How To Fix iPhone 8 won’t Turn On And Screen Stays Black

Hello and welcome to another troubleshooting article. This one is a short collection of some common #iPhone8 issues we’ve come across so far.

Before we proceed let us remind you that 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.

Below are specific topics we’re bringing for you today:

How To Fix iPhone 8 won’t Turn On And Screen Stays Black

Problem #1: Damaged iPhone 8 won’t turn on after accidental drop

I recently cracked the front screen of my IPhone 8 and shattered the back glass on it to where pieces are falling out. It was still working correctly and now it’s not. It started with if you kind of thumped the screen it would start working, then it would just freeze but if you hit the home button it would still function, you just couldn’t do anything with the actual touch screen. Now it won’t work at all except for turning on and off, pressing the home button to get to the password, and i still get my notifications.

Solution: Dropping an electronic device can have mixed results. In some cases, the device will continue to work normally and won’t have any problems later on. In others though, just like in your case, physical damage can sometimes extend beyond the screen and into the logic board. Based on your description, the phone has been battered badly by the drop and there must be other issues not just with the screen assembly. For a case like this, software solutions are totally useless so there’s practically nothing much that you can do. We suggest that you allow a professional to check the hardware so you’ll get advise if repair can still be done. If you’re lucky and the physical damage is superficial, a minor repair may help. Otherwise, you probably just have an expensive paperweight.

Problem #2: How to fix iPhone 8 won’t turn on issue, screen stays black

Phone stuck on black screen – (and us actually new after this same issue occurred this week!!). So this is the 2nd time now – phone has been charging all day – I checked that the outlet, plug and cable all worked. However, it’s just black – doesn’t even make a sound when get calls or text messages. Tried to follow the protocol for fixing this issue but does nothing. It’s a brand new replacement phone so not sure what the issue is but VERY FRUSTRATING. I’m a dr and CANNOT GO WITHOUT a phone like this!!

Solution: There’s not much that you can do for a case like this. Since you’ve already tried checking the charging accessories, the only two other things that you can try should be to:

  • charge using a computer, and
  • do a DFU restore.

The second suggestion is only possible if the first one (charging thru PC/laptop) applies. If your iPhone 8 won’t turn back on at all, or won’t charge via a computer, the problem must not be fixable at your level. In this case, you have to contact Apple again so they can check the device.

For reference, below are the steps on how to do a DFU restore. DFU restore can only be made if the phone can’t boot up but otherwise still working and not totally dead. What you intend to do is to get to DFU mode so you can do a complete recovery. 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.

Remember, if you can’t do DFU restore, send the phone in.

Problem #3: What to do if iPhone 8 Plus screen is unresponsive and won’t turn on

I had my iPhone 8 plus in my hand when i was walking and i accidentally dropped it. When I went to pick it up there was no new cracks or anything and the password screen turned on when i pressed the home button. but when I tried to type in my password the screen was unresponsive. After a while of trying to type my password in nothing was happening so I tried my fingerprint and that worked. My finger print unlocked my phone but when i tried to swipe my screen or touch anything it is still unresponsive. I turned it off to try and see if reseting it would work and when i powered it on i tried to type in my password again but again there was nothing. So i tried my finger print to see if that would work again and it told me that I couldn’t use fingerprint access to to get into my phone after i reset it.

I tried to take it into a phone repair guy and he put on a different screen to see if that would work but again nothing. So now he put the old screen on it and it still isn’t working. My phone will turn on but nothing on the screen is responsive. I can’t type in my password or get into anything now because i can’t use my fingerprint to get in because i reset the phone. I also tried pressing really hard against my screen to see if something was just loose and not receiving connection and when i pressed hard enough i held it and i could type in my password and the screen was responsive but when i let go of holding the screen down it stopped working again. I tried to do it again but now it wont work and the screen is unresponsive again. I am hoping that i can fix this myself so i dont have to send it into apple because i know they will charge me alot of money to fix it. 

Solution: The accidental drop must have damaged both the screen assembly and the motherboard. If the physical damage was only isolated to the screen, the replacement screen used by the technician should have worked normally. Frankly, there’s very little to nothing that you can do in this situation. Because the motherboard has been damaged, the least that you can do now is to replace it. You can’t just remove one component from the board, replace it, and expect it to work. And even if you can do that, that’s actually the easy part. Knowing the exact point of failure is the main challenge in this case. Hardware diagnostics require special knowledge and tools, both of which are most probably not easily available for you. If you want to save some money, Apple repair is still the practical option for you. Third party repair is not guaranteed so you’ll have to kiss your repair fee goodbye if they won’t be able to fix the phone at all.

Problem #4: iPhone 8 Plus IMAP or POP when setting up email

I got new iPhone 8 plus- on old phone I had it set up where if I deleted email from my phone it remained on my home computer so that I could look up stuff and keep my phone cleaner- but currently when I delete off my phone it also deletes off of my computer — just set up phone yesterday- I read and it is talking about IMAP and POP but currently I only see IMAP and do not see option to choose pop or any options.

Solution: IMAP is useful if you want to access your mails in multiple devices. However, an action in one device will also be reflected in another. For instance, if you delete an email in your iPhone 8’s email app, the action will be synced to other devices as well because the action is on account level. Deleting an email will also be shown in other devices.

POP traditionally works differently from IMAP. it’s an older system and is now only useful if you want to let one device download your mails. For example, if you set a POP account in your computer, other devices will not be able to download your emails unless they will be the first to access them. In other words, the first device that downloads the message will be the one to keep it. So, if your iPhone downloads new messages first ahead of the PC, the latter will no longer be able to download them at all.

IMAP or POP? Try to see which one works best for you.

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