iPhone 6s Troubleshooting

Oh no! Your iPhone's glass did not survive your unintentional drop test!

Take a deep breath and see if your iPhone will turn on and operate normally. In most cases, the iPhone is still functional but now a cosmetic disaster. Unfortunately, the iPhone 6s's front glass and LCD are fused together and must be replaced as one piece. To replace it, follow the iPhone 6s display assembly replacement guide.

Even after furious button mashing and screen smashing, your iPhone 6s doesn't respond.

Sometimes all it takes is a restart for the iPhone to become responsive again. To restart your iPhone when it is unresponsive, press and hold the sleep/wake and home buttons until the Apple logo appears (~10 seconds).

It is possible for an iPhone to become unresponsive if the battery drops to an extremely low level. Plug the iPhone into your computer or wall charger and allow it to charge for at least 20 minutes before using it again.

Plugging in your iPhone 6s does not bring it life.

Check the USB cable for damage and dirt, especially at the ends. Then try using the wall charger, as this will provide greater power input than the computer/USB.

Try using different chargers to see if you may have a problem with your charger or cord.

Inspect the Lightning connector at the bottom of the iPhone for dirt, lint, and damaged pins. Clean out the dock connector very carefully with a tooth pick or soft toothbrush. If the dock connector is broken, follow this guide to replace it.

You cannot get your beloved iPhone 6s to turn on.

Plug your iPhone into your computer or wall adapter to charge. If it does not charge when connected to either of these, you probably have a dead battery or a bad charging port. Replace the battery with a partially charged one and see if it will turn on. If not, then it can be a power button or logic board issue. If it does turn on, plug it in and see if the charging indication comes on to rule out the charging port as the problem.

The button may have lost its click. If this is the case, plug the phone into the computer and let it charge, and see if that will get it to turn on. If it does, it may be time to replace your upper component cable, which contains the power (a.k.a. sleep/wake) button switch.

It is possible that it appears nothing is happening because the display is bad. If the iPhone sounds like it is working properly but nothing is visible, it is possible the display is bad and must be replaced. Unfortunately, the LCD and glass panel are fused together, and must be replaced as one unit. An easy way to test this is to turn the phone on and listen for a sound. Also you can move the mute toggle switch back and forth to see if it vibrates. If it vibrates or you hear a sound but nothing displays on the screen, then the screen is most likely the problem. Try replacing the screen to see what happens.

If nothing else works, your logic board is probably bad and needs to be replaced. Alternatively, individual components on the logic board can be diagnosed and replaced if you have the requisite troubleshooting and microsoldering skills.

An error message appears as if you have connected an unsupported accessory to your iPhone.

Check the Lightning connector at the bottom of the iPhone for dirt, lint, and damaged pins. Clean out the dock connector very carefully with a tooth pick or soft toothbrush. High concentration isopropyl alcohol (at least 90%) and a cotton swab should be used to clean any debris that does not come off with a tooth pick or soft toothbrush. If the dock connector is broken, follow this guide to replace it.

After an iPhone has been submerged in a liquid, there may be some corrosion or debris on the logic board connections that cause this error message. Remove the logic board and clean all of the contacts with a soft nylon brush and high concentration isopropyl alcohol (at least 90%), or use an ultrasonic cleaner if available.

You have trouble connecting to a wireless network.

If your iPhone has been disassembled before, it's possible that finger oils were left on the grounding locations for the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth antennas. These oils will cause grounding issues for the antennas, which could lead to a weak signal or no connectivity at all. Be sure to clean all grounding points with an electronics cleaning solution (a little isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free cloth can also work) before reassembling your iPhone to prevent grounding issues.

Your iPhone 6s turns on and appears to work—but when you plug in headphones or speakers, the audio doesn't play properly.

It's unlikely your headphones or speakers are bad, but it's worthwhile to eliminate these as the source of your problem at the beginning. Try your iPhone with another set of headphones or speakers just to make sure that the problem is with the iPhone.

The most likely cause of audio output problems on iPhone 6s is a bad audio-out jack. If you have determined that the problem does not lie in your external speakers, you should replace the headphone jack. Follow this guide to replace the Lightning connector assembly, which includes the headphone jack.

Following a home button replacement, Touch ID features stop working.

As a security feature, your home button's embedded Touch ID fingerprint sensor is uniquely paired to your iPhone's logic board at the factory. If the original home button assembly is replaced, damaged, or disconnected, Touch ID features will cease to function.

