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iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
#45066 06/09/17 09:19 PM
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Hello, first time poster here...

My iPhone 5S updated to iOS 10.3.2 about a week and a half ago and has since been restarting itself randomly. I might get five minutes of use out of it, or I might get 30. It might drop a call, or it might decide to restart when I'm in the middle of typing an email. The only predictable time that it restarts is if it has gone through the restart and the lock screen finally appears after the apple logo goes away... if I don't punch in my passcode before the screen blacks out, and then I have to wake the phone up to unlock it, it will ALWAYS shut itself off again.

At any rate, I've tried just about everything that I can think of, and everything Apple support can think of, with no success (including a full restore to new). Apple is now suggesting that it's a hardware problem (which seems rather coincidental to me... I had a phone that worked just fine before the update).

Any thoughts?

Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
courtcook #45069 06/09/17 10:01 PM
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In order to eliminate concern about hardware issues related to your 5s, recommend using iTunes (assuming you used iTunes for the update) to Restore your 5s to the Backup (with prior version before the 10.3.2 update) which iTunes made prior to initiating the install. ...Once you've assured yourself the 5s is back to previous reliability, you can then decide whether to again attempt updating


MacStudio M1max - 14.4.1, 64 GB Ram, 4TB SSD; Studio Display; iPhone 13mini; Watch 9; iPadPro (M2) 11" WiFi
Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
pbGuy #45106 06/11/17 04:26 PM
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Thank so for the reply.

Unfortunately I didn't use iTunes for the update, the phone updated overnight via wifi. Also, I forgot to mention in my original post, the only backups I have prior to the update are to my old MacBook, which is too old to communicate with my iPhone as of a couple of updates ago. The MacBook and iTunes are updated as far as they can be, but are still too dated. I just recently bought a new laptop (which for budget reasons is unfortunately not another Mac 🙁), but I had not yet backed up the phone to the new computer. So, I don't have a backup that I can restore to.

Any other thoughts?

Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
courtcook #45107 06/11/17 08:53 PM
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Originally Posted By: courtcook
At any rate, I've tried just about everything that I can think of, and everything Apple support can think of, with no success (including a full restore to new). Apple is now suggesting that it's a hardware problem (which seems rather coincidental to me... I had a phone that worked just fine before the update).

Thoughts:
  1. Welcome to FineTunedMac — I just wish I could offer better news crazy
  2. All the indications point to a hardware issue. frown (Spend any time on FineTunedMac, the Apple Discussions, or any other user support forum and you will discover it is not unusual for a user to notice a hardware failure in proximity to an update or upgrade. Put it down to Murphy's Law, bad karma, or whatever, the odds overwhelmingly favor shear conincidence, not cause and effect.
  3. Depending on when you bought your iPhone 5S, if you bought AppleCare with it you may still be covered so If your problem is hardware, repairs or replacement would be free! cool (Even if you are a few months beyond warranty expiration I would take it to the nearest Apple Store Genius Desk and talk real nice the the "Genius".)
  4. As to a backup
    1. Without a backup there is little or no hope of recovering your data if you have had a hardware failure
    2. On the chance you might still be able to backup your data
      1. iTunes for Windows is available at no cost so even if your new computer is a Windows box tongue you can still backup your iPhone to iTunes
      2. An Apple account including an email address, and storage space on iCloud is free and your iPhone can be set to back up to iCloud autmatically and you can restore from there as well as from an iTunes backup — it just isn't as fast.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
joemikeb #45110 06/12/17 03:17 AM
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Thanks for the reply. I wish you had better news too! smile

Luckily I do have a backup of all of my data on the new computer, it just wasn't from before the update.

I guess I'll be getting myself a new phone...

Thanks for the help!

Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
courtcook #45114 06/12/17 02:50 PM
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blush


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Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
pbGuy #45125 06/12/17 06:31 PM
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Originally Posted By: pbGuy
While a new iPhone is an option, you could simply erase and restore your 5s to its factory settings, which I think would restore using the latest iOS - 10.3.2. ...You'll lose all your custom settings; so, it will be like starting up a new iPhone and, you'll have to again reenter all. But, it may revive your 5s.


Originally Posted By: courtcook's initial post
At any rate, I've tried just about everything that I can think of, and everything Apple support can think of, with no success (including a full restore to new).

Emphasis added


Last edited by joemikeb; 06/12/17 06:41 PM.

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
courtcook #45145 06/13/17 06:12 PM
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Originally Posted By: courtcook
Apple is now suggesting that it's a hardware problem (which seems rather coincidental to me... I had a phone that worked just fine before the update).

I compare hardware failures to flat tires. They can happen anytime, for any reason, or for no apparent reason. Sometimes you take your car into the shop and they find a nail and pull it out and patch the hole and you're fine. Maybe it's just a bead re-seal. But sometimes it's just flat for no apparent reason. Or there's a hole and they have no idea what caused it or what you could have done to avoid it happening again.

And just like a tire, you can get another flat on the way home just a few minutes after getting it fixed, if you find another nail or the replacement tire is defective or was installed wrong, or damaged during installation. Just because it was fine five minutes ago does not mean it has any right to still be fine now. Hardware can go from working perfectly to not working with no warning. Put aside "But it was working just an hour ago!" and accept that it may have failed 5 minutes ago.

