Since the release of iOS 14, thousands of Apple customers have installed the latest version on their devices. While the expectation was to meet and greet with the new features, issues are being reported by the users – the iPhone keeps restarting.
Complaints on forums say that iPhones restart every few minutes. Or it enters the boot loop and displays the Apple logo. Reportedly, users of iPhone 6S, iPhone XS, XR, 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, and even higher versions including 12 are facing this issue.
Obviously, this impacts the performance of the device. Several users have also said they are being asked to enter the passcode again and again.
Witnessing the scale of the issue, many users have shared their suggestions on different platforms. Nonetheless, Apple also advises how to fix the iPhone keeps restarting problem among the active user base.
What’s Been Causing iPhone restarts?
Now that we know about the problem, let’s 1st take a look at the probable causes of the problem. Chances are that you might be able to identify the cause. And invest your time towards appropriate solutions rather than trying dozens of them.
1. Unstable updates
One of the biggest reasons for your iPhone’s OS misbehavior might be the iOS system issues themselves. It might be possible that the recent upgrade is not working as smoothly as expected. Or your iPhone does not meet the least system requirements to effectively use the upgrade.
2. Hardware Issues
We do hope that your iPhone has not suffered any hardware or physical damage. If that is the case, chances are that this might be causing repeated restarts of your Apple mobile device. When performing this check, do take the hardware such as the charging adapter, cable, and power socket into consideration.
3. Bought A Faulty Device?
It is a fact that every product from Apple, including iPhones is thoroughly checked using a quality assurance process. Yet, there’s always room for improvement in the processes. It’s rare but may be possible that you’ve got a faulty device from the day you made a purchase.
4. Incompatible Apps
For an app to work smoothly on iOS versions, it is important that its compatibility has been tested by the developers. An added advantage would be to test it with the regular updates of the OS as well.
Unfortunately, not every app provider is diligent enough to keep up with the standards. Hence, you might be dealing with an iPhone that keeps restarting due to one such bad or incompatible app.
5. Storage Issues
Lastly, you can check for usable storage space on your iPhone. For any app and OS that promises an amazing user experience, it needs enough memory on the device it is running. Thus, ensure your iPhone is not on the brink of exhausting the space.
When Does Your iPhone Keeps Restarting The Most
Now that you know about the most common and probable triggers of the issue, you might be able to plan a theory based on them.
Additionally, you can also start keeping a small track of the iPhone restart frequency for your reference. To achieve this, you can check if your Apple device heats up during charging.
Or if it happens due to low battery or when you are using several heavy apps at once. The idea is to take note of the frequency or situation that triggers a restart and track it for a permanent fix.
10 Ways To Fix iPhone Keeps Restarting Issue
Let’s take a quick look at the possible solutions to fix the iPhone keeps restarting issue for you.
- Prepare BackUp Of Your iPhone Data
- Install Only Stable iOS Updates
- Ensure Zero Hardware Issues
- Check your charger and charging port
- Double Check your SIM Card
- Free Up Some Storage Space
- Check Error Logs
- Install Only Compatible Apps
- Reset Default Settings
- Factory Reset your iPhone
1. Prepare BackUp Of Your iPhone Data
First things first. Since you might be working upon the so far effective solutions coming for different users, it’s a safe bet to prepare for the worst-case scenarios. For this, prepare a backup to avoid data loss beforehand.
Once done, head to the solutions mentioned in the coming sections.
2. Install Only Stable iOS Updates
We understand how dreadful a software malfunction can be. So, it is only advised to install software updates on compatible versions of devices. On the other hand, this suggestion does not eliminate the fact that some cases may still face OS issues.
The straightforward way to combat this is to check if there’s any update related to the OS of your iPhone.
Here are the steps to check it:
- Open your iPhone’s settings
- Click on the ‘General’ category and then tap on ‘Software Update’
You should check the compatibility status and install it to fix the restarting issue of your iPhone.
3. Ensure Zero Hardware Issues
This one is common knowledge for every smartphone or mobile device user. Although the brands manufacture durable devices, being cautious with them is always good.
It could be that your iPhone has suffered an unfortunate event such as getting dropped from a height. If not, you can check if the battery life is performing optimally or not.
In several cases, a drained battery causes heating issues with the mobile phone. As a precautionary measure, you can also check for dirt among any ports. Even this can indirectly affect the proper utilization of its features.
4. Check your charger and charging port
Your iPhone’s charger and its charging port are the lifelines to keep it alive all the time.
There can be faults with the charging adapter, the power of the socket, or the USB cable itself. These underrated issues can trigger performance issues with the smartphones of the world.
Now, before you go ahead and make a fresh buy for any of these items, make sure you get this verified or ruled out only through an authorized local Apple store. This may cost you some bucks if your phone is out of warranty. But it may also save you decent money and fraud coming from local dealers.
5. Double Check your SIM Card
Simply put, your SIM card interacts with the wireless carrier to provide its services. Yet, if it fails to establish a secure connection or disconnects frequently, this might also be the reason that triggers the iPhone keeps restarting issue.
To confirm this, remove the SIM tray and check if the device restarts again. Then insert your SIM and again verify if the restarts are happening.
If yes, you need to get your SIM replaced at the earliest.
6. Free Up Some Storage Space
This is also among the frequent reasons that your OS is deviating from its optimal behavior. To tackle this, you should check out how much free space is available on your device. If the available space is significantly reduced, you should transfer the large files to a different and accessible location.
Once done, keep an eye on the restarting issue until it resolves.
7. Check Error Logs
Logs are a set of statements that contain data on actions performed or issues faced by an app or device at any point. Even your favorite iPhone has these generated. You can check them as follows:
- Open your iPhone’s settings and go to the ‘Privacy’ category.
- Click on Analytics & Improvements and then on Analytics Data
You’ll see something like this:
You may need to spend a few minutes trying to understand the messages. We would suggest you focus on app names or features that you generally use on your iPhone. These can give you an idea of what erroneous experiences your device is facing.
8. Install Only Compatible Apps
Since the app is another piece of software utilizing your device’s memory and OS, chances are even a single faulty one is causing the problem.
So, the 1st step should be to check if there are any incompatible apps installed on your iPhone.
Once these are ruled out or removed, take an extra step and download all the latest versions of apps on the phone. It is also possible that an old version of an app is not operating well with the operating system. And is causing your iPhone to restart again and again.
9. Reset Default Settings
If none of the updates and steps have worked for you, you can consider resetting your iPhone.
In this step, any permission or modifications made by you on the device will be reset to their original version. Meaning, to the state when you 1st bought your phone.
Most likely the network configurations or settings can be the culprit and can be reset in the ‘General’ category of settings.
Even if that doesn’t put an end to the iPhone’s repeated reboot, you can also consider resetting all settings.
10. Factory Reset your iPhone
If resetting the settings and configurations didn’t work, then it is time to factory reset your phone. This option is from the previous one we discussed and resets to factory defaults.
Completing this will remove all apps, plus accounts and clear the memory available in the iPhone.
The catch is to not allow your latest iOS to restore the previously stored apps on the device. If you do this, the OS will restore the backup of the device. If any of the corrupt files were causing your iPhone to restart repeatedly, chances are they’ll get restored as well.
How Does Apple Respond to iPhone Keeps Restarting issue?
While Apple regrets the replication of this issue on a large scale, it commits to offering the best advice and services to its customers.
While a dedicated team is available on the forum, support is also provided by the customer service department.
Even if the suggestions don’t work, the users are advised to visit their nearest Apple repair center.