Wife's iPhone 5S Screen Fades to Black, Non-Responsive

[solo118]

Odd issue, but my wife woke up this morning to find that her screen dims/fades to black within a few seconds of unlocking the phone. The touch screen works for a moment, and then becomes non responsive screen goes purple and fades to black. Luckily I found a trick online that prolongs that issue by a few moments by lowering the screen brightness.

Now what my first instinct would be is that either the ribbon connecting to the motherboard might be loose, or that I might need a screen replacement. Both are a bit hard to swallow as this phone was purchased Feb 2014 and should be without fault. I came across an article on the web, and I read that it might be a processor issue, meaning I might have a completely useless phone if I go ahead and pay for a screen replacement. As it stands once the screen is somewhat usable, the phone is extremely slow to respond at times which did not happen before.

Does anybody know if this is a common issue or if there is a remedy? I do not have apple care so if I need a full phone replacement Apple quoted a $269 price (refurbished phone of course) although a screen replacement was about $80. The genius bar does not have an appointment for another 3 days so I am hoping there is a solution otherwise I might go ahead and search craigslist for a used 5S to hold her over until her upgrade comes in December.

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[eyoungren]

Well, the $269 price quoted is the OoW (Out of Warranty) price. I would take Apple up on that offer. You are unlikely to find anything on craigslist for less than the OoW price and open yourself up to risk in any deal there.

But let Apple determine what needs to be done. If they say it's a screen you're only out $80 then.

 

[solo118]

Well, the $269 price quoted is the OoW (Out of Warranty) price. I would take Apple up on that offer. You are unlikely to find anything on craigslist for less than the OoW price and open yourself up to risk in any deal there.

But let Apple determine what needs to be done. If they say it's a screen you're only out $80 then.

Any idea what the issue may be? If its hardware related other than the screen, I am definitely going the OOW route...

 

[eyoungren]

Not sure. I seem to recall some purple screen issues but not what the cause of that was for both the 5 and the 5s.

 

[Newtons Apple]

If dimming the screen prolongs the screen from dimming out a little longer, I would venture to say that the circuit on the board that powers the screen is going bad. If so it is would require a new circuit board.

 

[solo118]

If dimming the screen prolongs the screen from dimming out a little longer, I would venture to say that the circuit on the board that powers the screen is going bad. If so it is would require a new circuit board.

So you think its a total loss? It stinks that the phone is not that old, I am hoping maybe Apple will have some compassion as I do not really want to pay $269 for a replacement.

 

[Newtons Apple]

So you think its a total loss? It stinks that the phone is not that old, I am hoping maybe Apple will have some compassion as I do not really want to pay $269 for a replacement.

I would take it to the Apple store and let them diagnose the problem. If it is the worst, I would STILL rather pay the $269 than get something off of eBay or CL.

 

[solo118]

Thanks genius bar squeezed me in for tomorrow. I hope they have a solution, if not I will go the OOW route....

 

[lagwagon]

Sounds like failing hardware. But the date of purchase means nothing. Anything can fail 10 minutes after purchase or 10 years. That's just how it goes with anything.

 

[paikinho]

I also had this problem. It looked just like the video posted above.



I tried many of the suggestions I saw on the web but nothing quite worked except dimming the screen down a lot.

- Removing the SIM Card and Blowing into the slot didn't work.

- Full factory reset didn't work.

- Reset from Settings on the phone itself didn't work



Working with a fully dimmed phone was not acceptable so I finally broke down and I took the phone in and had the screen replaced. I was a bit concerned because some people have replaced the screen and the phone was fine afterwards, for some people the screen swap didn't work, for others... they had their screen replaced multiple times and the problem persisted. This is a complicated issue with multiple possible contributing causes is essentially what I can figure.



Cost of the fix:

$105 @ Bulbs and Batteries store.

more at other places I checked.....



I went with the Bulb and Battery store.

I guess they have 10% off if you schedule the repair online which I didn't get since I just drove in and dropped it. I only discovered the discount after I got back home and looked up the store for another phone I have with a likely old battery. I was checking the prices and a coupon popped up. Wish I had saved that money on my screen replacement. Anyhow.....



The tech there was very good at analyzing what the potential problems could be.



He seemed to say that likely power was not getting to the screen in sufficient quantity to keep the screen fully powered.



It could be as simple as a loose cable if the phone was dropped, some water damage even though I detected none when I looked at the water damage dot in the SIM card slot., it could be that the screen was going bad and not drawing enough power, or that somehow the mainboard was damaged and not supplying enough power to keep the screen going.



He thought it most likely to be from some sort of water damage or damage to a cable connecting the screen. Possibly a drop or even some moisture had gotten into the phone from something.



He said that probably what was happening was when the phone was initially turned on it was fully functioning as it should but due to loss of power or decreased power to the screen.... the screen would dim and when the power was not sufficient, the screen froze with just the last input image which is why it couldn't receive any finger input. Essentially what was left on the screen was an image of the last thing which was happening. Enough power to see that, but not enough for any input or swiping because the screen was only displaying a ghost image.



He said that besides the screen being frozen at that point, the other phone functions seemed to be working. Less likely a main board issue, but it could still be.



The screen replacement took only an hour after I dropped it off. The tech said there was water damage, but only to one of the components being replaced during the screen replacement. I was lucky in this case.



The phone so far is fine.



Good things about taking it to the shop.



1. tech experience in analyzing the causes of iPhone malfunctions

2. fairly inexpensive screen replacement. Screen ~$60 bucks. 45 for service which is reasonable given the time and analysis.

3. I couldn't inadvertently damage the phone. I have fixed several iPhones before, but at some point I could brick one. Usually I only do cracked screens cause I know they are the culprit.

4. I have a 6 month warranty on the phone screen. If anything should go wrong with it I can bring it in for another replacement.

5. Best of all, if the screen replacement didn't fix the issue, I wouldn't be charged since I was paying for the screen replacement to fix the phone. They would just give me my phone back as it was.