Apple has acknowledged that the problem with certain iPhones shutting down at random may be more widespread than initially thought.
The company previously said the problem existed only in a small quantity of iPhone 6s units produced between September and October 2015, which it committed to replacing for any customers who had experienced the fault.
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However, in a new statement aimed at the Chinese market (which Tim Cook has been outspoken about believing will soon be Apple’s largest), the company admits that a “small number of customers outside of the affected range have also reported an unexpected shutdown.”
While Apple says some of these shutdowns “occur under normal conditions in order for the iPhone to protect its electronics,” other cases have baffled Apple engineers.
What’s causing iPhone 6s shutdown?
To help figure out what’s going wrong, Apple plans to issue an iOS update containing an “additional diagnostic capability.” This will be available next week, and will gather information from handsets. Apple thinks the data will allow lead to a fix for the problem.
These improvements will be issued as an over-the-air update, suggesting that they’re software- rather than hardware-based. Or at least Apple hopes they are…
Have you experienced any unexpected shutdowns with your iPhone? Leave your comments below.
Via: ZDNet
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
19 responses to “iPhone random shutdown problem may be more widespread than thought”
I’ve had the same problem with my iPhone 6 (but not the 7), most recently last week in Prague. It has always coincided with a drop in temperature and always when overseas. The battery levels drop from 50-60% to around about 30% over a few minutes of minimal use before the phone dies completely. Connecting to an external battery for just a few minutes will usually result in a battery level displaying as 30-35% and the phone starts to operate again. On the three or four times this occurred, it has always been a significant inconvenience – unable to find a critical location in order to get the last train home, unable to locate a friend or received messages from them, or unable to retrieve a message with critical information. Luckily, I have always had a back-up phone with my home SIM card in, but the iPhone 6 is always the phone at fault.
Cold weather does this, happened to me a bunch in Iceland. I found that if I kept a pocket warmer in my pocket it did not happen
Yes! When I first got the 7 plus it was shutting down nearly every day, but the last couple of weeks it hasn’t been doing that as much. Personally, I think it has been improving due to the public beta updates I have been downloading.
I do not know if it would fully “shut down” so to speak, but it closes out of any application I am working in and goes black until I see the Apple logo appear, then it requires me to type in my password. Very strange. Hope there’s a fix and glad I’m not the only one!
It is happening to my iPad Air 2 also. Have seen on the Apple support site that other iPhones from 6 up having battery issues as well as a few iPads from Air up. I have weird battery readings like staying at a certain percentage then dropping all of a sudden, shutdown at 33% for example, saying I have 10%, plug in, would say I have 40%now? This happened a few months ago when ios 10 was loaded. Had no issues while on ios 9. My iPad was lasting over 10 hours a day and then all of a sudden I barely get 4 hours before shutdown. This iPad is 2 years old, possible battery cycle life is over limit, but all my older ipads not on 10 are still running fine, no battery issues. In my view the battery was fine until ios 10 did something to the battery or is doing something to it.
This has happened to my iPhone 6 quite a few times lately. Shuts down at around 35% battery. I thought it may just be the battery getting old (over 3 years now) perhaps not.
Same exact thing for me!! Shuts down at like 35% and then when I plug it in to a power source and it boots back up, it says 30% battery. DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!
I have this issue on my iPhone 6s Plus. I will be typing an email/text msg or browsing the web when out of nowhere the screen goes black, iOS’s version of the pinwheel then comes up and shortly after I am asked to enter my PIN. At 1st it wasn’t happening very often, but it has now gotten to the point that I can’t use my device at times because it repeatedly happens. I was not having the issue when I was using the developer beta of iOS 10, but once I “downgraded” to the regular release of iOS 10 it started happening. I’m going to reload the beta and see if it helps at all. It has also been getting terrible battery life lately. Many days after reading my morning news for 30 min or so I have gone from 100% battery to under 70%. Not sure if it’s related at all. I bought my original 6s Plus in October, but had it replaced by Apple after a toilet dunk. The replacement I got from Apple never seemed to have as much battery life as the original. Not sure when it was manufactured. On the bright side I’m not having any issues yet on my iPhone 7 Plus.