Software changes are a whole new wrench. They cause data to be moved around in the hardware, and a bit of code that rarely or never gets run by you in the OS gets displaced by something critical to the stability of the phone. No amount of restores will fix that. It was broke, it still IS broke, it's just that now you're being affected by the problem (of bad cells in the flash memory) whereas before you weren't. If you wait a month and do a restore on a newer build of the OS, something else may move into the bad cell and heaven only knows what sort of different symptoms you'll see. Or maybe it will "appear to fix itself" as now the bluetooth headphones code is buggered but you don't use that feature. So *shrug* it must be fixed by that update! well... sorta.... but not really. Another update available? Do you dare to spin the wheel?


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Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
courtcook #45373 06/25/17 10:06 PM
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Exactly the same thing is happening to my friend's iPhone 6 after he updated to the newest iOS version a couple of days ago.


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Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
Bob_00001 #45390 06/26/17 05:14 PM
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Originally Posted By: Bob_00001
Exactly the same thing is happening to my friend's iPhone 6 after he updated to the newest iOS version a couple of days ago.

That's one of the hazards that Apple creates by not allowing people to roll back the version of their iOS.

Tell him to keep trying restores with new versions when they come out, he may run into one that the phone is stable with. But it's all up to chance.

You used to be able to throw an iPod into diagnostic mode and from there you could run a memory test where it checked all the ram or checked all the flash memory. I don't think you can do that now though?


I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
courtcook #45487 07/01/17 01:12 AM
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I haven't talked to him since it happened. It was on the weekend, and he intended to take it to the store on Monday to have them deal with it.

That's the reason why I never update my own phone to the newest version until it has been out for at least several weeks.

I mentioned this to him and he told me that it updated automatically without asking. I was going to show him how to turn off auto-update, but then realized that there doesn't appear to be a setting for it. At least, not that I could find. So, if anyone can tell me where to look for this, I'd appreciate it.


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Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
Bob_00001 #45498 07/01/17 12:32 PM
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iDevices require that you enter your device passcode at some point during the iOS update process. The installation does not happen automatically.


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
Ira L #45507 07/01/17 07:21 PM
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Right. I forgot about that. I think what probably happened was that he mistook the update passcode screen for the usual one that you get when you use the phone. It seems rather suspicious that they've made them look as identical as possible.


MacBook Pro 15" (2015)
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Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
Bob_00001 #45669 07/12/17 02:27 AM
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Here's an update on my friend's iPhone. He took it in to the service dept., and they called back later telling him that his phone was toast. They couldn't recover his data or anything.

I'd be interested in finding out what happened with the OP's phone.

As was suggested earlier, it could have been a hardware issue that just happened to show up after the update. However, I can't help but be a bit skeptical. I also note that my own phone has stopped reminding me to update to that version of iOS. Is it possible that they've found their update is bricking some phones, and they've withdrawn the update for those specific phones?

BTW, I found this:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7956950?start=0&tstart=0
It appears that a number of people have been having this problem.


MacBook Pro 15" (2015)
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Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
Bob_00001 #45673 07/12/17 09:54 AM
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Hey there, OP here!

Since I was no longer in a contract, and therefore eligible for a device upgrade, I ended up getting an iPhone 7 plus. I'll never know if a newer iOS update would have fixed the problem, the phone is gone now (the carrier bought my 5s for $100 - some kind of recycle program).

Interesting that your friend doesn't recall allowing the update... I don't either (although with Touch ID it happens so fast that I may have inadvertently allowed it).

Hope your friend has better luck (or more patience and can wait for newer iOS updates as the other poster suggested).

Cheers

Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
courtcook #45680 07/12/17 11:12 PM
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Thanks for the update.

My friend is not tech savvy. So he may have initiated the update without understanding what he was doing. I'm going to have to show him how to back up his phone using iTunes so that he won't lose his data if it ever happens again.


MacBook Pro 15" (2015)
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Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
Bob_00001 #45688 07/13/17 03:53 PM
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Would it be easier to use automatic iCloud backups for someone who is not tech savvy? All he has to do is plug the phone in and power it on.


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
Ira L #45693 07/13/17 09:05 PM
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Originally Posted By: Ira L
Would it be easier to use automatic iCloud backups for someone who is not tech savvy? All he has to do is plug the phone in and power it on.
Great suggestion, but don't forget, the iPhone has to be locked**, have a WiFi Connection to the internet as well as being plugged in and powered on.

**In most cases the phone will auto lock after a set period of time, I believe the default is 4 minutes. That can be changed in Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock or the iPhone can be locked manually by pressing the Sleep/Wake button on the upper right hand side of the iPhone.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
courtcook #45723 07/17/17 06:26 AM
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I doubt very much that he would want to pay for an iCloud account, and I don't think the basic free account would have enough storage to do a complete backup, would it?

I've never tried it myself, because I'm paranoid about uploading personal data to some remote storage system that I have no control over.


MacBook Pro 15" (2015)
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Re: iPhone 5S keeps restarting after 10.3.2 update
Bob_00001 #45726 07/17/17 12:35 PM
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Very likely the free account would do the trick unless your friend as a very large number of photos on his iPhone. Anything purchased from the App Store or iTunes does mot count against the iCloud storage. Only his unique data counts.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein

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