My iPhone Screen Is Black! Here’s The Real Reason Why.

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

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

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:

  1. The LCD screen, which displays the images you see on your iPhone.
  2. 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.
  3. The front-facing camera.
  4. 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.

iPhone Display Data Connector

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 LCD 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, I 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 iPhone Screws

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.

About Author

I'm a former Apple employee and the founder of Payette Forward, and I'm here to help you with your iPhone.

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Aracely Velasco
4 years ago

hey david so i brought my phone in the shower many times but when i brought it yesterday i placed it down and it had weird colorful lines on the screens and than it went complete black i could here all the notifications and people calling me i just couldn’t see the screen i tried your trick it worked but when i use my phone for to long it turns black again what do i do?

fsadd
3 years ago

what you did at this case
 

Mits
4 years ago

My iPhone display xr8 is going black and phone is not reacting,had reset and reboot took sim out but nothing is working

Grace
4 years ago

Hey David
So I have a Fairly new iPhone 7 it’s battery health says it’s 100% and it won’t charge. I’ve cleaned the USB port. It won’t hard reset. So I let it completely die and now it won’t turn on. How do I fix it?

mia teganberg
4 years ago

i pressed the home button and power button for ten seonds it did not work then i tried again quickly and it turned on right away

Karely
4 years ago

My iPhone 7 works fine and perfectly but sometimes the screen just blacks out and stays off for a while but only the screen is black but my phone still receives messages and calls I just can’t see them because of the black screen what do you think the cause of it is and I always try resetting it with the off bottom and volume down button but it doesn’t always work for me

Gayle
3 years ago
Reply to  Karely

hows your phone? did it go back to normal? we have the same situation

Nigel
4 years ago

my phone goes blank every time i go on an app. what does that mean?

Admin
David Lynch
4 years ago
Reply to  Nigel

Usually when your iPhone screen goes black every time you open a specific app, there’s a problem with that app. Check for an app update, then try deleting and reinstalling it if no update is available.

Kenny F.
4 years ago

Never had these issues with any android phone I’ve had. This gives me further notification that iphones truly suck. Although i fixes it myself, i will be more then likely going back to android.

Ken
4 years ago

Thanks for the article! My phone went black while I’m sitting at a gate in an airport. I pulled out my laptop, accessed your article from Google, and did what you suggested (power and home button) and it worked! Seems OK now. So thanks!

Noel
4 years ago

My screen turns black while updating my IOS, I try to connect it with ITunes via DFU but it can’t detect the Phone, any suggestion?

Admin
David Lynch
4 years ago
Reply to  Noel

Did you recently update your Mac to macOS Catalina 10.15? If you did, use Finder to DFU restore your iPhone.

simon
4 years ago

hi, when i woke up this morning my phone was on but the screen was black. i would get notifications but the screen would still stay black. when my mom called me it went strait to voice mail. i went to my room and then it turned on. i didnt see it happen though

Tom
4 years ago
Reply to  simon

Did you ever figure this out? Mine is doing the same thing. Right now the display is working and I’m actually using it to type this reply. A few minutes ago the screen was black but I can tell the phone is on by the sounds. Please help if you know what the problem is.

Gayle
3 years ago
Reply to  Tom

hi! were you able to find out what happened? my iphone XS Max gone black since last night but it still vibrates, rings, voice over on. but screen is totally black so i cant really access. Pls help thanks

Megan hardwick
4 years ago

I haven’t dropped it or got it wet but the screen is black and I can’t hear it ring or vibrate

Sophie
4 years ago

Thank you this is really helpful.

Lerato
4 years ago

Thank you

Holly
4 years ago

Please help me

Anonymous
4 years ago

Thank you so very much-

Anonymous
4 years ago

iphone 6s can be deteted in itunes on computer but screen will not power on… have dont the hard reboot… nothing replaced screen still same thing

Anonymous
4 years ago

Thank you so much,I purchased this used iPhone7 Plus 4 months ago from a friend and was very happy to own it but when the screen goes black I said to myself,goodbye Iphone,thanks to you it’s back hoping will enjoy it more.
Best of all to you.
Sylvain.

