Why is my Apple iPhone 6s Plus screen flickering or showing other unusual display problems? [Troubleshooting Guide]

When it comes to users’ complaints, display issues such as black screen, red screen, screen flickering and other unusual displays appeared to be among the widespread problems affecting the Apple iPhone 6s Plus device.

iPhone 6s plus screen flickering

Actually, cases of screen flickering faults have already been seen in prior iPhone models, particularly on the iPhone 6 variant. At that time, a common concern raised was about a grey line that flickers on the iPhone screen, which was later on found out to be a design fault involving two touchscreen controlled chips or Touch ICs on the logic board inside the phone. The problem was popularly tagged as Touch Disease which has broken tons of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models. Apple has later acknowledged the problem and responded by launching a Multi-Touch Repair Program to address the problem. It was supposed to be resolve at that time.

However, when the next iPhone models came out, many users were still complaining about the same display issue on their iPhone screen that flickers. It seems that the problem has become widespread among iPhone 6s Plus models.

If you are among those who are still plagued with the same screen flickering or other unusual display symptoms on the same iPhone, then you may refer to this content as it highlights some potential solutions and recommended workarounds you can use to deal with the problem before setting up for a tech visit and pay for a hefty service fee.

Common factors that can cause your iPhone 6s Plus screen to flicker

Majority of user complaints about flickering display on an iPhone are linked to a faulty hardware component. This is usually the case when it comes to prior iPhone models with several years of usage. But this is not always the case. Other users who have encountered the same issue on their respective iPhones have found out that a certain faulty app was the root-cause, and thereby denotes that the problem was software-related.

There are times when an application encounters random errors or problems, which can likewise affect certain features and functions of the phone. An application can misbehave after installing buggy updates or adding corrupted contents. Sometimes, the same problem can occur after making a few changes to the apps settings, particularly those that are associated with display functions or screen resolutions. For example, when you’ve set a wrong option for certain apps display functions and then screen symptoms began to show after saving the most recent changes you’ve made to that application.

Some iPhone 6s Plus users have noticed similar display abnormalities, particularly screen flickering and visible grey line on the upper portion of the iPhone display. Purportedly, these symptoms usually show up while switching between various camera modes when taking photos or recording a video with the iPhone 6s Plus camera app. In fact, other users were complaining about the front camera that flickers while recording a video. Apparently, these cases of screen flickering are isolated to the camera app. Perhaps, it’s a glitch or some settings configuration that needs to be rectified. Exposure to artificial lights while making video calls via FaceTime can also yield similar screen flickering problem to occur.

Meanwhile, some experts speculate that these display problems are downsides that are more likely triggered by the company’s poor software optimization on the iPhone 6s Plus variants. According to pertinent sources, Apple has implemented a hardware-based downscaling algorithm rather than optimizing the software on this iPhone.

Another factor that can trigger the same display issues to occur on your iPhone is a buggy

software update including major iOS platforms released by Apple periodically.

A series of blue, green, red, and grey lines or flickering white vertical lines can also manifest from screen settings configuration. Just like what usually happens when you’ve set a computer screen to the highest resolution available which the hardware or software couldn’t actually render. The same thing can likewise occur to mobile devices. Although it is unlikely to occur in highest-tiered smartphones like the iPhone 6s Plus, it is inevitable especially with the presence of software bugs or worst, damaged screen components. Aside from the promising new features and software enhancements, software updates especially the major ones can also contain some bugs that can affect certain functionalities on the iPhone, resulting to various symptoms upon implementation.

Memory problems can also cause similar symptoms to show on your iPhone. It is possible that your iPhone 6s Plus is already running low on memory and therefore its overall functionality is no longer at its best. When your iPhone is running low on memory or having insufficient storage, several problems can instigate including those associated with the device performance. Usual indicators of insufficient memory include slow or sluggish performance, apps lagging, random crashes, unresponsive display, and sometimes, inability to render precise display of complex multimedia contents including high-definition (HD) images and videos.