Your iPhone is behaving erratically or displays the text "Use iTunes to restore" on startup

It isn't often that Apple gives specific directions about how to fix your problem! Restoring the iPhone 6s will erase everything on it, so make sure everything on the iPhone 6s is backed up prior to restoring. To restore, connect your iPhone 6s to a computer with iTunes installed. Click "Restore" on the iPhone 6s summary page (click on your iPhone icon on the left menu to find this page). Follow the directions to restore. If your iPhone 6s displays the text "Please wait. Very Low Battery," leave it plugged in. This charges the iPhone 6s enough to be able to restore safely. If the iPhone 6s hangs on this screen for long periods of time, you may need a new battery.

If your iPhone 6s hangs while displaying only the Apple logo, or exhibits some other software problem that prevents iTunes from recognizing it, you can force it into recovery/restore mode and then use iTunes to restore the software.

If the device is powered off, plug one end of your USB cable into the iPhone 6s and leave the other end disconnected. Press down on the Home button, and keep holding it down while you plug the USB cable into your computer. After 5-10 seconds, you should see a "Please Connect to iTunes" image on the iPhone 6s, and iTunes should prompt you to restore the software; follow the prompts and the instructions given above.

If the iPhone is powered on, hold down both the power and home buttons until it reboots and displays the "Connect to iTunes" image (generally, 5-15 seconds).

Hardware issue that stops the update or restore from completing; probably a motherboard issue.

Message "The required resource can't be found."

Reasons:

• Your version of iTunes is out of date. Get the latest version of iTunes, then try to update or restore again.
• Your device has a beta version of iOS.
• You are downgrading (trying to install an earlier version of iOS).
• Your device is jailbroken. Hard reset it before updating.

After an accidental spill or a drop in the sink, your iPhone no longer works correctly.

As soon as possible, perform the following:

1. Immediately remove the iPhone from the liquid (if safe to do so). Minimize the length of time your device is in contact with liquid to prevent corrosive damage.
2. Turn the iPhone off. (If it was off already, do not turn it on.)
3. Skip the rice. Contrary to what you may have heard, rice is not an effective or lasting fix for water damaged electronics.
4. Open the iPhone and disconnect the battery. (See your iPhone’s battery replacement guide for the correct procedure. You don't need to completely remove the battery; simply disconnect the battery connector from the logic board.)
   • Liquid damage may complicate disassembly. Beware of cables and connectors that may be "adhered" to other components in unexpected ways.

At this point, inspect the interior of your iPhone and try to determine the extent of the liquid damage.

• If your iPhone's interior looks completely dry:
  1. Whew! You may have dodged a bullet. Check the water damage indicators, look around the ports and SIM card tray, and inspect the battery connector carefully for signs of liquid or corrosion.
  2. If you notice any sign of liquid intrusion, skip to the next section below.
  3. If everything looks bone dry, you might not need to do anything further. Give your phone a couple hours to air out, re-connect the battery, power it on, and test all functions. If you notice any problems, continue to the next section below.

• If you see only a little liquid inside the phone:
  1. Follow the rear case replacement guide to begin removing components.
  2. As you remove each component, check it carefully for signs of liquid or corrosion damage. Wipe any liquid and/or corrosion away carefully with isopropyl alcohol and a clean, soft nylon brush, such as a toothbrush, and allow it to air dry.
  3. Continue disassembling until you no longer see any signs of liquid intrusion.
  4. When all components are clean and dry, re-assemble your iPhone with a new battery.
     • Do not attempt to re-use a battery that has been in contact with any liquid.
  5. Power on your iPhone and test all functions. If you notice any problems, continue to the next section below.
• If the interior components are mostly (or totally) covered in liquid:
  1. Follow the rear case replacement guide to take your iPhone apart completely.
  2. Clean each component, cable connector, and socket carefully with isopropyl alcohol and a clean toothbrush.
  3. Submerge the logic board in isopropyl alcohol (or use an ultrasonic cleaner, if available). Allow it to soak long enough to loosen hardened residue, and to displace any remaining water or other liquid.
     • Use the toothbrush to scrub visible corrosion and residue from the logic board. Clean all connectors, chips, and fuses.
     • Repeat cleaning if necessary, or if traces of residue are still visible.
  4. When all components are clean and dry, re-assemble your iPhone with a new battery.
     • Do not attempt to re-use a battery that has been in contact with any liquid.
  5. Power on your iPhone and test all functions.
     • For any particular function that fails, replace the associated component with a new part, and then re-test.
     • If problems persist, a board-level repair may be necessary. We don’t yet have comprehensive guides for board-level repair, so you may wish to consult a microsoldering specialist for more options.