When your iPhone is stuck on black screen, it’s either due to the battery that’s completely drained or it may still be alive but just couldn’t get to render the actual display due to some major system flaws. That said, both the software and hardware factors can be the underlying cause. Display issues including black screen of death can therefore occur on both old and new iPhones.
In the case where your iPhone got stuck on black after it was dropped or got wet, it obviously due to hardware damage. To give you some inputs, I’ve lined up a few applicable solutions to a similar problem on the iphone 11 Pro. Feel free to refer to this troubleshooting guide whenever you’d bump into the same issue in which your iPhone 11 Pro gets stuck on black screen.
Troubleshooting an iPhone 11 Pro that’s stuck on black screen
The following solutions only works and renders positive result if hardware damage is not present on your device. Try these before taking a trip to a service center.
First solution: Force restart your iPhone.
Contrary to what many people would think about an iPhone that’s stuck on black screen being completely damaged, many display issues including black screen symptoms are attributed to random system crashes. This is usually what happens if malicious software smite system apps and services. The same thing can happen if a new firmware update containing some bugs is installed on the phone. If any of these caused the operating system to crash, chances are that your iPhone would be stuck on black screen, white Apple logo or other screens. The simplest potential solution to this would be a force restart. As the name implies, it forces the corrupted system to shut down and then restart. Here’s how it’s done:
- Quickly press then release the Volume Up key.
- Quickly press then release the Volume Down key.
- Press and hold the Side button for about 10 seconds then release when you see the Apple logo.
If your iPhone managed to boot up after a force restart, install the latest firmware and app updates available. Doing so will prevent apps and system services from acting up again and caused your iPhone to get stuck. If your a force restart doesn’t solve the problem, then try the next possible solution.
ALSO READ: How to fix an iPhone 11 Pro Max that keeps lagging and freezing
Second solution: Plug your iPhone into the charger the force restart while charging.
If your iPhone remains stuck on black screen after performing a force restart, get its charger and plug it into a power source. Keep your device connected to the charger for about 10 minutes, even if you don’t see the charging icon on the display. After the elapsed time, force restart your iPhone again. Just refer to the steps I’ve lined up in the first solution to force restart your iPhone 11 Pro.
Forcing your iPhone to restart while charging should help fix the problem if the underlying cause are some rogue apps or software bugs that caused massive power drain. In this case, your device has ran out of power and is no longer able to power up. To make sure that it will manage to charge properly, rogue apps must be terminated. And that’s the main purpose of performing a force restart while your iPhone is charging.
Third solution: Restore your iPhone in recovery mode.
Complex system errors are usually the underlying cause of major symptoms on your iPhone. In the case where a force restart failed to bring your iPhone back to life and not even after charging it, try to restore iOS in recovery mode. This is one of the advanced solutions and last options you can try to eliminate major system errors, inflicting the black screen symptom. But you have to note though that you could end up losing critical data from doing so because this method wipes everything from your iPhone system. On a positive note, any stubborn bugs and system errors are also obliterated. In order to proceed, you will need to use a computer either a Mac or Windows PC that has the latest version of iTunes app in it. Once everything is set, you may proceed and put your iPhone in recovery mode through these steps:
- Connect your iPhone to a computer using the original USB cable or Lightning cable that came with it.
- Open iTunes on your Windows and/or earlier Mac computer or Finder on your Mac running macOS Catalina.
- While your device is connected, quickly press and release the Volume Up key.
- Then quickly press and release the Volume Down key.
- Next, press and hold the Side button until the Connect to iTunes or recovery mode screen appears. Do not release the button if you see the Apple logo as you’ll need to boot your phone in recovery mode.
- Follow the rest of the commands to restore and fresh install the firmware on your iPhone through iTunes.
Normally, the recovery mode restore would last up to 15 minutes. If your iPhone isn’t done restoring after 15 minutes, there’s a chance that it would exit recovery mode. If that happens, just let it finish downloading the software for your iPhone and then go back to the previous steps to enter recovery mode again and finish the process.
ALSO READ: How to fix delayed touchscreen response on iPhone 11, atypical screen reactions
Fourth solution: DFU mode restore your iPhone 11 Pro that’s stuck on black screen.
Your last hope if a recovery mode restore still failed to fix your iPhone would be a DFU mode or Device Firmware Update mode restore. It’s the deepest type of system restore you can do on an iPhone. When your phone is placed in DFU mode, iTunes would still be able to access and sync with your iOS device even when the bootloader isn’t activated. That said, there’s a higher chance that iTunes would be able to fix your iPhone even if the operating system is corrupted. But then again, like a recovery mode restore, a DFU mode restore also results in permanent data lost. If you don’t mind losing your iPhone data, then you may go ahead and try fixing and restoring your iPhone in DFU mode:
- Connect your iPhone to the computer then launch iTunes or Finder.
- While your device is connected, quickly press and release the Volume Up button.
- Then, quickly press and release the Volume Down button.
- Finally, press and hold the Side button until your iPhone screen turns black.
- Keep holding the Side button when the screen turns black and then press the Volume Down button.
- Hold both buttons for 5 seconds.
- After 5 seconds, release the Power button but keep holding the Volume Down button for another 10 seconds.
- If the screen remains black (no logos or text) after 10 seconds, it means that you have successfully entered DFU mode. After a few seconds, you should see a message saying that “iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode and that you must restore it before it can be used with iTunes.” If you see this pop-up message, select the option to Restore iPhone. Doing so will trigger iTunes to instigate the system restore.
Just follow the onscreen commands to finish restoring your device.
Last resort: Use alternative iOS repair tools to fix your stuck iPhone.
More iPhone owners are faced with various types of system errors and some of which are not rectifiable through iTunes. To address this concern, software developers have created their very own dedicated iOS repair and recovery software that should serve as better alternative to iTunes. Among the widely used and highly recommended tools that serve the same purpose are Tenorshare ReiBoot, Dr. Fone Repair, iMyFone iOS System Recovery, and FonePaw iOS System Recovery, to name some. Similar to iTunes, these tools can be downloaded and installed on a compatible computer. Once it’s already installed, it should be all set to repair any supported iOS device that’s enduring some fatal system errors. All you have to do is to connect your iPhone to the computer using the original USB cable or Lightning cable, launch the software on your computer, wait for it to sync with your iPhone and then start repairing iOS errors using the given commands and controls. These tools are also designed with a user-friendly interface so that even the novice users wouldn’t have a hard time using it.
ALSO READ: How to fix ghost touch bug on iPhone XS after iOS 13 update [Troubleshooting Guide]
Is your iPhone 11 Pro still stuck on black screen?
If you’ve reached this point having the same problem and that your iPhone remains stuck on black screen, hardware damage must be present. It’s possible that your iPhone’s battery is damaged, doesn’t charge and thus the device won’t power up. Another possibility is that your iPhone display or other relevant components might have obtained some physical or liquid damage from previous dropping incidents or unintentional exposure to liquid. Thus you might as well consider setting up an appointment for a service center visit. By doing so, you can ask an authorized iPhone technician to examine your device for any visible signs of damage.
Or you can also report the problem to your iPhone carrier or Apple support, so you can seek further advice on what to do next. If necessary, you may have to avail for service warranty or new unit replacement.