One of our Philadelphia neighbors came in with this iPhone 11 Pro Max that was stuck in a boot loop. The iPhone would turn on and show the Apple logo, but after a few seconds of showing the Apple logo the iPhone would shut down to a black screen, then boot up again and start the process all over. This boot loop behavior can be caused by a couple of different things, so starting with a free diagnosis is usually necessary for these boot loop situations.
iPhone 11 Boot Loop Diagnosis
The boot loop symptom on iPhones is a very generic symptom in and of itself. If you were to google “Boot loop fix” for instance, you will find a lot of discussions around software-based reasons for your iPhone to not boot fully. These software-based reasons are things like:
- A failed update
- Running out of storage on your iPhone
- Some kind of corruption on your iPhone
With software-based boot loop issues, you are able to just restore the iPhone to factory settings and set it up as a new phone. Do note that this restore process will delete all the data on your iPhone, so be sure you have a good backup of any important data before you complete this step.
The other issues you see a lot causing a boot loop are hardware-based problems. Hardware problems that can cause are boot loops are too numerous to name all of them, but some of the generic causes are:
- Liquid damage
- A bad battery
- Logic board short
This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it helps show just how broad the causes of a boot loop can be. In order to be sure what is causing the boot loop, we have to complete a full diagnosis of the iPhone to narrow down the issue fully.
In this case, we started by taking apart the iPhone 11 Pro Max and completing a visual inspection. During that inspection, we found some signs of water damage around the Face ID sensor. Some liquid had entered the phone through the mesh earpiece and caused corrosion on the Face ID flex cable, in particular around the Flood Illuminator. This corrosion was causing a short which was keeping the iPhone from booting fully.
The rest of the iPhone looked good with no other signs of liquid damage.
iPhone 11 Pro Max Face ID Flex Cable Replacement
The Face ID components need to be kept original in order for the Face ID and auto-brightness to work properly. In this case, the sensors themselves looked good, but the flex cable that those sensors plugged into had the corrosion present. Replacing the damaged flex cable and cleaning the sensors was the needed repair.
Because it is necessary to keep the original sensors in the iPhone, sometimes Face ID issues can not be repaired without a complete parts replacement. But in this case, the repair process for replacing the bad flex cable was:
- Disassembling the iPhone to the point where we can remove the damaged Face ID flex cable
- Remove the original Flood Illuminator and ambient light sensor and clean the contact points
- Install the Flood Illuminator and ambient light sensor onto the new flex cable
- Reassemble the iPhone and test for full functionality.
Fully Booting After Repair
As you can see in the pictures, the iPhone 11 Pro Max completed a full boot after the repair was complete. There was no need to restore the iPhone as part of the repair process, so all the customer’s data was intact and accessible. Unlike the Apple store, we only restore the iPhone’s software if necessary. Many times the Apple store and other shops will restore customer devices as part of the diagnosis process. We understand the hassle that can cause so we only complete that step when absolutely necessary.
All other hardware components tested as good in this iPhone 11 Pro Max. Face ID worked properly after the repair with the Flood Illuminator testing good. The ambient light sensor also tested good after repair, so this iPhone 11 Pro Max was ready for pickup.
Quick Turnaround Times
We understand the importance of having a fully working iPhone, so we offer super fast turnaround times for our iPhone repairs. This particular repair we were able to complete in about 2 hours from start to finish. By replacing just the component that was liquid damaged we were able to save this client $100’s over what they would have been charged by Apple for the liquid damage repair.
DIY iPhone Boot Loop Repair
Boot loop issues can be caused by a lot of different issues. Cracked screens and other more obvious problems would be less likely to cause frustration than an issue like fixing an iPhone that won’t boot all the way. Because of the difficulty in diagnosing the underlying issue, we recommend against attempting a DIY repair with an issue like this.
Our Affordable iPhone Boot Loop Repair Service
We offer affordable iPhone repairs with a quick turnaround time. Sometimes with issues like a boot loop, the most important thing to the client is to get their data off of their phone. We do offer iPhone repairs as well as iPhone Data Recovery services. So if you really need your data, just let us know and we will focus on getting your data back safe and sound before continuing on to a full repair if needed. We have a lot of experience with iPhone recovery, but in those rare cases where the project is beyond our capabilities, we do not make it worse by trying risky methods like a lot of shops do. We just refer you to the data recovery specialist we recommend.