iPhone SE (2016) iPhone SE (2016) - Degrading Touchscreen Functionality

[bobcat3000]

I've been losing touchscreen functionality on my iPhone SE over the course of the past 6 months. A couple of years back I noticed that the top left-hand portion of the plastic casing/screen had started move away very slightly from the surrounding metal edges.

Ignoring this and hoping for the best, I then chose to ignore a small crescent mark that appeared on the screen sometime later. It looks a little like a small wire is pressing against the screen. I struggled to get a good photo of this however, it can just about be made out slightly to the left of center in the below photo:

Additionally, a vertical line occasionally appears on the left-hand-side of the screen, which is usually associated with a loss of left-hand touchscreen functionality.

In general, over the course of the last six months the touchscreen has become increasingly less responsive. Usually while I'm using the phone and the touchscreen fails, I can simply lock and unlock the screen and this seems to be enough to restore functionality for a little while. However, this is becoming less and less effective and I'm now faced with a need to get this fixed or replaced.

I'm presuming that these symptoms may point to a bulging battery issue. Has anyone else encountered similar symptoms? I'm wondering (or rather hoping) that it's a touchscreen issue, coupled with slightly loose casing as I might be able to simply reseat the touchscreen.

I would appreciate feedback to steer me in the right direction.

 

[DJ_Smith]

I would appreciate feedback to steer me in the right direction.

Time to buy a new Phone.

 

[bobcat3000]

Time to buy a new Phone.

Sadly Apple doesn't sell an iPhone with the same form factor as the 2016 iPhone SE, so I'd prefer to fix it, if at all possible

 

[akash.nu]

The chances of battery failure is way higher than touch screen failure over the course of a few years. Having said that, unless you open it up, we wouldn’t know what the real issue is.

Also, if you’re not sure of what to do then take it to a professional. But, as the previous poster suggested, at this point the first generation SE is worth peanuts. So a really good option would be the 2nd generation SE if you’ve got the budget.

 

[bobcat3000]

The chances of battery failure is way higher than touch screen failure over the course of a few years. Having said that, unless you open it up, we wouldn’t know what the real issue is.

Also, if you’re not sure of what to do then take it to a professional. But, as the previous poster suggested, at this point the first generation SE is worth peanuts. So a really good option would be the 2nd generation SE if you’ve got the budget.

That's probably the route I'm going to have to take, just wanted to know if there were other options, realistically.

 

[DieselFiend1989]

Given the age of the phone, repair, unless incredibly cheap, is probably borderline wasted money. See if you can find one of the amazing deals on a refurb ‘16 SE that I have heard about. I have seen more than one person stating they found them for around $100 refurbished. Personally, I would just upgrade to whichever current phone makes ya feel all warm and fuzzy inside and meets your budget requirements. Best of luck with whatever path you choose!

 

[bobcat3000]

Thanks for the advice guys, went ahead and picked up a refurb. Fingers crossed for IOS 14...

 

[bobnugget]

Mine came back from an Apple battery replacement with exactly those symptoms! I ended up sending it back again; they replaced the screen unit and battery to put it right. Hopefully they were playing safe as that would not have been a cheap repair.