How to fix an iPhone 7 Plus that keeps crashing and freezing after updating to iOS 11.3 (easy steps)

While software updates are purposely rolled out to offer benefits, others ended up having different kinds of troubles from an update installation. This is possible because not all devices are configured in such a way that works and blends perfectly with the new system. But there is nothing to worry though because once a post-update issue is found and confirmed, a new update containing the required fix patch will typically be rolled out soon. However, users who are encountering post-update problems may have to try and resort to temporary solutions while waiting for the official fix patch to become available.

Highlighted below this page are some of the recommended procedures that can be regarded as potential solutions to a post update issue on the iPhone 7 Plus, in which the device ended up crashing and freezing after updating to iOS 11.3 or iOS 11.3.1 respectively. You can refer to this walkthrough if necessary.

But before anything else, if you have other concerns with your iPhone 7 Plus, make sure you drop by our troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most commonly reported issues with this new iPhone. If you need further assistance or if you can’t find what you’re looking for in that page, fill up our iPhone issues questionnaire and hit submit. Don’t worry, it’s a free consultation service so you don’t have to worry about anything. Just give us more information about the problem and we’ll do our best to help you fix it.

First solution: Force restart.

Forcing your iPhone to restart usually helps when dealing with minor firmware crashes that caused the device to get stuck or freeze. Just like a soft reset, it helps clear minor errors and software glitches affecting the phone’s system functions. You can give it a try if you haven’t done it yet. Here’s how:

Press and hold the Power button and the Volume Down button simultaneously for about 15 to 20 seconds.
Release both buttons when the Apple logo appears.

It is a simulated battery removal process that is used to reboot a stuck, frozen or unresponsive iPhone. This will not affect any of your important data and personal information saved in the internal memory of your device.

Second solution: Force close background apps then restart your iPhone.

Apps that you’ve recently used will stay in the background or standby mode to for multitasking purposes. However, there are times when any of these background apps gets corrupted and eventually caused the device to become stuck or unresponsive. Forcing background apps to close will therefore fix it. Here’s how it’s done:

Double-tap the Home button to show your most recently used apps.
Swipe right or left to navigate between the apps previews.
Swipe up on the app’s preview to close the app.

Close all background apps to make sure none of them is causing conflict with your phone system. Don’t forget to restart your iPhone afterwards to apply the changes and refresh the system as well.

Third solution: Reset all settings on your iPhone.

Your iPhone may also end up misbehaving if the new update automatically altered your settings and that alterations have resulted to conflicts. This will restore the default options and values so you will need to set up and reconnect to your Wi-Fi network afterwards.

Tap Settings from Home.
Tap General.
Scroll to and tap Reset.
Select the option to Reset all settings.
Enter your device passcode when asked.
Tap the option to confirm settings reset.

Your iPhone will reboot automatically when the reset is finished. If not, then you would need to reboot your phone manually.

Fourth solution: Check and manage internal memory.

The update file you’ve downloaded and installed might be huge and eventually caused your internal memory to run out. This can be the case especially if you’ve already stored a lot of new apps and multimedia contents on your device. To make sure this isn’t the underlying cause, check your iPhone’s available storage space and free up memory space if necessary.

To check and view available storage space, go to Settings-> General-> iPhone Storage.

On the following screen, you should see the used and available memory details along with a graph of memory usage. Scroll down to view how much memory each app is using. If you find the need to free up some space, then continue with these steps:

Tap Settings from the Home screen.
Tap General.
Select Storage & iCloud Usage.
Tap Manage Storage.
Wait for the list of apps to populate under Storage section.

You can use the app details to determine which apps are using the most space. You may have to consider uninstalling apps that are using large amounts of ROM.

Other ways to clear storage space would include deleting of unwanted or old SMS and MMS messages, media files and call logs. Clearing the browse app’s cache, cookies, and history can also help.

Fifth solution: Restore your iPhone.

Your last resort if nothing else works is an iOS reset or restore. You may opt to proceed with a factory reset or perform an iOS restore in recovery mode or DFU mode using iTunes. These methods result to data loss so all your personal information and settings will be deleted. It is therefore recommended to create backup beforehand.

You can start by performing a factory reset on your iPhone 7 Plus through settings menu, if possible. But that wouldn’t be an option if your iPhone is stuck. In that case, you will need to use iTunes instead.

To get started, secure a Windows PC or Mac computer with the latest OS and iTunes software installed. Once you have your computer and iPhone ready, you can proceed and start with a Recovery Mode restore through iTunes. A recovery mode restore refers to a process of restoring iOS while your iPhone is running in recovery mode and then restore to the previous iOS backup or update the latest iOS version available for your device.

If a recovery mode restore failed to fix the problem, then you can try performing a DFU mode restore instead. It’s the deepest type of system restore you can do on your iPhone. It puts your device in a state where it’s able to communicate with iTunes on a computer without activating the bootloader or iOS. Once you’re iPhone has entered DFU mode, you can manage iOS like upgrade to the latest version available or restore to a previous iOS version (downgrade). A more comprehensive walkthrough on how to carry out recovery mode restore and DFU mode restore is available on our iPhone 7 Plus tutorials section. Just visit our Troubleshooting Page for more information.

Seek more help

Contact your carrier or Apple Support for other options if your iPhone 7 Plus continues to freeze and crash. Reporting the matter would be necessary so as to let Apple make necessary assessments to determine if a new update is needed to fix the problem. You can also take your iPhone to an authorized service center nearby and have it diagnosed by an Apple technician. Doing so will help you rule a bad component/hardware damage out from the possible triggers.

Connect with us

If you need more help with the use of certain functions and features of the new Apple iPhone 8 smartphone, feel free to visit our Tutorial Page. There you can find a list of how-to contents, step-by-step tutorials, as well as answers to FAQs regarding iPhone 8. If you have other concerns or encountered some troubles while using the phone, you can reach us through this form. Just be sure to tell us more details of the problem or device issue(s) you may have and we will be more than happy to assist you further.

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