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Released September 20, Apple's flagship 2019 smartphone features a 5.8" OLED display, a triple-lens rear camera, and greatly improved battery life. Successor to the iPhone XS.

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Battery health query following dead iPhone 11 Pro

Hi,

Recently my sons iPhone 11 Pro was at 80% when it switched off and could not turn back on. When we plugged the iPhone cable in to charge it we were met with a red battery symbol for hours, nothing further happened, it was like the battery was not charging so my next step was to take it to have the battery replaced HOWEVER I did manage to fix it by doing the following ( this might be helpful for anyone in the same situation):

  1. While plugged in press volume up once,
  2. Press volume down once,
  3. Press and hold for 8 secs the button on right side
  4. While holding that button after 8 seconds also hold the volume down button for about 6 seconds then you should see the apple logo and then a recovery mode message.
  5. I then left the charger there for about 10 mins and then proceeded to press and hold the button on the right side for about 7 seconds till the i saw the apple logo and let go, this should then switch the phone on.

Interestingly when it came on the battery was at 3%, which would suggest that the percentage wasn't 80% at initially showed.

So i have a couple of questions:

1) Does anyone know why it would show 80% and then switch off and act as though the battery was dead?

2) Should i continue with replacing the battery regardless if it is now working, could the battery health be shot due to the age of the phone?

3) is it possible the percentage indicator is showing a different figure than what was true? and how can we avoid this happening in the future.

Answer this question I have this problem too

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OK, a bit of update / query here.....The phone turned off while at 67%, i managed to charge it to 100% ( The battery health check says 87%) and now when i press the side button it shows the apple logo then switches back off, happens a couple of times and some times i can get back into the phone but then it will turn off...any thoughts?

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This could still be a faulty battery and is where I would start for sure, but really I think what you're asking a bit of how an iPhone knows how much battery charge is left.

Essentially there are a few parts to this. There is a net of sensors and electronic components on the battery management board (a small circuit board within the battery), and on the logic board, which use information about the current and voltage being transmitted to calculate the amount of charge left in the battery. In reality it will always be an approximation based on math. The estimation is only as good as the data it's getting.

An issue with any of the sensors, or connection between the sensors and wherever they're trying to send data can cause all sorts of problems. It might mean wildly fluctuating battery percentages, inability to power on even if the battery is fully charged (because perhaps the phone doesn't think there is enough power to get through the startup sequence) or the battery saying it's 80% when it's nearly dead.

The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max add a bit of additional complexity because there are in fact 2 battery connectors. One is on the logic board and one is part of the charge port cable assembly. A large part of the charging circuitry is on the charge port assembly rather than the logic board proper, meaning that could also be faulty.

That's a lot of extra information, but the TLDR of that is, this could absolutely be your battery and I would definitely start there.

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Thank you - The phone is now at 25% and having removed the cable still working which is great but from the sounds of it, based on what you said, I will take it too a professional to open it up and check it out and replace the battery as it could happen again

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@evangelosem5125 I would have a check at your battery health in your settings. There should be a place to check in the Battery section of the settings menu.

And replacing the batteries on these are something you could do yourself depending on your skill level, but I would have a look at the battery replacement guide here at iFixit and see if you think you can handle this it. Otherwise, certainly take it to a professional if you like!

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OK, a bit of update / query here.....The phone turned off while at 67%, i managed to charge it to 100% ( The battery health check says 87%) and now when i press the side button it shows the apple logo then switches back off, happens a couple of times and some times i can get back into the phone but then it will turn off...any thoughts?

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@evangelosem5125 I would have to second Alisha's opinion that if this was something you wanted to try and fix yourself, then the battery is the place to start. They've already given you a link to the guide you would need in order to do the repair yourself.

Be aware that Apple has started pairing the battery with the logic board on your phone, so there would be a couple of consequences you would encounter should you do that repair. First, you'll get a warning to the effect that the battery may not be a genuine Apple part - even if you use a genuine Apple battery. That warning will pop up when you power on the phone for a week or so, then it'll go away. However, there will be a permanent badge on your Settings icon and a warning to that effect within the Battery section of your Settings.

Secondly, whenever the non-genuine warning shows up, Apple disables your ability to view the battery health information. You'll still be able to see how much charge it currently has, but the maximum capacity information will no longer be available.

There are ways around the issue, but they involve salvaging the existing Battery Management System (BMS) circuit board from the old battery and transplanting it (including soldering and/or spot welding) onto a new battery cell. In your case I would advise against that approach, since it appears the BMS may be suspect in the charging issue you have. You could go to all the trouble of transplanting it only to find that you've also transplanted the problem along with it!

The battery health information you retrieved from the phone (87%) says the battery isn't in horrible shape, but it is getting close to the point where it would be recommended to replace it. Any reputable repair shop can do the job, but be prepared for the consequences I mentioned, unless they're an Apple authorized repair center then they won't be able to pair the replacement battery. Unfortunately, Apple's self repair program didn't start till the iPhone 12, so you're out of luck in that department.

Should you decide to go ahead and replace the battery, there's a possibility the problem may still be there, as Alisha mentioned, part of the charging circuitry is in the lightning port flex cable assembly so the issue could be there. I'd hang onto the battery just in case. Anyway, if replacing the battery doesn't fix the issue, the next step would be the charging port assembly. Here's the iFixit guide to that repair.

iPhone 11 Pro Lightning Connector Assembly Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

Note that this guide is not authored by iFixit, and is a video guide only; it doesn't have the step by step written instructions like the battery guide. If you prefer the written guide, there is an excellent one done by the website Nadie Me Llama Gallina. Note that it's written in Spanish, but if you use it with the Chrome browser's translation, it works quite well.

Manuales / Apple iPhone 11 Pro / Auxiliary board - Nadie Me Llama Gallina

Between the two of us, Alisha and myself, I think you have all of the information you need to make an informed decision on what you want to do with your son's phone. Good luck and let us know how it all turns out!

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