Your iPhone is on, but the screen is black. Your iPhone rings, but you can’t answer the call. You’ve tried resetting your iPhone, letting it run out of battery and plugging it back in, and your iPhone screen is still black. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone screen went black and what you can do to fix it.
Why Is My iPhone Screen Black?
A black screen is usually caused by a hardware problem with your iPhone, so there usually isn’t a quick fix. That being said, a software crash can cause your iPhone display to freeze and turn black, so let’s try a hard reset to see if that’s what’s going on.
To do a hard reset, press and hold the power button (also known as the Sleep / Wake button) and the Home button (the circular button below the display) together for at least 10 seconds.
On the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, you perform a hard reset by pressing and holding the volume down button and the power button at the same time until the you see the Apple logo appear on the screen.
And if you have an iPhone 8 or newer, perform a hard reset by quickly pressing and releasing the volume up button, then quickly pressing and releasing the volume down button, and then pressing and holding the power button (iPhone 8) or the side button (iPhone X or newer) until that Apple logo appears.
If the Apple logo appears on the screen, there probably isn’t a problem with your iPhone’s hardware — it was a software crash. Check out my other article on frozen iPhones, which will tell you exactly what to do to fix your iPhone. If the Apple logo doesn’t appear on the screen, keep reading.
Let’s Take A Look Inside Your iPhone
iPhone Logic Board
A brief tour of the inside of your iPhone will help you understand why your screen is black. There are two pieces of hardware that we’ll talk about: Your iPhone’s display and the logic board.
The logic board is the brains behind the operation of your iPhone, and every part of your iPhone connects to it. The display shows you the images you see, but the logic board tells it what to display.
Removing iPhone Display
The entire display of your iPhone is removable, but it’s a lot more complicated than you might think! There are four major components built into your iPhone’s display:
- The LCD screen, which displays the images you see on your iPhone.
- The digitizer, which is the part of the display that processes touch. It digitizes your finger, which means it turns the touch of your finger into a digital language your iPhone can understand.
- The front-facing camera.
- The Home button.
Each component of your iPhone’s display has a separate connector that plugs into your iPhone’s logic board. That’s why you might be able to swipe across the screen with your finger, even though the screen is black. The digitizer is working, but the LCD is not.
The black stick is touching the display data connector
In many cases, your iPhone screen is black because the cable that connects the LCD to the logic board has become dislodged. This cable is called the display data connector. When the display data connector becomes dislodged from the logic board, your iPhone can be fixed by plugging it back in.
There are other cases where the fix isn’t so simple, and that’s when the LCD itself is damaged. When that happens, it doesn’t matter if the LCD is connected to the logic board or not — it’s broken and it needs to be replaced.
How Do I Know Whether My Display Is Dislodged Or Broken?
I’m hesitant to write this because it is by no means a hard and fast rule, but I have noticed a pattern in my experience working with iPhones. There are no guarantees, but my rule of thumb is this:
- If your iPhone display stopped working after you dropped it, your screen is probably black because the LCDÂ cable (display data connector) has become dislodged from the logic board.
- If your iPhone display stopped working after it got wet, your screen is probably black because the LCD is broken and needs to be replaced.
How To Fix A Black iPhone Screen
The way you choose to proceed may depend on whether your iPhone LCD cable has become dislodged from the logic board or if the LCD is broken. You can use my rule from above to make an educated guess.
If the LCD cable has become dislodged, the Genius Bar at an Apple Store may repair it free of charge, even if your iPhone is out of warranty. That’s because the fix is relatively simple: They’ll open your iPhone and reconnect the digitizer cable to the logic board. If you decide to go this route, make an appointment with the Genius Bar before you arrive — otherwise, you could end up standing around for a while.
If the LCD is broken, that’s another story. It can be very expensive to repair your iPhone display, especially if you go through Apple. If you’re looking for a high-quality, less-expensive alternative, IÂ recommend Puls, an in-person repair service that will come to you, fix your iPhone on the spot, and give you a lifetime warranty.
If you’d rather get a new iPhone than have your current one repaired, check out the UpPhone phone comparison tool. You can compare the prices of every smartphone on every wireless carrier. Carriers are eager to have you switch to their network, so you may find that you can get a new iPhone for roughly the same cost as repairing your current one.
Repairing Your iPhone Yourself Usually Isn’t A Good Idea
Star-shaped (pentalobe) screws keep your iPhone closed
iPhones aren’t meant to be opened by the user. Just take a look at the two screws next to the charging port of your iPhone — they’re star-shaped! That being said, there are excellent repair guides out there if you’re feeling adventurous. I took the images in this article from a repair guide on iFixit.com called iPhone 6 Front Panel Assembly Replacement. Here’s a brief excerpt of that article that may sound familiar:
“When reassembling your phone, the display data cable may pop off its connector. This can result in white lines or a blank screen when powering your phone back on. If that happens, simply reconnect the cable and power cycle your phone.” Source: iFixit.com
If you believe your iPhone LCD cable (display data cable) has simply become dislodged from the logic board, you’re very tech-savvy, and going to an Apple Store isn’t an option, reconnecting the display data cable to the logic board isn’t that difficult, if you have the right tools.
Replacing the display is very complex because of the number of components involved. Let me be clear: I do not recommend you try to fix this problem yourself, because it’s just too easy to break something and “brick” your iPhone.
You Know What You Have To Do
Most readers won’t be able to fix their iPhone screen just by reading this article, because a black iPhone screen usually isn’t caused by a software issue. Everything was working fine until your iPhone screen went black. Now you can’t use your iPhone at all, but you do know what to do next. I’m interested to hear how you fixed your iPhone in the comments section below, and any experience you can offer will undoubtedly help other readers with the same problem.
