Why is the left side of my phone not working

After replacing the screen on my iPhone 5s (16GB white and silver) the left side has some daed spots, I cannot press 'Q' or '1' in portrait, the bottom left icon also doesn't work.

What should I trouble shoot? There are no strange lines or screen bleeds.

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Thanks guys, indeed the iPhone was bent, I did bend it back and didn't think it fit with pressure. I'll check with the screen not inserted, to see if it's caused by the frame.

May 19, 2015 by Giovanni Joubert

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Posted: May 19, 2015

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I would open it back up again and reconnect the digitizer cable, maybe there is some dirt in the connector? Give it a wipe with isopropyl if you have any. If that doesn't work, it might suggest that the new screen is faulty. Also check the phone is not bent, did you have a hard time getting the screen to clip back into the frame? I once did a screen repair on a 5S, that had similar problems you describe, on close inspection, I noticed the iPhone was bent, and so the new screen was obviously bending to the shape of the frame.

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Make sure you screen is not being pressured by anything. Try loosing the LCD Shield plate scews and check the phones reaction. As Michael stated, if the iPhone is bent, the new screen will follow the shape of the frame and it would damage the new screen. If there's no line on your screen and everything is shining bright, the cables are probably not the cause of your issue.

Regards,

Bruno

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2 Comments:

Bought the gTool and got the corners perfect. Screen fitting good.

That did not solve it, when I remove the metal backplate it seems the screen responds better, the plate doesn't look bent. Whattodo whattodo

May 20, 2015 by Giovanni Joubert

Ey Giovanni. Three years later I’m facing the same problem in my 5s. What did you do to solve it? Thanks!

Not all screen issues involve the entire screen. In this article, we show you a case wherein only a portion of an iPhone X screen has apparently become unresponsive. Learn how to deal with this situation on your own device.

Before we proceed, we want to remind you that you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Problem: iPhone X portion of screen is unresponsive

Hello, I’ve had iphone x for about 8 months now. I have a screen protector glass thing. And a rubber back cover. Haven’t really dropped it or anything. Today, in the middle of the day. No damage what so ever physically, the screen started acting up. Some parts not working. Then eventually, it just came on the extreme left side, about half a centimetre of the entire left side of the screen not working. So it’s hard to select number one (can’t type it still) and I can’t write Q (just tilted my phone to the left and was able to type it). I removed the protector, cover, restarted it, reset all settings, updated firmware today to the latest one from my laptop and redid the whole thing. But no improvement. I am wondering if it’s hardware fault. But I don’t understand how suddenly it can in the middle of the day start acting up. Please explain as this thing is really bothering. I can’t go back on on any application. Regards.

Solution: While an iPhone screen usually thought of as a vulnerable part, it’s really quite a reliable component statistically. Yes it can break relatively easily when a device is dropped but in normal operations, it’s quite sturdy. It does not usually get bugged due to app or software glitch. When it comes to iPhones, the screen firmware are among the most stable. That said, it can take a unique software or app problem to affect the functions of the screen. Majority of the time, what causes screen problems are hardware-related situations such as accidental drops.

If you are positive that your iPhone X was never dropped or exposed to water, then there’s a chance that the current issue with the screen is software related. These are the troubleshooting steps that you can do to fix it:

Force reboot

Sometimes, iOS may encounter bugs that it can’t handle on its own which then results to freezing or screen becoming unresponsive. Forcing your phone to restart may be the only way out in this situation. If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s how it’s done:

1. Press and quickly release the Volume Up button.
2. Press and quickly release the Volume Down button.
3. Finally, press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears.

Doing the steps above will tell the system to reboot itself as it simulates the effect of the battery being disconnected from the device. This is often useful when your iPhone freezes randomly, or when there’s an error that forces the system to stop responding.

Reset all settings

Another good troubleshooting step that you can do in this situation is to ensure that you return all settings to their defaults. Here’s how:

1. Go to the Home screen then tap Settings.
2. Tap on General.
3. Scroll down to and then tap on Reset.
4. Tap to choose the option to Reset all settings.
5. Enter your device passcode when asked to continue.
6. Then tap the option to confirm all settings reset.

Perform a DFU Restore

If the screen is still not back to its normal state at this point, you must do a drastic solution — DFU Restore. This will force the phone to return all firmware to their factory state as well as clear the system in general. For this to work, you must have a computer. Be sure to back your personal data up before doing DFU Restore.

1. Install the latest iTunes version on your computer.
2. Turn off your iPhone X.
3. Connect it to your computer using a Lightning to USB cable.
4. Launch iTunes on your computer, and check that your iPhone appears in the list of devices.
5. On your iPhone, press the Volume Up button immediately followed by the Volume Down button.
6. Next, press and hold the Side button (or power button) until your iPhone’s screen turns black.
7. Release the Side button and then hold down both the Side button and Volume Down button together for approximately five seconds.
8. Now release the Side button, but continue to press the Volume Down button.
9. Wait for at least five seconds for iTunes to recognize DFU recovery mode has been enabled. NOTE: If you’re successful, you should see: “iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. You must restore this iPhone before it can be used with iTunes”. If you don’t get this message on your iPhone, repeat the steps above as detailed.
10. Afterwards, go ahead and restore your iPhone to its factory state by selecting Restore iPhone.

Let Apple do repair

If the screen remains unresponsive you should let a professional check the hardware so it can be repaired. The screen may have run into a firmware trouble or there may be a hardware malfunction. Bring the device to Apple and let their technician run a hardware check. 

Engage with us

If you happen to have a problem with your own iPhone, let us know about it and we will do our best to post them and their solutions  in our upcoming articles. You can use this link to contact us for assistance. We can’t guarantee an answer to every question but rest assured that we will exhaust everything on our end to help you.

Be as detailed as possible when describing your problem to help us diagnose your issue easily. If you can include error messages, popups, attempted troubleshooting steps, and circumstances leading to the problem, that would be very helpful.

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