In worst cases, hardware problems are to blame. A presence of damaged component, particularly those within the display circuit board is usually the culprit. This can happen when your iPhone was dropped or got wet. Symptoms may not show up immediately from the actual incident of dropping or exposure to liquid but that does not mean it did not cause any harm to your device. It is possible that the symptoms you are now dealing with are likely indications of hardware damage from previous incidents of hard drop or exposure to liquid. Unfortunately, in the case where hardware damage is to blame, you’ve got no other choice but to set up and pay for service. You can visit the nearest Apple service center in your area or third-party technician for iPhone check-up and repair.

How to fix screen flickering or other display problems on your iPhone 6s Plus?

Screen flickering and other display issues that are software-related can still be remedied with any of the recommended procedures and workarounds. To increase your chances of getting the existing screen problem quickly fixed, try to assess your iPhone and determine what could have possibly caused the symptoms to show up. This means the need for you to think of the previous actions or changes you’ve made to your device settings like downloading new apps, updating software, or adding some contents before the onset of the problem. Here are a few efficient workarounds you can try on.

Step 1. Soft reset and hard reset

Soft reset is another term for rebooting or restarting. Majority, if not all software-related problems transpiring in your mobile device can be rectified by performing a soft reset or restart on the device. Just like other computer programs your iPhone apps can also experience random downtimes, wherein certain errors could occur while being in use. Some of these errors can inflict your device screen to flicker or produce other unusual displays. And one effective solution you can use to deal with such software irregularities is a soft reset or reboot.

To perform a soft reset on your iPhone 6s Plus, press and hold the Power button until you see the red slider. Scroll to select the option to Power off. After at least 20 seconds, press and hold the Power button again until the Apple logo appears. Your iPhone should then reboot.

If your iPhone screen is not responding to touches or frozen, an alternative solution you can try on is a hard reset, otherwise known as force restart. This is a more advanced method of restarting your iPhone system to eliminate any software glitches that is causing the phone to misbehave or underperform. Similar to a soft reset, a hard reset or force restart does not erase any content from your iPhone, thus they are safe processes to use.

To perform a hard reset on your iPhone 6s Plus, press and hold the Power and Home buttons simultaneously for at least 10 seconds and release both the buttons when the Apple logo appears.

Hopefully either of these methods is able to resolve the underlying cause and eliminate any type of screen problems affecting the iPhone.

Step 2. Enable Reduce Transparency feature

Some iPhone owners who have dealt with the same problem on screen flickering or other display issues have found a temporary solution by enabling the Reduce Transparency option found under Accessibility settings menu. This workaround specifically resolves the problem on the iPhone screen that is flickering with visible white lines or huge white boxes. You might as well want to give this method a try by heading over to Settings-> General-> Accessibility-> then toggle the switch next to Reduce Transparency to enable the feature. With this feature enabled, blurring backgrounds are likely eliminated while augmenting screen legibility when viewing images or video contents on your device.

Step 3. Check memory status and free up some space

If the flickering screen on your iPhone is triggered by existing problems with the iPhone’s memory, then you will need to deal with memory problems beforehand. There is a higher chance that the display issues will also be gone after fixing your iPhone’s memory problems.

Your iPhone would usually prompt you with a Storage Almost Full alert message when you’re attempting to add new apps or do more tasks with your device that is already running low on memory.

Step 4. Disable iCloud Sync for iWork on your iPhone

If the screen flickering occurs only on certain applications like Pages, Numbers, or Keynote, then disabling iCloud Sync for iWork can be a potential solution you can try on. This is what other iPhone owners suggested on how they have dealt with screen flickering and random blue screen problems when using any of the said applications to edit some documents. To give this a try, head over to Settings-> iCloud-> Documents & Data-> then scroll to Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. Toggle the switch next to the app to turn the feature off.

