I just want to share my findings. These have to do with sudden changes in functionality, such as sound volume with calling, or battery life. I have an iphone 5S. Suddenly, the sound with phone calls dropped to almost inaudible. The sound was audible with headphones or on speakerphone only. Hours of useless internet searches for a solution produced nothing - including the advise to open the thing to replace the speaker component, because "it was broken," which I did not think it was and therefore did not have it replaced. In addition, the battery suddenly started draining at a ridiculous clip. Hours of useless internet searches for a solution proved equally fruitless, including the advise to replace the battery, which I had done for 25 euro, and did not solve the problem. I started to feel weirdly "forced to buy another iphone." It became tremendously irritating to plug in headphones each time I had to make a phone call, which irritation I am sure must be known to the iphone producer. It also became tremendously irritating to have to plug the thing in just about every hour, which irritation I am sure is also known to the iphone makers. In the end, the weird feeling of "being forced to buy another iphone" proved to be not so weird. I ended up buying another iphone: an iphone 6SE because it was just slightly larger than the iphone 5S format. I took several hours to make the thing operational (downloading the o/s from itunes, etc) but it worked. The apps were reinstalled from the backup, and the new iphone 6SE seemed to be okay. It took nicer pictures, and I was able to install the Swype keyboard again, which is a very wonderful keyboard. Several weeks later, however, the 6SE gave up the ghost. It would no longer start up, nor would it charge up. I went through several hours of fruitless internet searches for a solution that only produced the repeated advise to do a "hard reset" - duh... and the advise to open the thing and unplug the battery and replug the battery and then charge it. A video showing two hands in black plastic gloves showed you how to perform this operation. By the way, the "hard reset" differs from iphone model to iphone model, and I spent several hours pressing the two buttons, like a monkey on coke. I took it to the Vodafone store, instead of operating on the thing, and asked to get a new phone. But I was told it was "going back" to be repaired. And I had to "consent to the repair." Strange, right..? Why did I have to "consent" to a repair, when the iphone was under warranty for two years? I asked if essentially I was consenting to receiving a refurbished iphone, which question was answered with a "no". My repeated request to just get a new iphone instead of having this one refurbished, was refused. The Vodafone rep also removed the chip holder and handed it to me, because "these things often get lost during the repair", which struck me as weird. Why would it be lost during the repair, what else might get lost, and how would I not lose it myself? (Plus, the simcard was not in the holder; why then did the simcard holder have to be removed from my iphone?) In fact, I had already put the simcard in the old 5S iphone that was lying dormant in a drawer. And here comes the clincher! The moment I put the simcard in the old iphone, the phone worked just fine! I charged it up a bit, and made a call. Guess what??? The sound volume was perfect! No need to put it on speakerphone or to plug in earphones, fumbling with these crazy wires. I was able to talk with people and hear them clearly, and they could hear me clearly. Then, over the course of several days, I noticed that the battery was not draining very rapidly anymore. Prior, it would drain just by sitting on the table. Now I just have to charge it up a little bit a few times a day. Some bizarre explanations I got from Vodafone reps include that "you should never keep the phone on the charger, because it kills the battery." But the battery was not killed! The iphone 5S is working just fine! It is sitting next to my Mac right now, not on the charger, and it is not draining! The call volume is audible and adjustable. Not a single problem with this phone. The only drawback is that it does not support the Swype keyboard. Now, my question to you guys is, what do you think is the deal with these suspicious interruptions in functionality, that are very sudden, highly irritating, mysterious, and not solvable, and basically force you into buying another iphone that you do not even want! And only when you have spent beaucoup bucks on another iphone, are these functionalities back in place in the "old" iphone. On top of that, the "new" iphone that you did not want in the first place, kicks the bucket weeks after you purchased it. To me it is all ******** what Apple cooks up to force money out of people's pockets. Actually, it is the same with the Mac: after so many years of using my powerbook, a completely random and weird problem surfaced all of a sudden that leaves you gasping for air, because you just lost all your data and you watch the destruction get progressively worse when you do reboots and such! This story is too long for here, and too nuts for words as well. My thoughts on this stuff is, why is it necessary to screw with people in this manner and destroy their data, why not just approach them and suggest they buy new hardware. And in such a case, why don't you produce hardware that a customer actually wants, in terms of cellphone size, for instance. I do not want an ever-increasing cellphone that no longer fits in a purse, or a jeans pocket. Programming hardware to malfunction suddenly and for no good reason, is a vile manner of doing business and should be taken to a court for a class action lawsuit.