Anonymous
4 years ago

I have an Ipad and I use the music app a lot. I’ve had it for about four and a-half months. I think it started when I updated the pad. I think it’s a 12.2 and it was about a week ago. When I use the music app and then go onto another app then exit out of the other app and go back to the music app. It’s black. Every single time I use it like that. And the only way I can resolve this it is by exiting out of the app or sometimes I have to hard… Read more »

Anonymous
5 years ago

Had this happen this morning – screen just went black, though audio kept playing, I could use Siri, and I could even interact with the screen if I knew where the right touchpoints should be. I first tried to restart by pressing power and vol up until the phone vibrated, then I swiped across the top where the “slide to turn off” should be, and the phone turned off as evidenced by the fact my bluetooth connections suddenly went away. After a few minutes, I powered back up, bluetooth connections restored autimatically, but still no screen display. Once out of… Read more »

Anonymous
5 years ago

My IPhone 7 was on but the screen was black. I was able to communicate with Siri via my Bluetooth ear device. I tried telling her to increase brightness. She said she did so but the screen was still black. I told her to turn on the camera, screen still black. Some button pushing, screen still black. Told her to call home, she did and the screen lit up and the camera was on. I closed the camera and the thing continued to be functioning normally. Speculation: I noticed the black screen shortly after telling Siri to make a call.… Read more »

Anonymous
5 years ago

Thank you for this post! Took me 20 minutes to find it, but so glad I did! A hard reset did the trick! Do you think it is a sign that my phone is failing?

Anonymous
5 years ago

This worked, Thanks so much!

Anonymous
5 years ago

My iPhone 6s just went black and unresponsive during a call. I did the hard reset (holding power and home key down together) and it came back and seeks ok.

Anonymous
5 years ago

wheeeewwww!!!! im so relieved!!!!, the power and volume down button worked, thanks so much

Anonymous
5 years ago

i love boys

Anonymous
5 years ago

excellent – thank you – you help me very much

LoyalSss
5 years ago

My iphone dislodged. What’s the easiest way I can do to fix this?

Anonymous
5 years ago

I have iphone 5S whose display got black.

Anonymous
5 years ago

Got an iPhone 6s just before Xmas dec.13.2018.
Saturday it was dying so I went to charge, and then it wouldn’t charge at all then tried a couple different cords and still nothing … attempted the home button power .. and still nothing

Anonymous
5 years ago

Thank you so much! The very first thing to try worked, Grteful.

Anonymous
5 years ago

my iphone 8 was on a black screen for a week
and if i try the method on the top press volume down and sleep button it makes a beeping sound

Anonymous
5 years ago

Thank You Aggrey Mboya It worked

Anonymous
5 years ago

Thank you your article helped me a lot

Anonymous
5 years ago

thank you this has saved me from hundreds of dollars of repair!

Anonymous
5 years ago

Thanks

Anonymous
5 years ago

Don’t work

Anonymous
5 years ago

my iphone 6s keeps going off whiles charging it.

Anonymous
5 years ago

My iPhone 6s screen is nearly full black I say that because when I reset it I can make out the Apple logo if I’m in a well lit area but the surrounding white is extremely dim after it disappears im straight black with sound

Anonymous
5 years ago

I have tried every way to restart my phone i can only seea ligt bhing my screen but no display of logo or anything ! I NEED HELP !

Anonymous
5 years ago

Just did it to my wifes phone, turned on. Thanks for the help.

Anonymous
5 years ago

Okay, so my iPhone 5s was dropped and the screen broke right above the fingerprint sensor. Snapped off dividing the two, actually. So, the LCD would lift out easily but the phone was still fully functional. Then, it got tugged and the screen went black. When I pressed the wake button the backlight would come on but still no picture. So I restarted the phone and then NOTHING. It won’t boot up or vibrate when plugged into a charger. Nothing. Will replacing the LCD altogether fix this?

Anonymous
5 years ago

i had a black screen and the phone would ring but screen was black. I did a hard reset on my iPhone 7plus and it now works fine again. thanks so much for the info..!!!!

Anonymous
5 years ago

My iPhone 6s is brand new. It’s never been dropped, and no water damage. A hard reset does not solve my problem. The screen goes black randomly, and then suddenly it’s OK again. Sometimes it doesn’t happen for a day, then other times it’s constant whenever I try to use my phone. Could it be that my phone doesn’t support the new software update?

Anonymous
5 years ago

my i phone 6 plus used for 4 days only just blacked out after being charged.

Anonymous
5 years ago

thank u very much. this is really worked.

Anonymous
5 years ago

I have a 6S and tried hard reset several times, I plugged it in to charge to no avail… I did not drop the phone, it did not get wet. I had been using it and all of a sudden black! Ugg!

Anonymous
5 years ago

none of it is working for me

Anonymous
5 years ago

icons are there but screen black and icons are white

Anonymous
5 years ago

I turned off all the Siri settings and restarted – that fixed mine

Anonymous
5 years ago

dropped my iphone in a store, screen is black but siri still works and i still get notifcation noises. i have the iphone 8. the screen didnt crack and i think something is wrong with the display screen. help?

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