How to fix iPhone 8 that’s overheating and having trouble turning on [troubleshooting guide]

Overheating is often the result of bad hardware but in other cases, it can also be due to software bug. Today’s post tries to answer what can an #iPhone8 owner do when his or her device appears to be overheating and not being able to power on. We also address some other common, related issues so be sure to read the entire article.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #iOS issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page. When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Problem #1: How to fix iPhone 8 that’s overheating and having trouble turning on

My iPhone 8 suddenly very hot while charging and it stuck on the lock screen with black background (no clock, signal, battery, etc.) but shows all the notif and it freezes. I keep on restarting but it didnt work until it suddenly turn all black. i keep restarting again and it didn’t show any difference.. yet it still hot asf, and not gettin colder after 2 hours too. — Tiffany Audrey

Solution: Hi Tiffany. There’s a number of possible reasons for your issue. Let’s discuss each of them briefly.

Force restart

If your iPhone was working normally before the screen became black and the phone became uncomfortably warm, it’s possible that it may have become unresponsive or frozen. To check if that’s the case, you want to force reboot your iPhone. To do that, follow these steps:

  1. Press and quickly release the Volume Up button.
  2. Press and quickly release the Volume Down button.
  3. Then, press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo.

Verify if Power button is stuck

In some cases, the primary reason why iPhones seem to become unresponsive or overheated is a broken Power button. While majority of iPhone devices can have a long life without experiencing Power button issues, some units may have the exact opposite. The thing is, your device’s Power button can easily overload the system if it’s stuck because it can repeatedly send a request to restart. After some time, this endless barrage of power-related requests can lead overwhelm the system resulting to overheating. It also will not keep the device stay on for long. In some cases, it can even prevent the device from booting up at all. Try checking if your iPhone’s Power button appears loose in the case. If it feels loose or too tight that you can’t press it like you do normally, it’s probably stuck. Unfortunately, if you are unable to loosen the button itself, the most effective way to fix it is via repair so you’ll most likely end up having it done by Apple.

Charge the phone using another charging cable or adapter

Sometimes, bad charging accessories can fry the charging port causing charging problems or overheating. In other cases, the issue may only be with the charging cable or adapter so to eliminate the possibility of having bad charging cable or adapter, you want to use another know working cable and adapter. If you don’t have a readily available lightning cable or adapter to use, go to a nearby Apple store and charge your iPhone 8 using their charging equipment. If you know someone with another iPhone 8, try to borrow his or charger and see if that will fix the issue.

Perform DFU Recovery

Should your iPhone remains unresponsive, the ultimate attempt to fix it is to boot the device to DFU (Device Firmware Upgrade) mode. This is usually useful for iOS devices that can’t interact with iTunes when the operating system is loaded, or when they can’t boot to Recovery Mode to do a full Restore. This presumes that your iPhone 8 still charges and has simply lost sync with iOS boot up procedure. If it’s totally unresponsive or dead, don’t waste your time doing this procedure.

This procedure requires a computer with iTunes installed. Make sure that iTunes runs the latest update.

  1. In your computer, close all active apps.
  2. Open iTunes.
  3. Turn off your iPhone. If you can’t turn it off normally, let the battery drain to 0% so the phone powers down on its own. Charge the phone for at least an hour without attempting to turn it on.
  4. Connect your iPhone to the computer via USB cable.
  5. Press and hold the Power button for at least 3 seconds.
  6. Press and hold the Volume Down button on the left side of the iPhone while continuing to hold the Power button. Be sure to hold both Power and Volume Down keys for 10 seconds. If Apple logo appears at this time, repeat steps 5 and 6. Apple logo should not show at all.
  7. Continue to hold Volume Down key for another 5 seconds. If the Plug into iTunes screen is displayed, repeat steps 5-7. Plug into iTunes screen should not show up.
  8. You’ll know that your phone is in DFU mode if the screen remains black. Your computer should then tell you that iTunes has detected an iPhone.
  9. Follow the on-screen steps in your computer to do a full recovery.

Check if phone has No Power issue

If your iPhone has become uncomfortably warm but refuses to power back on, you may have a No Power issue. No Power issue is usually indicated by lack of normal indicators of a working hardware such as no lights, screen staying black, absence of sound or notifications, and no usual vibration when restarting. If your iPhone does not have any of these indicators at all, it’s probably totally dead. This means that your phone has either lost the ability to charge and therefore the battery is empty, or that there’s a problem with the motherboard. Either of these cases require serious hardware check so you’re out of luck. If you can’t power the phone back on by using another charger, you have to contact Apple so they can schedule a repair for you.

Contact Apple support

When it comes to  iOS troubleshooting, there’s nothing much that you can do. That’s because iOS is such a closed system, compared to Android and there’s not much a user can tinker with to fix even common software bugs. While being closed has benefited Apple users when it comes to security concerns, such a setup has also discouraged the growth of community that can figure common software and hardware problems like the one in Android scene. So, if the above suggestions won’t help in fixing your trouble, the only effective recourse for you is to let Apple know of the situation so they can check the hardware and repair it.

Problem #2: iPhone 8 Power button is stuck

My OS is 11.3.1, and Sprint  is the carrier. Yesterday i noticed that the button to turn off phone/display is stuck.  Today when i went to push the home button, the phone started flashing on and off, with Apple logo flashing. It didn’t stop until I plugged the phone into a power source, even though it’s 83 percent  charged. it worked. But the button to turn off the phone/display is still stuck and not working. — Helen Lepor

Solution: Hi Helen. The best way to fix a stuck hardware button is to gently press it inside before letting go. If you’ve already tried that and the button remains stuck at this time, it’s probably damaged. Contact Apple support so they can repair your device.

Problem #3: iPhone 8 charges to 100% but goes down to 1% right away

iPhone battery is either stuck on a percentage or is not charging, shows 100% then goes down to 1%, goes up to 4% again. If used, phone gets switched off in 1-2 minutes. Connected in power source starts again with the same power percentage. — Damini Gautam

Solution: Hi Damini. Make sure that you recalibrate the battery and operating system first. Sometimes, this procedure is needed in order to retrain the system how to get accurate reading of remaining battery levels. To do that, follow these steps:

  1. Drain the battery completely. This means using your device until it powers down by its own and the battery level reads 0%.
  2. Charge the phone until it reaches 100%. Be sure to use original charging equipment for your device and let it charge up completely. Do not unplug your device for at least two more hours and also don’t use it while charging.
  3. After the elapsed time, unplug your device.
  4. Perform a warm restart by holding the Power and Home buttons simultaneously until the startup logo appears.
  5. Use your phone until it completely runs out of power again.
  6. Repeat steps 1-5 one more time.

Should the issue remain after you’ve calibrated the battery and the OS, try a factory reset to see if that will clear any possibility of a software bug. Make sure to back your personal data up first before you wipe the phone.

To factory reset your iPhone 8:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap General.
  3. Tap Reset.
  4. Tap Erase All Content and Settings.
  5. If prompted, enter your passcode.
  6. Tap Erase iPhone.

If factory reset won’t work send the phone in to Apple.


Engage with us

If you happen to have a problem with your own iPhone, let us know about it and we will do our best to post them and their solutions  in our upcoming articles. You can use this link to contact us for assistance. We can’t guarantee an answer to every question but rest assured that we will exhaust everything on our end to help you.

Be as detailed as possible when describing your problem to help us diagnose your issue easily. If you can include error messages, popups, attempted troubleshooting steps, and circumstances leading to the problem, that would be very helpful.

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