iPhone XS iPhone XS screen becomes unresponsive randomly

[Benz63amg]

Hey guys, this has happened a few times now completely out of the random and I’m clueless as to why it is happening, the screen of my iPhone XS becomes unresponsive to touch entirely and the only way to regain the functionality of the iPhone is to do a hard reboot or basically hitting a mish mash of the side buttons to initiate an emergency call and as soon as the iPhone starts to call 911 I can click the red hang up button on the screen at which point the screen is magically responsive again and I can swipe back into the iPhone’s Home Screen and continue using the iPhone as if nothing ever happened. Is this a hardware issue or likely a software issue at which point I should restore the iPhone?

 

[now i see it]

Phone defect.
If this was a more common problem, people here would be complaining about it - and so far no one has.
As a desperate last resort you could wipe the phone and set up as new - but that is a lot of time consuming work which probably won't fix the problem

 

[Benz63amg]

Phone defect.
If this was a more common problem, people here would be complaining about it - and so far no one has.
As a desperate last resort you could wipe the phone and set up as new - but that is a lot of time consuming work which probably won't fix the problem

I see, so you think it’s hardware related yeah?
My question is this though, if it’s hardware related, How come the screen goes back to become responsive once I initiate the SOS 911 Call sequence by holding the power button and volume button after which brings up the sos calling screen and then I am able to click the red hang up call button as it’s dialing which then brings me back to the home screen and the touch screen is back to being responsive?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

It's most likely the display (display driver is part of the assembly). Apple charges $279 U.S. to replace it with a genuine oled display so not sure if that's worth the cost for you but the XS is still a great phone. Plus if you factor in battery health it probably could use a new battery just to make sure the phone will be around for years to come. All of that could make repairing the phone more than it's worth plus there is no guarantee the phone won't have issues down the road..

 

[Benz63amg]

It's most likely the display (display driver is part of the assembly). Apple charges $279 U.S. to replace it with a genuine oled display so not sure if that's worth the cost for you but the XS is still a great phone. Plus if you factor in battery health it probably could use a new battery just to make sure the phone will be around for years to come. All of that could make repairing the phone more than it's worth plus there is no guarantee the phone won't have issues down the road..

If it was the display driver, wouldn’t the touch screen stop working altogether though? (what I mean in other words is that a restart wouldn’t fix the issue but in my case it does). Do you still think it’s a hardware issue that will progress to a point where even a restart won’t help and the touch screen will simply stop working altogether?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

If it was the display driver, wouldn’t the touch screen stop working altogether though? (what I mean in other words is that a restart wouldn’t fix the issue but in my case it does). Do you still think it’s a hardware issue that will progress to a point where even a restart won’t help and the touch screen will simply stop working altogether?

When the screens in the X went bad it was always intermittent and also went away for a bit after a restart. I'm sure as time goes on your problem will get worse if it is indeed a hardware issue. If you want to restore your phone using iTunes and then setup as new without using a backup just to rule out the software side of the equation, I wouldn't blame you, it's worth a shot.

 

[Benz63amg]

When the screens in the X went bad it was always intermittent and also went away for a bit after a restart. I'm sure as time goes on your problem will get worse if it is indeed a hardware issue. If you want to restore your phone using iTunes and then setup as new without using a backup just to rule out the software side of the equation, I wouldn't blame you, it's worth a shot.

Oh so was this like a known widespread issue with the X? Being an XS I’m assuming this is probably the same symptoms of the same underlying hardware defect issue?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Oh so was this like a known widespread issue with the X? Being an XS I’m assuming this is probably the same symptoms of the same underlying hardware defect issue?

They did have a repair program for it that extended the warranty for the display to 3 years from date of purchase.. My X has never had the problem and it's going on 4 years old so my window to get a warranty repair has expired awhile ago. I'm not sure if it was certain production runs or just the luck of the draw. My X was a Verizon/Qualcomm version purchased December of 2017 so a couple of months after launch..

 

[Benz63amg]

They did have a repair program for it that extended the warranty for the display to 3 years from date of purchase.. My X has never had the problem and it's going on 4 years old so my window to get a warranty repair has expired awhile ago. I'm not sure if it was certain production runs or just the luck of the draw. My X was a Verizon/Qualcomm version purchased December of 2017 so a couple of months after launch..

This XS is an AT&T GSM Model.
But given what I described above (symptoms of the issue), it sounds like a hardware issue given the fact it repeated (albeit on multiple random occasions) more than once, yes?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

This XS is an AT&T GSM Model.
But given what I described above (symptoms of the issue), it sounds like a hardware issue given the fact it repeated (albeit on multiple random occasions) more than once, yes?

I'd say hardware is likely but eliminating the software side is free and worth trying. Plus if you take it to Apple that's the first thing they'll want to do. If after restoring and setting up as new if it doesn't fix it you can always restore using your backup and be right where you stated from

 

[mrr0b0t]

iPhone XS Touch Screen Not Working

My just over two year old iPhone XS' touch screen is regularly becoming unresponsive. To me it seems highly coincidental with the iOS 14 update but I don't know how to be sure of that, it's just a hunch. The screen sometimes starts working again but other times not. Often it begins working again...

forums.macrumors.com

same issue here