iPhone SE 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 SE's front glass and LCD are fused together and must be replaced as one piece. To replace it, follow the iPhone SE display assembly replacement guide. You can purchase a new display assembly here.

Even after furious button mashing and screen smashing, your iPhone SE 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 SE 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. 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. A new lightning connector can be purchased here.

You cannot get your beloved iPhone SE 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.

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. 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. Unfortunately, the LCD and glass panel are fused together, and must be replaced as one unit. 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 SMD 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. A new lightning connector can be purchased here.

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 SE 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 SE 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. A new lightning connector that contains the headphone jack can be purchased here.

During normal use, the iPhone displays a solid blue screen and reboots.

Some iPhone owners have reported seeing the “Blue Screen of Death” while using specific apps. In most cases this problem can be resolved by updating the app and the iPhone. If a specific app still causes the problem after an update, try uninstalling the app.

Many users have encountered the “Blue Screen of Death” on their iPhones after a recent iOS update or after restoring their iPhone from a backup. An error in the update or a corruption in the backup could easily cause this problem. Try updating the iPhone through iTunes, or restoring the iPhone to factory settings.

After powering up, the iPhone displays a solid blue screen and continually reboots.

The Home Button Flex Cable or Front Camera and Sensor Cable may have been damaged due to an accident or during the course of a repair. Damage to either one of these cables may cause the solid blue screen. Use the Front-Facing Camera and Sensor Cable and Home Button Ribbon Cable replacement guides to remove these components for inspection, and replace them if necessary.

The “Blue Screen of Death” in the iPhone SE is often caused by mismatching screws during a repair. Many repairs on the SE require the removal of the front panel assembly cable bracket. The bracket has four screws: Two 1.7 mm Phillips #000 screws, one 1.2 mm Phillips #000 screw, and one 1.3 mm Phillips #000 screw. Accidentally using either the 1.3 mm or 1.7 mm screws in the bottom right hole of the bracket will result in significant damage to the logic board, causing the phone to no longer boot properly.

If the iPhone is showing the “Blue Screen of Death” after a recent repair, measure these screws and make sure that they’re installed in the proper locations; the phone may then boot properly. If the problem persists, the logic board may need to be repaired or replaced.

After powering up, the iPhone displays a solid red screen. The phone may continually reboot.

The most common cause of the “Red Screen of Death” is damage to the Front Camera and Sensor Cable. First, force restart the iPhone. If the problems persists, use the front-facing camera and sensor cable guide to disconnect the flex cable from the logic board, and then reboot the iPhone. If the iPhone boots up without showing the red screen, go ahead and replace the cable.

A new cable can be purchased here.

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 SE will erase everything on it, so make sure everything on the iPhone SE is backed up prior to restoring. To restore, connect your iPhone SE to a computer with iTunes installed. Click "Restore" on the iPhone SE summary page (click on your iPhone icon on the left menu to find this page). Follow the directions to restore. If your iPhone SE displays the text "Please wait. Very Low Battery," leave it plugged in. This charges the iPhone SE enough to be able to restore safely. If the iPhone SE hangs on this screen for long periods of time, you may need a new battery.

A new battery can be purchased here.

If your iPhone SE 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 SE 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 SE, 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. Use the iPhone SE repair guides 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. Use the iPhone SE repair guides 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.