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iPhone SE (2016) Suspicious functionality interruptions
- Thread starter Vuurvogel
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Ummm...
Could you do everybody a favour and edit your huge wall of texts into several paragraphs and organise a little bit? Thanks.
Could you do everybody a favour and edit your huge wall of texts into several paragraphs and organise a little bit? Thanks.
who is everybody, just you? just read the post and respond or do not respond. Thanks.
TL;DR: 6 year old hardware can develop gremlins which may or may not inexplicably resolve itself.
The hardware isn’t programmed to suddenly stop working.
The hardware isn’t programmed to suddenly stop working.
The 5s is 6 years old. Unknown hardware problems could be responsible for seemingly weird behavior with respect to the phone hardware. Could be a battery issue also.
Everybody is... like EVERYBODY. That was painful.
Although you found the solution yourself. Once you bought a new phone, Apple was happy and they flipped the master switch for your 5s.
Now it works!
I chose to NOT read the post and respond anyway... and you are welcome BTW
Everybody includes me, so add me to the list with:
@Shirasaki
@Five_Oh
@Newtons Apple
@keysofanxiety
@MacDawg
Edit to add:
@millerj123
@Jimmy James
@BasicGreatGuy
@FFR
@s15119
@Mlrollin91
@akash.nu
@tranceking26
So, anyone else who wants to be a part of everybody, just add your name to the list
Last edited:
Nope, but OP asked for a response, so mine is: “maybe?!??!”
I know you wanted to get it off your chest and that's ok. Letters are free, but few people who visit these forums want to pick through a "wall of text" that's mostly complaining.
So I did skim over your wall, and basically my conclusion is:
Not every one of these gadgets that leaves the factory in China is perfect. There's plenty (or enough) duds to make buying a new iPhone a gamble whether it'll last a long time or not. Your SE may have been new, but it probably was a dud. It comes with territory nowadays.
Instead of getting all worked up about it and venting to the world, accept the fact that a certain percentage of these new iPhones are not going to work properly- and return it for a refurb.
In my opinion, refurbished iPhones are better than the ones being shipped out by the millions by Foxconn. Refurbished iPhones are carefully tested. Brand new ones are not (obviously).
The emotional trauma some people experience when getting a dud iPhone is only due to their unrealistic expectations that every iPhone is perfect.
As you've experienced, that's far from the case. Some people are lucky and get good iPhones, others are not and sometimes get one lemon after another.
So I did skim over your wall, and basically my conclusion is:
Not every one of these gadgets that leaves the factory in China is perfect. There's plenty (or enough) duds to make buying a new iPhone a gamble whether it'll last a long time or not. Your SE may have been new, but it probably was a dud. It comes with territory nowadays.
Instead of getting all worked up about it and venting to the world, accept the fact that a certain percentage of these new iPhones are not going to work properly- and return it for a refurb.
In my opinion, refurbished iPhones are better than the ones being shipped out by the millions by Foxconn. Refurbished iPhones are carefully tested. Brand new ones are not (obviously).
The emotional trauma some people experience when getting a dud iPhone is only due to their unrealistic expectations that every iPhone is perfect.
As you've experienced, that's far from the case. Some people are lucky and get good iPhones, others are not and sometimes get one lemon after another.
Op is discussing iPhone 5s a six year old phone. This is not a new out of the box bad experience which happens because manufacturing is not perfect in any industry.
We should start a tag Hall of Fame
I didn't read the entire wall of text, due to the lack of paragraphs. Made it hard to read and keep any interest.
Add me to the @ list
Add me to the @ list
Please, someone sell this guy en enter key. paragraphs are your friend. No way I am reading that.
Did the op get an new phone?
The Great Wall of text is unreadable.
The Great Wall of text is unreadable.
another you could check and Apple doesn't tell anybody this but check under your battery health if it says power management has been installed that mean your iPhone is going to be slower and less responsive with it on but they say they do that to add long life to your iPhone when it happened to mine my battery health was at 93% health after power management was installed my battery health went down to 86 percent so I want back to peak performance and used my iPhone 5's until I bought my iPhone SE