Fix screen flickering while using camera app:

Meanwhile, for screen flickering or other display issues while using the iPhone 6s Plus camera app for taking pictures or recording a video, disabling of the Portrait Mode as well as the 60FPS video recording option might be able to fix the problem.

To disable Portrait Mode, navigate to Settings-> Photos & Camera, locate the Portrait Mode switch and then toggle to turn it off. Disabling this camera app option will reduce the flicker sensor factor while focusing on the subject’s face and object boarders in video calls.

After disabling these camera options, close the camera app and then restart your iPhone. Hopefully, that will be able to fix the problem on your iPhone screen.

Step 5. Restore your iPhone 6s Plus

If none of the previous workarounds works and the screen flickering problem persists, then your  

next option would be to restore your iPhone system. You can use iTunes to proceed with iPhone system restore. But before you do so, be sure to back up all your important contents as they will be erased in the process. Once the restore is complete, you can set up your iPhone to factory default settings thereby eliminates all problems that were possibly triggered by a software glitch or bug.

Once you’re done with the backup, you can proceed with iPhone restore through iTunes. You will need a computer with the latest version of iTunes installed in order to get started, then follow these steps:

Connect your iPhone 6s Plus to the computer using the supplied USB cable or connector.

On your computer, open iTunes.

Navigate to the Summary panel in iTunes, then select the option to Restore.

Wait for iTunes to initiate and complete the restore process.

Once the restore is complete, you may proceed with setting up your device as new and manually bring back data to your iPhone.

Use Alternative Solutions/Freeware

You can also use alternative solutions to restore your iPhone 6s Plus and fix any existing problems caused by certain bugs or corrupted apps in the iPhone system. One example of these alternative solutions is the Reiboot software which is mainly used to fix system issues on an iOS device including display issues manifested by flickering screen, grey lines, white boxes, blue screen, red screen, and more. These tools also integrates options for you to manually hard reset or restore your iPhone 6s Plus and fix existing problems on the software with just a single tap. Should you wish to give any of these freeware a try on your end, be sure to pick the one that would work best with your iPhone and compatible with the current iOS platform your device is running on.

Update your iPhone 6s Plus to iOS 10.3

Also ensure that your iPhone 6s Plus software is updated. The latest iOS version available for iPhone to-date is iOS 10.3. You may head over to your iPhone settings and check the current iOS platform your iPhone is running on. Also check for any available software update for your device and if there is, download and install it. The latest iOS 10.3 update contains several feature enhancements as well as fixes to certain bugs, which might be the ultimate solution you need to deal with your iPhone screen problems.

Seek Further Assistance

If none of our recommended workarounds is able to fix your iPhone 6s Plus screen flickering problem, then it’s time to seek further assistance. Please contact Apple Support or your carrier to escalate your concern and request for other options and recommendations. Just let them know of what you’ve done so far with your iPhone troubleshooting so they will have a clue on where to begin. Otherwise, you can also visit the nearest authorized service center in your place and have a technician diagnose your iPhone 6s Plus for any possible signs of hardware damage.

Connect with us

We are always willing to help fix your problems with your Apple device. Browse through our existing troubleshooting posts or you may contact us directly by completing this form and hitting the Submit button. Make sure you provide all the necessary information about your phone and the problem so that it would be easier for us to help you.

1 thought on “Why is my Apple iPhone 6s Plus screen flickering or showing other unusual display problems? [Troubleshooting Guide]”

  1. I am having issues with my iPhone 6S. It is stalling and started typing ccccccc and random text in a text message. It also froze on me in the middle of an email. Then, it switch b/t an application and my text message. I tired to soft reboot. But when I turned it back on this morning.. It keyed in password and disabled my phone for 1 min. I just left the sprint store and they told me to go reset it. I have a lot of info, pics on my phone and I do not want to lose them. Please Help me… how can I fix this??

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