Thanks for reading and all the best,
David P.
All iPhone images in this article by Walter Galan and licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.
Has happened to me 3 times in past month…..This solution (hold Home button and power down at same time) worked….so I love you triple times!!!
I have an iPod touch and it’s fully charged but when I get on it I need a flashlight to see the screen
my iphone got freezed screen wentblack.I pressed wakebutton& home button both attimes.i got on.am happy now
didn’t know about the hard reset mechanic. Thank you so much. My iphone screen is shattered and chipped to hell so I’m glad I can get more used out of it now. Was able to turn it back on! Thanks
Hard reset my iphone 7 plus after the screen just went black and now its working
I have I phone 6s pluss and my screen is dark but, the phone is working how would I do ?
my iphone fell in water accidently. initially it showed blurr display but now its screen is blank. it is on because i can play music but screen is blank. what do i do
thanks this really helped me
after fall my iphone 6s got over heated and battery drained and switched of after a hour and not getting started ………but before 8 months it fell in water so is there any water effect or hardware problem after fall so please let me know ……kindly help me
I just tried it & it worked….Thanku so much:)
Thanks 🙂 my phone phone is already back!
My iPhone 5s went black but as soon as i pressed the off button and the home button simitaniously, it began to work again…hopefully it lasts!!
umm my sitchation is my iphone 5 has 90% of it screen completely black and it is still working but i can only see the time and the power button wont work(its been broken before this)
Thank Lord!! It really worked I was on the verge of crying and I started praying Lord help me please so this is he first link I went to and he very first solution I seen, the home plus power button and it worked!!!!! Five stars to this guy
Thank you, so, so much! You saved my life!
Pushing the power and home buttons at the same time worked for us. Thank you for an easy fix!!!!
thanks, it worked
my iphone 5s just used for 3 days and the picture is going in and out on it and i can turn it off and thats it
My iphone turned black screen. It’s on, I heard it make the notification sound. Also, there’s a small part in the upper area where I can see the signal section, battery percentage… what to do?
Thank you so muchh!!!!! was so effin freaked as my 5s screen blacked out…
This really helped….
thank you so much it actually worked
thank you so much buddy my phone is working now
My screen blacked out siri was still working and messages were going through to my apple watch. I tried plugging the phone into the charger nothing happend. When I help the home button and the lock screen bottom both for 10 seconds the apple logo appeared and my phone reset! Thanks for the info payette foward
My iphone 6 screen went black all of a sudden .. i havent dropped it, neither has it gotten wet. ive tried everything ..and my phone still doesnt work. It seems as if the phone were off, ive tried charging it , pluggin it into my mac. and nothing . i would really appreciate any other suggestions. thanks
Thank you, the power home button worked for me.
I immediately plugged my phone in when it suddenly went bla to no avail. Then I did a hard reboot by pressing the home button and the on off button at the same time and it rebooted. But my question is now do I have to be concerned
there is a problem I am not aware of?
Hiya, I was half way through sending a message when my 5s just went black. my battery was low so assumed it was this but then the battery image to let u know its charging didnt appear so after trying every single plug socket in the house thinking it was that(I’m blonde!!) I then called my phone to see if it was switched off which it wasnt, Logged straight on to google and arrived here and tried the 10 sec power and home screen advice given and it worked first time so thank you to whoever you for sharing your… Read more »
Can someone please help me? I have an iPhone 6s and I tried it, and it didn’t work for me…
This literally saved my life no joke. I thought my iphone was done for but after trying this it ACTUALLY worked. And no this isn’t a fake comment like most websites do lol.
thanks a lot for the tip! 🙂
The first idea you gave opened up the screen and I went right to update software. My hopes are high that it will work fine.
OMFG it worked. THANK YOU!!!
my home button is disabled what should i do now to open my screen?
thanks a lot. U saved my life.
My screen is still black I took it to apple they said nothing they can do which I think is wrong as they just want me to buy a new one. It’s had a new screen tried on it. Is the LCD the next step? I need it working to access my iCloud/itunes
Thanks a lot cause it was my wife’s phone and thought it was the end of the world plus in the car for four hours with three more to go.
You are a lifesaver.
Well, on Saturday I dropped my phone, which caused the screen to get blurry and ocassionally show vertical black lines, and then that following Tuesday my phone fell into the sink and had some water spill on it. When I resetted my phone (for no reason) later on, it wouldnt turn back on.
Thanks for your help. I followed your instructions pressing buttons and taking off the outside case and now have a bright screen again.
TY
Great article that was a really big help. My wife went crazy when her phone went blank on her. Fortunately, the “hard reset” got her back running. She’s a happy lady!
Thankyou… worked a treat! Was just heading off to apple and thought I would google my problem.. Many thanks
Perfect, discovered it was a software crash…thanks so much for your great information!
Thank you so much…. Power Home botten worked … my iphone was dropped in water , after two months start worke again and after one day screen went to black , so i use this method now it works
thanks for the tips. its just happen to me 10 minutes ago. i just bought tjis 7Plus 2 weeks ago , not read yet to replace with a new one. Thanks bro.
thanks a lot , it worked
thank you
Home and power buttons together worked for me too. Thanks everyone for your help
Thank you!
Thanks for the tip. Was able to hard reset my 80 yr old mother’s phone & I was the hero!
change it to silent mode and try to turn it on. it worked for me.