iPhone X won’t boot up (black screen and stuck on Apple logo screen)

This post will cover one of the commonly encountered issues for many iPhone users. As described by one iPhone X user, his phone appears unable to boot up. While he did not elaborate on the history of the device, we assume he tried to possibly update or install something. Failure to boot up on iPhones usually result from installation errors. If you have a similar issue on your own iPhone, follow our suggested troubleshooting steps below.

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Problem: iPhone X won’t boot up (black screen and stuck on Apple logo screen)

Hi there. I’m really hoping you can help me! My iphone x has started flashing the apple logo screen on repeat; the white screen with apple logo appears, then the screen goes black, and then this repeats on and off continuously.  I have tried resetting the iphone by pressing and holding the on/off and volume down buttons, and then updated the software (as well as completed a restore). The update seems to loaded successfully – the load bar appeared on my iphone screen, with iTunes then telling me that the update had loaded and that my iphone was restarting. However following this, the apple logo on/off cycle started all over again. This continues despite multiple attempts to reboot the phone.  Just wondering what your advice would be from here? I’m actually currently traveling in Central America so getting to an apple store is a little tricky! Thanks.

Solution: The usual reason why iPhones get stuck on Apple logo screen and won’t boot up is installation failure. The system will suffer loading failure if installation is interrupted.  To fix this issue, let first try to force restart or Try DFU Mode Restore to get your phone rebooted correctly.

Either of these scenarios can lead to boot up problems. Depending on the stage that the installation was stopped, the problems can range from simple bug to a permanent damaged partitions. The latter is serious and needs repair or phone replacement.

Forced restart

To see if the problem is caused by a simple update bug, we suggest that you try to simulate the effect to disconnecting the battery to refresh the system. You can do that by following these steps:

1. Quickly press and release the Volume Up button.
2. Then quickly press and release the Volume Down button.
3. Finally, press and hold the Side button.

If you are able to do the regular restart, you can also do so:

1. Press and hold the Side button and either the Volume buttons until the slide to power off screen appears.
2. Drag the slider to turn your iPhone X completely off.
3. After your iPhone turns off, press and hold the Side button again until the Apple logo appears.

Try DFU Mode Restore

Performing a DFU Mode Restore may be necessary if nothing has changed at this point. This troubleshooting step will restore all firmware to their default state so if the problem is due to bad programming changes, this might help.

These are the steps to do a DFU Mode Restore:

1. Connect your iPhone X to your computer using the USB or Lightning cable that comes with it.
2. Open iTunes on your computer.
3. Turn off your iPhone X as you normally do. In iOS 11, you can turn off your iPhone by going to Settings-> General-> Shut Down menu-> then toggle the slider to the right. Doing so turns off the iPhone.
4. Press and hold the Side button (Power button) for 3 seconds. Then, press and hold the Volume Down button  while still holding down the Side button. Keep holding both buttons for 10 seconds.
   • If the Apple logo appears, it means that you have held the buttons for too long. If this happens, you need to go back from the very start. Otherwise, skip to the next step.
5. Release the Side button but keep holding down the Volume Down button for about 5 seconds more.
   • If you are prompted with the Plug into iTunes screen, it means that you have entered Recovery Mode instead. So you’ll need to go back to the very first step and make sure you’re not holding the buttons for so long.
   • If your iPhone X screen remains black, that means your device has successfully entered DFU mode. iTunes will then prompt you with an alert message saying that it has detected your iPhone and will allow it to be restored. Follow the onscreen instructions to restore your iPhone X in iTunes.

Send your iPhone in

As an end user, there’s only so much that you can do to fix your iPhone X that won’t boot up. If nothing comes out positive after doing a DFU Mode Restore, you should call Apple so they can examine the hardware. If you are currently out of the country, you should at least try to bring the device to a local Apple store to see if they can wipe the phone without needing a repair. If that won’t help, we’re afraid you have to wait until you’re back home for repair.

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

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