iPhone SE (late 2021 model) stuck in a bootloop and not recognising battery or wireless charger

jrowls on 19/05/2022 - 09:24
Last edited 19/05/2022 - 16:21 by 1 other user

Yo

Bit of a weird one as this issue has already been resolved, but I thought I'd make a post here about it as the guy at Apple had never seen it before and there was almost zero info online about a similar thing.

I've had my iPhone SE for ~6mo and it's done this thing a couple times now. It will stop showing a battery charge percentage but show a low battery, and then it will bootloop once every 10 mins or so. Extremely annoying. It has sorted itself out each time but it wasn't doing it this time.

Took it to Apple, the bloke was very confused and asked if I'd put an aftermarket battery in (which I hadn't). He believed me but said that the issue should be theoretically impossible with the original parts, and he had never seen it before. Long story short, he wanted to send it for testing, I asked for a spare phone in the meantime (iPhone XR with 64gb storage… how can y'all live without the home button and at least 128gb!?). A couple days later I got a notification saying that my phone had been "replaced" and further instructions would follow.

So anyway, point of this post is:
a) PSA if you ever spot something similar, and for something to show up in google lol, and
b) Anyone got any theories as to wtf happened? I highly doubt they'll explain it to me, knowing apple. I haven't done anything weird with the device but if maybe a charger or mine or something is buggering it, don't want that to happen again.

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  DarkOz on 19/05/2022 - 09:34

  C'mon now. Apple makes tens of millions of devices with an internal battery each year and don't tell me that it's impossible to produce a single dud battery!

  Once you start using an iPhone without a home button you will get used to it after a few weeks.

  Can't live with less than 128GB? Personally I always use 32GB or 64GB. I rather save that $80/$160 and spend some time backing up my files when it becomes full.

  • 

    jrowls on 19/05/2022 - 09:45

    don't tell me that it's impossible to produce a single dud battery

    Hey, I'm not saying it's not possible! It's totally possible. I would just assume that the presentation of that issue would be something that a guy at the apple store had seen a few times before and intuitively knew what the deal was.

    Personally I always use 32GB or 64GB.

    Do they even make iphones this small anymore?! I have my music library downloaded, and even just the small collection of apps take up so much room these days.

    • 

      DarkOz on 19/05/2022 - 09:58

      +1

      I meant to say that it was the fruit picker not being honest, not you.

      Well, I still have a 6S Max 16GB and 6S 32GB in use passed on to the kids. X and 11 in 64GB and recently bought a 12 in 64GB. Ifyou think about it, that's $400 I saved and I don't need the extra memory.

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      freefall101 on 19/05/2022 - 10:26

      it's 2022, just stream your music.

      Most Apple store employees are just people who went through a training video and can read a manual, they don't actually know how your phone works. You had a dud battery in your phone, the loss of power will cause it to restart and all the charging issues. Dud batteries are very common.

      • 

        jrowls on 19/05/2022 - 10:57

        it's 2022, just stream your music.

        music streaming is super bad for artists and some of my stuff from old CDs etc isn't even available on the services.

        also music streaming is useless once you run out of reception which is pretty often for me (travelling/working in remote areas a fair bit).

        You had a dud battery in your phone

        well sure but why would it be so intermittent/occasional? like, a handful of hours worth in 6 months? it's a little odd.

        • 

          freefall101 on 19/05/2022 - 11:40

          +1

          @jrowls:

          music streaming is super bad for artists and some of my stuff from old CDs etc isn't even available on the services.

          also music streaming is useless once you run out of reception which is pretty often for me (travelling/working in remote areas a fair bit).

          Fair enough on the reception, but you can stream your own library from either Youtube or Apple (although I think Apple charges for iTunes Match if you don't subscribe to their streaming services). Youtube Music is limited to 100k songs. I keep all my own CDs ripped in there rather than keep the whole lot on my phone.

          I always make sure there's a few albums loaded up before I go on long drives and half a dozen that I like always on there, but not my whole library.

          well sure but why would it be so intermittent/occasional? like, a handful of hours worth in 6 months? it's a little odd.

          Could be something as simple as the terminals where the battery connects acting up or not being put in properly. Or the battery itself having a loose internal connection or something floating in the mixture of chemicals. Batteries need to maintain a fairly consistent voltage so it might fluctuate all the time based on temperature or something but only occasionally fluctuate enough to be a problem.

        • 

          Quantumcat on 19/05/2022 - 16:05

          @jrowls:

          music streaming is super bad for artists and some of my stuff from old CDs etc isn't even available on the services

          By listening to your CDs instead of using streaming services you're denying them the couple of cents they would get from Spotify. You can just have the music that's not on Spotify/Apple Music on your phone and stream the rest

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  SF3 on 19/05/2022 - 09:55

  b) Anyone got any theories as to wtf happened?

  bad luck.

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  Brick50 on 19/05/2022 - 10:31

  +1

  SE’s like to reboot if they can’t see all the parts. If your charge port is damaged or you replace it with a aftermarket part, it will boot loop every few mins

  Same if it doesn’t see the microphone or temp sensor on the charge port
  Go to settings > privacy > analytics and improvements > analytics data and then look for PANIC FULL logs, it will describe why it has rebooted

  • 

    jrowls on 19/05/2022 - 10:59

    If your charge port is damaged or you replace it with a aftermarket part, it will boot loop every few mins

    haven't replaced any of the parts and the charging port seems to work fine.

    Go to settings > privacy > analytics and improvements > analytics data and then look for PANIC FULL logs, it will describe why it has rebooted

    I can't, i don't have the device anymore! ha. i doubt that apple will provide me with any details.

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  [Deactivated] on 19/05/2022 - 10:34

  +2

  Honestly who cares what happens, that's what warranty is for, and Apple is pretty good at that.
  You got it replaced, move on and don't let it take up space in your thoughts.

  Also too, people at Apple stores are just retail people who follow scripts on what to test and replace, they aren't engineers or technical people. It's no surprise they had no idea what was causing it.

  • 

    jrowls on 19/05/2022 - 10:58

    You got it replaced, move on and don't let it take up space in your thoughts.

    haha i'm not stressing about it! i'm just a curious guy, and it's interesting.

    Also too, people at Apple stores are just retail people who follow scripts on what to test and replace, they aren't engineers or technical people. It's no surprise they had no idea what was causing it.

    yeah generally speaking this is true but some of them are fairly knowledgeable/switched on/experienced, my guy seemed like he'd seen a fair bit and knew more than just the testing manual and scripts. but yes, i take your point.

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 19/05/2022 - 11:14

      Repeat something often enough and you too can be knowledgeable, switched on, and experienced - all in repeating the same limited scripts.