you a detailed answer.
How to fix a frozen iPhone by reinstalling iOS
If your iPhone is just hung up on power, you can still try to fix it by reinstalling iOS. This is a good option if your iPhone successfully restarts but can’t surpass the Apple logo. Again, the settings are slightly different depending on the model of your iPhone. Moreover, you also need a PC and iTunes installed on it.
So do the following:
- First, connect your iPhone to your PC.
- On macOS Catalina, open Finder.
- On macOS Mojave or later, and on Windows, open iTunes.
- After that, select your iPhone.
- Then switch it to recovery mode by following these steps:
- On iPhone 8 or later – press and release the Volume Up button, press and release the Volume Down button, then press and hold the Side button until the recovery mode screen appears, showing the Lightning connector and the iTunes logo.
- On iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus – hold down the Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously until the recovery mode screen appears.
- On iPhone 6s or earlier models – press and hold the Power button and Home button simultaneously until the recovery mode screen appears.
- When prompted to perform a restore or update, select Update.
Once you have completed these steps, iTunes will update your iPhone without deleting any apps or data. It should take no more than 15 minutes. However, don’t select Restore if you don’t want to erase all of your data.
Sometimes it happens that the Update button doesn’t work. Then you have to press Restore. This will be your only option to restore your iPhone. However, remember that this way, you will reset your iPhone to factory settings, and all your data will be deleted. Therefore, in this case, it is recommended that you first contact Apple Support.