“More widespread than thought.”
Agreed. The world’s cup is not exactly running over with thought these days.
This has been happening to my 6S Plus
Been having recent issues with my 6 while running Strava. Seems to happen after about an hour in the bike or when I stop and take a photo with Strava running in the background. iPhone shuts down completely as if the battery is empty. Connect to a charger and after the restart the battery is at 50%+. I usually have a heart rate monitor connected via Bluetooth.
This is a recent issue though as previously (up to about 1 month ago) I never had an issue while running the same set-up
I had the problem with the 32GB 5c. I updated the iOS, but it still exhibited the behavior.
Happened to me today I had 56% and Afew minutes later my phone was off and wouldn’t turn on until I plugged it in and when it came on it says 32%. What’s weird is it happened to my daughter today and my sons girlfriend today too. 3 phones the same day. 2 are 6s plus and one 6s
I have shutdown problems with my iPhone 6 (the original 6!) since the very beginning. This happens already in mildly cold weather. Just recently the phone shut off at a temperature of about +9 C – well above the freezing point. Battery status was at 47%! I immediately started my Mophie backup accu pack and within a coupe of seconds the iPhone restarted – only to show me 47% charging status. This happens frequently when I use the phone in cold weather (one could argue if temperatures way above freezing point are already ‘cold’…).
I have sent the phone to Apple for a repair a few weeks ago. As it was out of warranty, Iwas willing to pay the 90€ for a replacement battery. But Apple refused the replacement and sent it back. Weired.
I’ve had the same issue, random shutdowns with even more than 50% then it tells me it’s dead. iPhone6 running latest update, did not happen before being updated. Apple had me wipe the phone and install as new and it died with more than 80% right at the Genius Bar. PROOF. NOT…They blamed the hardware, I was just beyond coverage of Applecare so they tried to get me to buy a new iPhone7. Not my fault. Went back with articles printed and they still said no way. Dies constantly. Even called them and they said “find a nice genius who will forgive the warranty”, but no luck..Google phone is sounding very appealing…
same me too
Been happening to me frequently on a 6S. My serial number is NOT among those Apple includes in its replacement program. Phone gets to about 30%, shuts down. I need to plug it it to start it, then it resumes at about 30%. Just today it happened when I activated the camera while also listening to a podcast.
Add my Apple Watch Series 2 to the list. It randomly reboots and gets stuck at the Apple logo.
My 6s Plus had shut down while I was at 30% battery trying to set a route via Google Maps. It displayed the low battery screen. After force restart (holding power+home) it booted and was again at ~28%. I had set the route again and immediately after pressing the GO, it shut down…
I live in Bulgaria and here there’s no Apple Store, only an authorized service provider – Creative Centre. After hearing about the battery replacement program, I emailed them my serial number, but they said it applies only for the 6S… The price for changing the battery is:
– diagnostic – 12 EUR / 13 $ (even though I want a battery replacement, not diagnostic)
– battery – 100 EUR / 106 $
I’ve checked the battery’s data with the app CoconutBattery (for Mac) and it gave me 286 cycles, 83% health. My iPhone 4’s data is 486 cycles, 88%. So there’s something wrong here. How can a 5 year old phone have better battery health with more cycles than a one year old?
A friend of mine recently bought the same model as me – 6S Plus (second hand, out of warranty, restored and set as new). During her first days of usage, it shut down on her while at 60%! She was casually taking pictures with the stock camera app and it turned off! What the actual fuck!? This is not normal at all!
So, in the end – 119$ for a battery repair when it isn’t my/our fault? No, thanks.
Has happened 4 times to my iPhone 6. Fortunately I was at home each time and was able to recharge it immediately. It went from full charge to dead in about 15 minutes and recharged to 35% in about 5 minutes. Had to restart & enter passcode each time.