How to troubleshoot an iPhone 7 that has black screen issue (but Home button is lit)

Many #iPhone7 owners encounter a common problem called black screen issue on their devices. Basically, the problem depicts an iPhone 7 that appears to turn on though its screen has become unresponsive and remains black. In this troubleshooting guide, we provide the three things that you can do about this problem.

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.

ALSO READ: How to deal with Apple iPhone 7 black screen issue

Today’s problem: iPhone 7 screen is black but Home button is lit

iPhone 7 froze after trying to update an app. And the screen just went black. The home button still works, meaning it’s not off, just the screen for some reason. Text and calls don’t wake the phone up either. I tried connecting my iPhone to my laptop, but somehow my laptop was asking me to allow the computer to access the phone’s information (as if I’ve never connected it before but I’m pretty sure I have), but without my phone screen turning on, I can’t allow access. — Franceen

How to troubleshoot an iPhone 7 that has black screen issue though it still powers on

In this case, it’s apparent that the iPhone 7 is not completely dead since the Home button appears to be functioning and a laptop still detects the device. The possible reasons for this situation may be any of the following:

  • device has frozen for some reason
  • an unknown app or software bug caused the display to crash
  • display assembly has suffered a catastrophic hardware malfunction or failure

To fix the problem, you must do series of troubleshooting steps to understand the problem better. From there, you should be able to find the appropriate solution.

Step #1: Force restart your iPhone 7

If you are positive that your iPhone was not physically impacted or damaged prior to it becoming dead, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to fix the problem on your level. It’s possible that something may have gone wrong during or after the update. At this point, we would like to think that your device may have simply encountered an error it can’t deal with so you have to help it recover. To do that, you want to force restart it. Here’s how:

  1. Press and hold the Power button.
  2. Continue to hold the Power button and press and hold the Volume down button located on the left side of your iPhone.
  3. Hold both buttons as the iPhone powers off and back on; release both buttons when the Apple logo appears on the screen.

Step #2: Perform a DFU Recovery

Should forcing your iPhone 7 to restart won’t work at all, it’s operating system may have crashed or frozen although there’s no way to know this for sure since the screen is still black. If the phone remains on, or if Home button is still lit, there’s still hope that the issue user-fixable. The next troubleshooting step that you want to try is a DFU recovery. Unlike a regular recovery, this process relies on a combination of hardware buttons and iTunes to diagnose the software and hopefully bring the phone back to its normal routine. DFU recovery requires a computer so make sure to have one. Then, install the latest iTunes software to it before doing the following:

  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.

Step #3: Get support from Apple

DFU recovery can only deal with software-related problems. As long as the cause of the display failure is software in nature, DFU recovery should work. If you followed our instructions to the letter but the phone screen remains black, that’s a clear sign that the problem is caused by something in the hardware department.

Your iPhone’s screen assembly has 5 major components — LCD, digitizer, the front camera, Home button, and flex cables. The LCD is the monitor that displays the image. The digitizer is thin layer of sensitive material that converts your touches into digital signals. These signals are then forwarded to the logic board via flex cable that runs from the digitizer. In your situation, it’s possible that only the LCD is broken while the rest of the components are still working. Unfortunately, a physically broken LCD still requires a major job since the phone needs to be repaired. Based on our own experience for years using iPhones, screen assemblies of these Apple devices are generally reliable and only extreme abuse can cause them to fail. It’s very rare to see an iPhone screen go bad because of a software glitch. In a lot of cases, iPhone screens are broken because the device was dropped, hit by a solid object, damaged by water, or exposed to extreme heat or cold. If any of these things happened on your device before the screen because what it is now, you should seriously consider sending the phone to Apple so it can be repaired.


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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