iPhone XS Max rebooting (Message app, some calls, unlocking)
Hello there, I’ve been trying to solve a problem with my iPhone XS Max.
Since updating to 13.5, then 13.5.1, I’ve had a whole slew of problems.
After the 13.5 update, my phone was stuck in a bootloop. The only way to stop it was to restore the phone from recovery mode. (I tried hard reset and update firmware first). This got me to the Hello and set up screens, but after a few minutes, the phone would go black and bootloop again. The only to get out of it was to restore.
A week or so later, I tried again when 13.5.1 was released. I restored, and the phone started up “mostly” normally. This is where I am today. There are a few quirks that definitely cause the phone to go black and reboot: Going into messages, going into settings > messages & signing in
- Going into settings > messages - at first, if I hit sign in, the phone would go back and reboot, regardless if I used my Apple ID or a fresh account; After restoring from DFU mode, the screen goes black immediately when I go into this setting and reboots.
- Going into the messages app. Sometimes I can send a few messages, but generally after 1-2 messages, the phone goes back and reboots
- Intermittent: Unlocking the phone from “sleep” (ie if the screen goes dark) - The behavior around this is inconsistent. Sometimes the screen lights up and I can swipe up and things work; other times, it flashes on for a split second then boots again. Interestingly, if the phone is on the lock screen, if I turn on the flashlight or camera, the phone doesn’t crash through this action.
- Intermittent: I need to do a little more testing, but phone calls to Apple phones seem to work consistently. Calls to/from non-Apple phones/landlines tend to cause the phone to go black and restart.
- Possibly intermittent: When I turn off the phone normally, it seems as if I often have to hold the power button for a ~4-5 seconds before it turns on. From what I remember before, the phone used to just allow me touch the button, it’d stay black for 2-3 seconds before the Apple Logo turned on.
- The problems are mostly the same whether I have a SIM card in or not (I can’t make calls with the SIM, obviously)
Other than the above, the phone operates normally - I have it paired with my Apple Watch, I can run the Peloton App, Youtube, email, Maps/Google Maps, backup, basically every app I’ve tried seems to operate normally. FaceID works (though I’ve keeping this and passcode off while I troubleshoot). Internet browsing, social media, YouTube, download apps over WIFI/LTE function without a problem.
It’s lived in a case it’s entire life and looks perfect; It shouldn’t have any water damage. (maybe it’s taken in some perspiration or drops of rain in the past, but it’s not like it was dunked in salt water or anything like that)
Due to COVID-19, I can’t take it to a Genius Bar to get looked at. Apple phone support told me I need to mail it in and it’ll cost $599 for out of warranty repair. I suspect this is the type of weird quirk where a Genius would hand me a refurb on the spot.
I’d also be happy taking this to an independent shop, but I’d ideally like to know what work needs to be done (bad SSD? bad charger port? failing capacitor?). I’m also sort of holding out hope that the next FW update magically fixes everything.
Any advice would be appreciated.
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I have THE EXACT same problem on my Xs Max, If you can remember... How did you solve it? Hardware problem? Software?
Thanks.
door Angel Diaz
The issue was that I had a faulty ambient light sensor. I had to speak to like 3 reps in total to get it fixed.
The first one dismissed me and said they'd replace it for a cost . I continued trouble shooting and found I could keep the phone on for days if I disabled True Tone.
Certain Apple apps sometimes use the ambient light sensor like the phone app, to detect whether your face is against the phone or not. I could use speakerphone just fine, but not against my head.
I called again - another rep was fascinated by the problem and agreed to run a deep diagnostic for a day to collect data on what happened.
After that, I called again as follow up, and they were very excited to get their hands on my phone to try to repair it.
I got the sense they accepted that it wasn't a case of typical drop/water damage - it was a rare failed component and they wanted to see it in person to try to fix it.
A few days later, I got a note saying that they were sending me back a fresh refurbished replacement.
Good Luck!
door Mrpug999